🌸 Indigo

Indigofera tinctoria / Persicaria tinctoria (Japanese indigo)

dye_plants annual/tender perennial shrub

☀️ Sun

full sun

💧 Water

moderate

🗺️ Zones

[8,9,10,11]

🧪 Soil pH

5.5-7.5

🪴 Soil Type

well-drained, rich

📏 Spacing

12-18 inches

📐 Height

3-6 ft

⏱️ Maturity

90-120 days for leaf harvest

Key:🤝 Grows well together❌ Keep apart☀️ Sun needs💧 Water🗺️ Hardiness zone

🤝 Companions (4)

🤝 Bean

Both nitrogen-fixing (indigo is a legume!) and can be intercropped

🤝 Corn

Corn provides partial shade for indigo

🤝 Cotton

Indigo dyes cotton , grown together on the plantation, processed together

🤝 Rice

Grown in rotation with rice in traditional Asian indigo cultivation

⚠️ Keep Apart (0)

No known enemies listed.

📝 Growing Notes

Indigo is a natural blue dye plant used in denim and textiles. The plant is not blue; its precursor compound, indican, is clear. Fermentation and oxidation convert the leaf compounds into a brilliant blue dye. As a legume, indigo also fixes nitrogen.

🛒 Buy Seeds & Plants

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Johnny's Selected Seeds Botanical Interests True Leaf Market Burpee Territorial Seed Company

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