Persicaria tinctoria is an annual green leafy plant with small pink flowers. Also known as Japanese indigo. The leaves of this plant are used by natural dyers to attain the color blue. The leaves contain the indigo molecule indigotin. Next to Indigofera tinctoria they have some of the highest concentration for the dye. There are many ways to extract the indigo from this plant from using it fresh to composting it!

These seeds are from our tiny indigo farm at our house in Oakland, California. They have been grown without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. We hand picked and cleaned the seeds carefully for the best germination rate. We usually start our seeds indoors in the beginning of March but some will volunteer in the garden as early at January in Oakland! We grow the plants to three feet tall and cut down the plant to six inches from the ground. At this point we harvest and dry or use the leaves fresh for dye. We will get two harvests and one last harvest of seeds. This is a great addition to your dye garden!

Maturity: 150 days
Germination: 55 -70 F
Germination Time: 14 days
Growth dims: 1-3 feet high
Spacing: 12 inches
Plant: Full sun - part sun
Soil: Nitrogen rich
Sow: 1/4 inch deep in rich soil, tamp securely, keep evenly moist and maintain at 70 to 75 degrees F for best germination. 
Water: moderate watering
Amount: 150 seeds per packet

Learn more about growing, processing, and dyeing with indigo in our new book Journeys in Natural Dyeing

$9.00