Catherine Cartwright-Jones © 2004 ![]() 1 year old henna plant Henna, lawsonia inermis, is a
small desert tree, but you can grow it as a houseplant. You can
grow it outdoors if temperatures never drop below 50F or 11 C. If
it is indoors, keep it in the sunniest place possible, and plan on it
getting about 8 ‘ tall in five years.
When you get a new henna plant, put it in a large pot of potting soil, and give it one drenching watering, then put it in your sunniest window. It may drop its leaves from the shock. If it drops its leaves, prune it back and let it shoot out new growth. ![]() Three year old Lawsonia Inermis Henna prefers a hot climate with long droughts. Let your henna plant’s soil get dry, then give it plenty of water all at once. Henna is used to drought/monsoon cycles. Do not water it a little bit every day! Henna in constantly moist soil suffers from aphids, root rot and scale. If your henna houseplant gets aphids or scale, powder it with cat flea powder, or spray it with pet flea spray. From time to time, a young henna plant may shed all of its leaves. If your plant drops its leaves from a sudden chill, a pest attack, or just because it feels like it, it is probably just sulking and not actually dead. Prune the branches back, repot the plant, mix up a little fertilizer into water, and give it a fresh start. In a month, your plant should put out vigorous new growth. You can sprout and grow henna from seed. Read Mark Foster’s “Henna: Germinating Seeds” You
can order henna seeds online.
http://www.sandmountainherbs.com/henna.html http://www.richters.com/Web_store/ You
can order henna plants online from Companion Plants:
https://home.frognet.net/~complants/secure/cart/la-lb.htm I've gotten healthy live henna
plants from them.
Richter’s also has live henna plants and seeds. http://www.richters.com/Web_store/ For
more
information on cultivating and using fresh henna, see:
Henna in the Bible Henna Flowers Commercial Henna Growing Germinating Henna Seeds Growing Henna in the House Henna Farming in India Henna Farming in Pakistan Lawsone Milling Henna Leaves Use Fresh Henna Leaves Return to the Index
of Henna: Lawsonia Inermis
Can't find what you're looking for? Try: The Henna Page Main Index http://www.hennapage.com/henna/mainindex.html *"Henna,
the
Joyous Body Art"
the Encyclopedia of Henna Catherine Cartwright-Jones c 2000 registered with the US Library of Congress TXu 952-968 |