lemon grass oil

reinbeau · January 22, 2008, 01:48:18 PM

I'm late to getting back to this thread, but regarding the off topic discussion of cilantro: Cilantro is a cool season, short lived annual. It will bolt fast in hot weather. You can take advantage of the short cycle of cilantro by letting the seed fall and sprout, you'll have a continual cycle of harvesting at least until the heat of summer ends the cycle.

Carriage House Farm · January 22, 2008, 07:29:43 PM

Quote from: reinbeau on January 22, 2008, 01:48:18 PM
I'm late to getting back to this thread, but regarding the off topic discussion of cilantro: Cilantro is a cool season, short lived annual. It will bolt fast in hot weather. You can take advantage of the short cycle of cilantro by letting the seed fall and sprout, you'll have a continual cycle of harvesting at least until the heat of summer ends the cycle.

I've never had any real problems with it during the summer. We get into the 100s here. I'll check to see if its a heat tolerant hybrid, but I do not think it is.

Coriander seems to do well for me regardless the weather. I think, for me, it all depends on what type of temps its exposed to early on. It has bolted on me before but on if it gets nailed by a frost early on. Then I simply throw out more seeds to take up the slack.

Cindi · January 23, 2008, 12:28:37 AM

Quote from: Carriage House Farm on January 22, 2008, 07:29:43 PM
Quote from: reinbeau on January 22, 2008, 01:48:18 PM
I'm late to getting back to this thread, but regarding the off topic discussion of cilantro: Cilantro is a cool season, short lived annual. It will bolt fast in hot weather. You can take advantage of the short cycle of cilantro by letting the seed fall and sprout, you'll have a continual cycle of harvesting at least until the heat of summer ends the cycle.
Coriander seems to do well for me regardless the weather. I think, for me, it all depends on what type of temps its exposed to early on. It has bolted on me before but on if it gets nailed by a frost early on. Then I simply throw out more seeds to take up the slack.

Richard, when you are speaking of coriander, did you mean to say cilantro? The reason why I say this is because, I am not mistaken, coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant. Two of the same thing, one is the green growth and the other is the seed from the green growth. Not to rain on your parade, but did you know that? You probably did and I should say no more, sometimes I get just a little bit too nosey and should mind my own, but I just can't help myself sometimes ;) :) :) :) . Have an awesome day. Cindi

Carriage House Farm · January 23, 2008, 09:13:46 AM

Actually, I meant to say "Coriandrum sativum" to sound all "I am cool because I know the latin genus and species, but I failed that. :-D

I make these little note cards for everything I grow and then write the scientific name for everything on the other side and use them for flash cards when I get bored.

I have so far remembered three out of a hundred plus names: Coriandrum sativum, Hemerocallis fulva, and Solanum lycopersicum. Cilantro, daylillies, and tomatoes.

So I am questioning the value of the experiment or even where I would use it.

Carriage House Farm · January 23, 2008, 09:29:48 AM

Back to the lemongrass oil.

Has anyone tried to extract the oils?

Has anyone used the distiller available at Brushy Mountain?

This one:

Cindi · January 23, 2008, 09:48:46 AM

Richard, you are an interesting fellow, and you say interesting stuff. I like that. About that distiller. That would surely be a great idea for distilling one's own herbs, and so on. I actually wouldn't mind to entertain that thought this year coming up.

The most sought after scent that I could think that I would want to distill scents from would be:

Night scented stock (matthiola bicornis)
Mignonette
Nicotianna
Stocks (regular)
Heliotrope

Those are scents that are the most beautiful in my world, and if I could have even a tiny vial of this fragrance to take a whiff of (just like my propolis jar that sits on my kitchen counter) when I want a heavenly summer scent, I would be a happy woman.

I wonder how many little flowers it would take to make a drop of an essential oil of these flowers. One day I will know this answer. In the meantime, I am looking at the distiller that you showed a picture of. Have an awesome day. Cindi

Looked at the distiller, unless one was to go into commercial production of essential oils, the price was a little bit too much out of my range for this distiller, too bad, it looked pretty simple.

wadehump · March 28, 2008, 08:59:09 PM

where is the best place to buy lemmon grass oil

Carriage House Farm · March 28, 2008, 09:43:06 PM

I ordered some from Puritan Pride.

We are talking about oz or half an oz..

I did find a place where you can order it in liters (lemon grass and other essential oils) if anyone is interested.

Edit: Right now they have 1/2 oz for 4.33 not too sure how that compares with other prices.

bud1 · March 29, 2008, 09:03:41 AM

the best to distill would be fermented corn

tillie · March 29, 2008, 09:46:42 AM

I posted this on another thread, but a Greek beekeeper wrote a comment on my blog about mixing the lemongrass oil into a mixture of beeswax and olive oil to make it stay longer.

The swarm hive that I set up hasn't captured a swarm yet, so we don't know if it actually works, but I have noticed that the lemongrass smell has stayed longer in the paste I made than just dropped right on the frames and landing.

Linda T hopeful in Atlanta

HAB · April 20, 2008, 10:51:42 PM

Is this the same oil used to treat V-Mites?

JP · April 20, 2008, 10:59:36 PM

Quote from: HAB on April 20, 2008, 10:51:42 PM
Is this the same oil used to treat V-Mites?

Lemongrass oil is used in swarm traps to entice bees to orient to the trap. Its scent is reminiscent of nasonov, or orientating pheremone.

...JP

jimmyo · April 20, 2008, 11:00:57 PM

HAB,
food grade mineral oil for mites
lemongrass oil for swarm lure.
Jim

Michael Bush · April 20, 2008, 11:21:38 PM

Some people use it with lecithin in syrup for Varroa. It's available as Honey Bee Healthy with the addition of peppermint oil.

HAB · April 20, 2008, 11:49:10 PM

Thought I'd heard of adding a few drops into sugar syrup?

DennisB · April 20, 2008, 11:51:35 PM

If you want to grow your own lemon grass, do so in pots around your patio. It has a great effect on keeping the mosquitos away.

Dennis

qa33010 · April 21, 2008, 01:21:36 AM

And as was said earlier DON'T get it on you. I accidentally did this a couple years ago and the bees were all clumped up on the front of my shirt. Quite disturbing when you don't realize the power of scent or realize it is on you. After a couple thousand heartbeats in a couple seconds I finally realized what happened and eased them off and smoked the spot like crazy. This made it a little less attractive but not a whole bunch.

Michael Bush · April 21, 2008, 09:41:15 PM

It won't mix with syrup. It will mix with honey or it will mix with lecithin. Then THAT will mix with syrup.

sc-bee · April 21, 2008, 11:32:47 PM

>where is the best place to buy lemmon grass oil

Health Food Store or store that sell herbs--- I just bought a bottle here locally from a health store and paid 6.95 for a 1oz bottle.

Wes Sapp · April 22, 2008, 09:08:23 AM

sc-bee, Were in SC are you? I've checked all the health food/herb stores and can't find it. They all say the same thing... use to carry it but not any more. Please let me know were you got it.