Curry Leaf Tree Care Guide
Picture by @melati_citrawireja
Upon receiving your new kadipatta plant, follow these steps to help it acclimate and thrive in your climate:
Transplant your plant into a slightly bigger pot with drainage holes.
We recommend using our custom soil blend created especially for curry leaf trees “The Dream Home.” If you have not taken the class and learned about the blend then we recommend using well draining soil, ideally organic potting soil with additional perlite or pumice, or use cactus/succulent mix.
When transplanting, make sure to avoid disturbing the roots. Try filling the new pot ⅓ up with soil, then carefully place your new plant into the pot and fill around the plant with soil.
Water the new transplant in well.
General Care Tips
If you live in Zones 9 or lower (regions with a frost), it’s best to keep your plant indoors except for during the hot summer months. Even in some areas of Zones 10+, it grows better indoors year round (i.e. Berkeley). Do not consider planting your curry leaf tree into the ground until it’s at least 4-5 years old and you live in a climate where the temperatures rarely dip below 50 degrees F.
Indoors, curry leaf trees can handle sun all day. Outside, curry leaf trees will appreciate some shade in the afternoon if temperatures usually exceed 90 degrees F.
Being a tropical plant, it thrives in heat and humidity. Try to mimic those conditions as best as possible. Place your plant in a South facing window or outside along a South facing wall.
Avoid placing your plant next to a heat vent as this will burn your leaves.
Curry leaves grow rapidly once the weather warms. During the Spring and Summer, fertilize your plant every 2 weeks. In order to ensure adequate nutrients consider alternating between fish emulsion and kelp meal every week.
Only water when the top 1-2 inches of soil are dry. Overwatering is the biggest cause of stress on the tree. Reduce watering even further in the Winter. Common signs of over watering are yellowing leaves.
Mist your leaves at least once a week with a spray bottle. Spray the leaves with a diluted misture of epsom salt and water. The magnesium in epsom salt will help make the leaves darker green. (There is no science behind how to spray, just spray a few times so droplets form on the leaves).
Do not start harvesting the leaves until your plant is at least 8” tall (measuring from the top of soil). Harvest from the bottom and move your way up. Harvest the entire petiole at a time. Make sure to leave at least 1/3 of its foliage intact so the plant can continue to grow and photosynthesis.
Pest Management
When watering, use a watering can or something similar (shower head, hose, etc) and water from above allowing all the leaves and stem to get drenched. This can act as a preventative measure against pests.
Check for pests on the top and bottom of leaves, and on the stem, every couple weeks. If you see aphids or spider mites you can remedy the situation by doing the following:. Spray down the entire plant with a hose/shower head to remove the initial insects. Spray a diluted mix of neem oil on the plant making sure to saturate both the top and bottom of leaves and the stem. Wipe away excess neem oil. If the temperature is higher than 80 degrees, move your plant to a location out of direct sunlight. Neem oil can (and will) burn the leaves at high temps. You may have to repeat this process every couple days for a week or two to completely eliminate the outbreak.
Alternatively, if you see a small onset of aphids, you can spray a diluted solution of soapy water on the affected area. Repeat this every couple days until the aphids are gone.
Scale and Mealy bugs require a slightly more tedious approach: Begin by spraying down the entire plant with water then soak either a paper towel, cotton swap or q-tip with rubbing alcohol and manually remove the insects. The insects will die immediately upon contact with the rubbing alcohol but removing the insects helps the removal of eggs as well. This process will need to be repeated at least once more (after 3-4 days) to remove any additional eggs that have hatched.
Regardless of which pest is present, repeating the removal process is essential to completely eradicating the pest outbreak. The pest is likely in different parts of its life cycle. Spraying will kill off the current pest but the eggs will still continue to hatch. So the repeating the process will help eliminate the newly hatch eggs and prevent them from multiplying further.
Pruning
Avoid harvesting leaves until the plant is at least 8 inches tall. Try to harvest minimally from the tree when they are young. Always harvest the entire petiole from the bottom and make your way up.
The tree will begin to flower after 1 full year of growth. Pinch off flowers in the subsequent years to send energy back to leaf production.
Pinching off the growing tip will greatly increase the leaf production and overall health and vigor of the plant. Only pinch your plant if it is at least 12” tall and it is actively growing (i.e. Spring or early Summer).
If both of these conditions are met then pinch off an inch or two of the growing tip. Within a few weeks you will see new branches forming at the leaf nodes.
If your plant has already become a tall skinny stick consider giving it a hard prune. Cut back 1/3 to 1/2 of its length. Though it feels drastic to do so, it will produce a bushier and healthier
Winter Months
Winter months are difficult for small kadipattas. When night time temperatures drop below 55 degrees it’s time to bring your plant back inside. Overwatering is the most common way of stressing your plant. Only water when the soil is completely dry. Allowing the roots to sit in moist soil for too long will turn your leaves yellow and cause other issues.
Only mist the leaves when you know they will be able to dry/evaporate quickly. Misting isn’t necessary in the Winter.
Once a month water in your plant with a diluted mixture of epsom salt water (2 tbsp epsom salt in 1 gallon of water). Fertilizing isn’t neccessary but if you’d like to see some growth through the Winter consider using fish emulsion or another type of low strength fertilizer once a month.
Warmth is integral for your plant to remain happy during the colder months. If you live in a location without many sunny days, consider buying a heat mat. Set the temperature to 70 degrees and place your plant on there through the Winter.
Your plant may go dormant, the leaves may turn yellow and droopy, or other issues may arise. This is its response to the cold weather. In the Spring, it will most likely bounce back with a flush of new growth. It’s best to not over think it and just let your plant survive through the Winter.