Turmeric Production Presentation Given at Organic Growers' School, March 9th and 10th, 2013

1. Turmeric
Production
Susan Anderson
East Branch Ginger
207-313-4358
info@eastbranchginger.com

2. What are we talking about
today?
• Turmeric Production
–Presprouting
–Protected Culture
–Container vs. Soil
–Fertilizers/Soil Amendments
–Harvest
–Marketing

3. Turmeric – The Plant
• Curcuma longa, Zingiberaceae family
• Rhizomes – grow out and down in all
directions
• Foliage tall (3-4 ft) with wide leaf blades
• Petioles originate at base of plant
• Worldwide very economically, culturally
important crop
• India top producer with almost 650,000 tons

4. Turmeric – The Spice of Life
• Has curcuminoids, and many other
compounds, studied to be beneficial to
health
• Antioxident, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial,
anticarcinogenic
• Recently published findings and ongoing
research into the benefits of turmeric

6. Turmeric Production
• Containers or Soil Culture
• Drip Irrigation
• Takes at least 8-9 months from start of
presprout – need protected culture in
temperate climates
• Rhizomes grow out and down from seed
piece so little to no hilling required
• About 10-16 pieces per pound; use avg. 13

7. Protected Culture
• Hoophouse
–Presprout then transplant into soil or
containers to hoophouse
• Heated Greenhouse
–Direct seed rhizomes into growing
container/soil if root zone kept 70-80F
from time of seeding

9. Turmeric Seed Pieces
• Seed should be healthy and fresh
• All pieces of rhizome will produce new crop
• Some better than others:
– In order here from best yielding to least,
with caveat that all do produce yield:
• Primary fingers
• Mother rhizomes (rounds)
• Secondary rhizomes
• DO NOT CUT SEED PIECES – leave rhizomes
whole for seed

11. Turmeric - Presprouting
• Receive seed pieces and presprout
• Can hold for 5-14 days – well
ventilated, warm (80F) out of direct sunlight
• Shallowly plant
– Fingers placed horizontal onto the media
– Open flats, individual pots, bulb crates
• Presprout at 80F for 4-6 weeks
– Goal: get roots and shoots going and the
“mother rhizome” started

14. Turmeric - Presprouting
• Presprouting can take upwards of 4-
6 weeks
• Keep very warm, 80F
• Be patient

16. Turmeric - Transplanting
• Sensitive to transplant
–Be gentle with presprouted
pieces when transplanting
–Be sure soil or media receiving
transplants is warm

19. Turmeric - Transplanting
• Mulch or cover soils/containers prior to and
after transplant until shoot emergence to
keep soil temps warm (70-80F)
– Low tunnels, black plastic mulch (remove after
emergence), row covers
• Use thin mulches after emergence to
help increase yields and aid in weed
control
• Examples: compost or straw with no
weed seed

21. Turmeric – Container Culture
• Media
– Coconut coir
– Well-drained, good water holding capacity
– Neutral pH
– Not binding of nutrients
– Not mucky
• Containers
– Grow bags, flexible plastic or fabric, nothing
fragile or valuable
– Depth of at least 12”

24. Turmeric – Container Culture
• Spacing in Container
– 3-4 seed pieces in a 15 gallon grow bag
(about 6” away from seed piece to seed
piece)
– If smaller container use only 1-2 seed pieces
– If larger, add about 1-2 seed pieces per five
gallon increase
– If some pieces are very small, use more
pieces than recommended; vice-versa for
larger pieces
– 5# will plant about 20-23 fifteen gallon grow
bags

25. Turmeric – Container Culture
• Container Spacing – pot to pot
–Make banks of pots for ease of
watering, fertilizing, shade root
zone, increase humidity around
canopy, weed control

27. Turmeric – Container Culture
• Planting
–At least 4” of media in bottom of pot
–Media should be premixed with dose
of ferts, micronutrients, organic
matter
–Place presprouted seed pieces onto
media
–Cover with about 1-2” of media

28. Turmeric – Soil Culture
• Well-drained, good water holding capacity
• pH around 5-6
– Can be wider range if nutrients are made
available
• Get soil test
• Not binding of nutrients
• Not mucky
• No heavy clay with low OM
• Loose, workable soil – good carrot soil

30. Turmeric – Soil Culture
• Spacing
– 6” from seed piece to seed piece
– 5# will plant about 30-35 row feet
– 3 foot centers, row to row
• Planting
– Dig a 1-2” trench (allows for some soil use later if
hilling required)
– Place presprouted seed pieces at recommended
spacing – cover with about 1-2” of soil

32. Watering
• Watering – drip recommended
–Turmeric yields better when watered
consistently through the growing
season
–May have to increase frequency of
waterings if media very well drained –
increase feedings if watering daily
–Decrease waterings as crop goes
dormant in late fall

33. Fertilizing
• Depends upon media/soil
–Well balanced (about 5-5-5) fed about
4-5 times through the growing season
–Another feeding a week before
harvest – water in
–Amend initial media/soil with
fertilizers, compost and/or worm
castings
–Higher yields with regular fertilizer
applications

34. Fertilizing – Other Amendments
• Use gypsum to promote nutrient
uptake – check with OG cert
agent before using any new
products
• Beneficial microbes increase
yields greatly
–Examples: Trichoderma, Root
Shield, Actinovate, Contans,
worm castings, well-aged
compost

36. Mulching
• Mulch the crop with a thin layer (½-
1”) at each feeding
• Examples – compost, worm castings,
straw with no weed seed
• Mulching aids in water retention
and weed control
• Turmeric tall, skinny so little shading
of weed competition

37. Harvest
• Just prior to harvest, water once to
make harvest easier
• Dig samples at 6-7 months to monitor
• Trim all leaves off a few days prior
• Containers
– Tip bags or containers on side
– Pull root ball from container
• Soil
– Undermine and gently lift using
broadforks

39. Processing/Storage
• Wash and separate rhizomes
• Handle gently so no scarring or nicks on
skin
• Store until sale at room temperature up
to 5-10 days
– Recommend to end users to store at room temp
for a few weeks – no bags
• Store for longer at 60-65F, no sunlight, dry,
well ventilated, up to 30-90 days

41. Saving Seed
• After harvest and processing (be gentle
with rhizomes saved for seed)
• Allow rhizomes to air cure for 5-10 days
– Well ventilated, dry, shady location
• Can be placed in crate or bucket with DRY
loose soil or sand
• Place stored rhizomes in cool, dry location
– 60-65F
• Hold for up to 90-100 days

43. Culture Tips
• Hill with about 1-2” media/soil if
rhizomes peek out of soil surface
• If leaves yellow then feed a bit more
• If saving seed do not overfeed
• Turmeric will grow in shade but
yields will be reduced
–25% shade at most
• Yields about 5-10 fold, depending
upon crop culture through season

45. Turmeric - Uses
• Uses
– Curries and many other culinary applications
• Mortar and pestle to make pulp
– Pickling
– Food Coloring/color stabilizer
– Ayurvedic Medicine
• Aches, liver disorders, wound care, pulmonary,
gastrointestinal, skin
– Conventional Medicine
• Anti-inflammatory in conjunction with others meds,
gastrointestinal, Alzheimer’s, cancer
• DO YOUR RESEARCH, TALK WITH HEALTH CARE
PROVIDER

46. Turmeric - Marketing
• Farmers’ markets
• Restaurants
• Winter markets
–Store rhizomes for later sales
• Value added ideas
–Dried turmeric
–Dyes

48. Sources
• http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/nat
ural/662.html
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17101300
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19110321
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17569205
• http://220.227.138.214:8080/dspace/bitstream/12
3456789/96/1/Vol.+VIII+No.1+(49-55).pdf

49. Sources
• http://botanydictionary.org/tunica-corpus-
theory.html
• http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/life-
science/nutrition-research/learning-center/plant-
profiler.html

50. Sources
• http://www.naturalstandard.com/
• http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2008/02/25/tur
meric-overca/