Are you prepared to cultivate your own clove? This spice and medicinal herb is grown around the world. Because of how widely the clove plant is appreciated by gardeners, it has an astonishing number of names that is far too long for us to list here. For the purposes of this article, we will refer to the plant as the clove plant or clove tree, and its scientific name, Syzygium aromaticum.
While clove trees are cultivators from Indonesia, their clove is also grown in warm agricultural regions like Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. The clove tree can reach up to forty feet in height and stands out in theobos forest or garden due to its bluish-gray bark.
The plant exhibits bay leaves and bay like features have a pair of large shiny aromatic dark green leaves which can grow around five inches and are up to five inches long. The twigs blossom from July to October and then again from November to January bearing small red flowers that are an inch long and grow in cluster at the tips of branches.
The fragrance of the blooms serves two main purposes, color enhancement and attracting bees and other pollinators to the garden.
Clove is very well known in the culinary and fragrance world for its aroma and its flavor. Clove has a sweet and spicy scent and taste which is heavily used in holiday dishes like wassail and in candles meant to evoke the holiday season.
Cloves are very strong and distinguishing in nature so in most cases they are used sparingly in culinary practices. You may be surprised to learn that cloves are used in the production of ketchup and even Worcestershire sauce.
This spice is also renowned for its high nutritional content and its versatility in terms of medicinal herbs. If cloves are considered as a food item, it can be said they have vitamins and even minerals along with water.
A teaspoon of cloves contains just 21 calories but does accompany 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of carbs, 30% of the daily requirement of manganese needed and trace amounts of vitamin C and K.
Cloves have high antioxidants, are antibacterial, and have historically used to help stomach ulcers, improve bone health, regulate blood sugar, improve liver health, fight cancer cells and many more.
Instead of using cloves as a supplement for their health benefits, see how wonderful they are when used in spicy curry dishes, stirred into potent chutneys, sprinkled over delightful desserts, or savored as a warming cup of tea. The recipe for clove tea is simple as well. You only need to boil whole cloves for five to seven minutes.
Growing Conditions for Cloves
Clove trees cannot be grown in cool climate areas. Is it possible to grow a clove tree outdoors where you live? Well, that really will depend mostly on the climate of your area. The real crux of the matter is whether your yard has what it will take to keep a clove tree happy.
If you have the recommended growing conditions of a hot humid area that boasts rainfall, like the tropical region or are lucky enough to live in a rainforest or jungle then consider yourself extremely fortunate.
Additionally, clove trees need a minimum of 50 to 70 inches of rainfall per year along with temperatures not going below 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not attempt to grow a clove tree outdoors in temperate zones.
You can still grow clove trees indoors and shelter them from harsh conditions. This is better than trying to relocate them indoors, where there is no way to bring a container garden inside when the weather makes it unbearable to stay outdoors.
How to Plant Clove
The most suitable way to grow a clove tree is with seeds. Ensure the seeds are well nourished and watered after placing them in fertile and well-drained loam. The soil should be similar to what is used for orchids. It is necessary to shield the seedlings from direct sunlight for the first two years of growth.
Clove seeds can be purchased readily but ensure that they are pollinated before planting otherwise couple of buds off your spice rack won’t work. Like with many plants, water the soil but avoid over irrigation.
You may plant clove seeds by placing them on the ground’s surface. There is no need to cover the seeds with soil, as they will be able to adapt to their new environment without being buried. After a while, you can expect to see the clove tree seedlings sprout. When the seedlings are around one inch tall, you should move them to a larger pot.
Care of Cloves
During dry and hot periods, be sure to provide adequate watering to your clove plants. Clove trees naturally thrive in rich soil that drains well, is loamy, and contains ample organic matter.
Prospective gardeners looking to add cloves to their gardens need to know that it is a long term project that involves significant effort, but offers sustaining rewards. Usable buds will not be harvestable until at least six years after planting the seeds, when the branches are laden with full clusters of flowers.
A careful equilibrium is essential for watering your clove trees. If your environment does not match the tropical clove plant’s native region, you may replicate humidity through light watering and frequent misting.
Begin applying organic fertilizers like compost, bone meal, or fish meal at the onset of rainy seasons. When the plant begins to show growth, it is time to switch to superphosphate MOP (muriate of potash) or potassium sulfate plant food.
For a clove tree older than 15 years, increase the fertilizer amount to double the dose. During harsh summer months, apply the fertilizer through divided doses till the summer ends in split doses of trenching pre-dug outside the plant.
Harvesting Cloves
The clove spice comprises the unopened flower buds of the tropical clove tree, which are harvested and sun-dried. Picking buds early is essential as they need to dry before maturing into a clove. Cloves of the best quality are a reddish brown color. Clove buds can be sliced with a fingernail or sharp object and will then release oil.
You will need to exercise quite a lot of patience if you wish to get a full harvest from your clove tree. Well, unless you are willing to wait for many years to reap a complete harvest, there is no point in starting. Caring for a clove tree will start yielding returns around the twentieth year of its life. If the wait is indeed that long, you certainly will not be disappointed by the yields.
To harvest cloves, collect the buds which have just started to become pink and are no more than two centimeters in length, rounded, and plump. Sun drying or drying in an airtight Mason jar is helpful.
It needs to be dried until it has lost two thirds of its weight and the color of the bud stem is dark brown. Unfortunately, dried cloves have a very short shelf life. They tend to lose flavor very quickly, so store them in an airtight container away from sunlight. Use or replace within a year of storage.
In the US, kretek cigarettes, which are mixed with cloves, are called clove cigarettes. These are formed by blending clove buds and tobacco in a two to one ratio of tobacco to clove.
Garden Pests and Diseases
Cloves do not have any garden pests to be concerned about, which is quite helpful for gardeners. However, in the wrong growing conditions, these trees can become ill from several diseases. The more common ailments include seedling wilt, root rot, leaf spot, as well as bug shedding scales and mealy bugs.
Regularly check the undersides of the leaves for pests and signs of disease at least two times a week, and for any that you do find, blast them with high-pressure water to dislodge and repel them. While this approach may not be a long-term solution, it will be effective when it is done repeatedly.