Andrographis (a. paniculata) and Astragalus (a. membranaceus)

We became aware of both of these herbs when researching treatments for tick fever...so i decided to try to grow them from seed that I ordered from Richters. I don't think our season will be long enough for the andrographis as it is an annual. I have hope for the asttragalus though.


I didn't expect such a beautiful flower...very tiny.


http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_andrographis.htm

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_astragalus.htm

hi Judith,
did you have any luck with astragalus?
curious if they sprouted & survived the winter.
what time of the year did you sow?

Beautiful plants. Did they germinate easily?

siu-yu man wrote:hi Judith,
did you have any luck with astragalus?
curious if they sprouted & survived the winter.
what time of the year did you sow?

sorry, I just missed seeing this totally.....I have one (out of six) astragalus that wintered over in the garden...now the problem is a deer that keeps nibbling it back. I have one indoor survivor also...it is in a big pot and back outdoors, growing rampant, but spent the winter indoors. I think I could work up a permanent bed outdoors and then give them some cover over the winter and they might do OK. For the moment, I'm still buying the root in capsules

Beautiful plants. Did they germinate easily?

Hi, Joy....They do germinate easily. I have a small flat now that needs potting up. This year I waited to start them outdoors in a flat instead of indoors by our heat stove late winter....I think they did just as well without the extra early start.

I tried to keep the andrographis alive for seed so brought some in to over winter indoors...it stayed alive and bloomed for a long time but never made any noticable seed.

no worries Judith...glad to hear you have a couple survivors...thanks for letting me know about the deer....have 12 plants coming from Richter's and was wondering about that...behind the fence they go! will pot a few up as well, just for insurance.

i read a theory once somewhere that for medicinals...environmental stress makes for a potent medicine, so as long as the plant survives, maybe the deer is doing you a favor?

we've been following the Buhner preventative protocol and have been going through astragalus like crazy...if all goes well, will still be 3+ years before we can harvest, but at least the ball is rolling...1000 mg a day for life is a lot a root!

I heard.that andrographis has low germination rate, bt maybe their seeds were not fresh. Richters is in Canada, so I am not sure they would ship to California, and even if they would it might not come, because of regulations here. I will try tofind it here. I also would like to grow myown licorice root, but that one I might be able to find in the nursery as a plant and harvest a bit earlier. Or so I hope. I was thinking echinacea would be easy to find, but the only ones I was able to find some cultured varieties for pretty flowers.