From my perspective, a good start is everything. I crave a spot with plenty of bright, indirect light. While I can tolerate some direct sun, too much will scorch my delicate leaves, making them brown and crispy. If you’re keeping me indoors, a bright windowsill is perfect. Outdoors, a place with morning sun and afternoon shade is my idea of heaven. The soil is equally important. I prefer a rich, well-draining home. Heavy, waterlogged soil will suffocate my roots and lead to rot, a fate I desperately wish to avoid. A pot with good drainage holes is non-negotiable for my health and happiness.
You should know that I am an adventurous and prolific plant. I spread vigorously through underground runners called rhizomes. If you plant me directly in your garden without a barrier, I will enthusiastically claim all the space I can, potentially crowding out other plants. For this reason, most wise gardeners choose to keep me in a container. This allows you to enjoy my vigorous growth without letting me become invasive. A pot also gives you the flexibility to move me to follow the sun or bring me indoors when the weather turns cold.
Harvesting is how you ensure my continuous supply. The more you pick my leaves, the bushier and stronger I become. Always pinch or snip off the tips of my stems, just above a set of leaves. This action encourages me to branch out and produce two new stems from that point, doubling your future yield. Never remove more than a third of my foliage at one time; I need my leaves to photosynthesize and create energy. Regular harvesting prevents me from flowering. While my flowers are attractive to bees, allowing me to bloom signals the end of my prime leaf production and can make my flavor turn bitter.
I am a perennial, which means my life cycle is designed to last for several years. As autumn approaches and daylight wanes, my above-ground growth will naturally begin to die back. Do not be alarmed; this is my way of conserving energy. My life force retreats into my hardy root system underground to wait out the winter. If I am in a pot outdoors, you can trim my stems down and move me to a sheltered location. I appreciate a layer of mulch to protect my roots from a hard freeze. With this seasonal care, I will burst forth with vibrant new growth when the warmth and light of spring return, ready to supply you with fresh leaves once again.
