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Murraya koenigii or Curry-leaf tree, a native of India and Sri Lanka, is a small tree with very pungent aromatic leaves. The leaves are used in curries.
Blooming Time: Late spring to early summer. The small white flowers are 5/16 of an inch across and are sweetly scented.
Culture: Murraya koenigii need warm temperatures with full sun to partial shade. We grow ours under 28% shade all year. We use a soil mix consisting of 1 part peat moss to 2 parts loam to 1 part sand or perlite. The soil should be allowed to thoroughly dry between waterings. Fertilize weekly during the growing season. Winter temperatures should not fall below 65°. Water very sparingly during the winter months and do not fertilize. Since it is a small tree it doesn't need repotting very often. Ours is 5 feet tall in a 2-gallon container at 8 years old.
Propagation: Murraya koenigii are propagated by growing the small suckers from the base of the tree, by root cutting, or by seed.
Murraya koenigii was featured as Plant of the Week June 8-14, 2001.
Guide to Past Plants-of-the-Week:
Cal's Plant of the Week is provided as a service by the University of Oklahoma Department of Botany & Microbiology and specifically Cal Lemke, who is OU's botany greenhouse grower and an avid gardener at home as well. If the above links don't work, then try the overview site. You may also like to look at the thumbnail index. To receive Plant-of-the-Week by e-mail, go to the Plant-of-the-Week listserv subscription page. To contact us, please use this online form. ©1998-2008 All rights reserved.