🎨 AI-generated botanical illustration
🌱 Nutmeg
Myristica fragrans
spices
evergreen tree
Myristicaceae
☀️ Sun
partial shade (young); full sun (mature)
💧 Water
high
🗺️ Zones
[11,12]
🧪 Soil pH
5.5-7.0
🪴 Soil Type
rich, well-drained, volcanic
🚿 Drainage
Well-drained
📏 Spacing
25-30 ft
📐 Height
30-60 ft
⏱️ Maturity
5-8 years to first harvest; productive 60+ years
🤝 Companions (7)
🤝 Banana
Shade for young nutmeg trees
🤝 Clove
Traditional Spice Island companions
🤝 Coconut Palm
Traditional overstory in mixed spice gardens
🤝 Comfrey
Dynamic accumulator
🤝 Comfrey
Dynamic accumulator
🤝 Marigold
Universal companion
🤝 Marigold
Universal companion
⚠️ Keep Apart (3)
⚠️ Walnut
Juglone sensitive
⚠️ Walnut
Juglone sensitive
⚠️ none — but needs consistent tropical conditions and male+female trees for fruit
📝 Growing Notes
The only tropical fruit that produces TWO distinct spices: nutmeg (seed) and mace (aril). Native to Banda Islands, Indonesia — the ONLY place nutmeg grew until the 1800s. Triggered the Dutch to trade Manhattan for the nutmeg island of Run.
🛒 Buy Seeds & Plants
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Botanical Interests
True Leaf Market
Burpee
Territorial Seed Company
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