Tamarind

Plant family

Legumes (Fabaceae)

Season Overview

Details

Light requirement

Sunny

Water requirement

Wet

Soil

Medium (loamy)

Nutrient requirement

Medium

Seeding distance

2 cm

Row spacing

20 cm

Seeding depth

1 cm

Instructions

Description

Tamarinds, Indian dates or sour dates are the fruits or pods of the tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica), which belongs to the legume family (Fabaceae). The fruits are 5-20 cm long, cinnamon to brown in color. They consist mostly of carbohydrates and water. The taste of the pulp is sour-sweet. The tamarind tree grows up to 30 m tall, but as a container plant it remains much smaller and is related to the carob tree.

Growing tips

The seed is only lightly covered with soil, which is carefully pressed and watered. The planting container should be warm. As soon as cotyledons appear (you often have to wait eight weeks for this), the tamarind needs a bright place. A transparent plastic lid keeps the humidity high. Fertilize only after about eight weeks, before that the young plant takes care of itself from the reserve substances in the seed. The tamarind tree needs temperatures above 20°C throughout. (From my-beautiful-garden.com). It takes several years until a tamarind tree bears fruit. In vegetative propagation a little earlier.