Liquorice

[ina]

Has anybody ever grown liquorice? I've been given a plant - well, a seedling, really - and would love to grow it on, but I'm not sure where to put it in a small garden... And whether it would do anything at all in a container.

[Green Aura]

It's apparently a sub-tropical plant, ina, so I'm guessing it'll be a houseplant where you live.

You can grow it in a pot, which will restrict its growth but that's maybe not a bad thing as its roots can get to 10m deep in the ground!

It likes a sunny spot, free draining compost/loam/sand mix and to be kept well-watered in the growing season. It grows best in a 15-30C temperature window and can't tolerate frosts. You can harvest roots after two years.

Easy, in NE Scotland.

It looks quite pretty though, so good luck with it and don't eat too much. It's really good for you in lots of ways but can play havoc with blood pressure.

[Odsox]

I've often thought I'd like to grow liquorice, but have yet to actually do so.
It should be OK in your garden, after all it was once grown commercially in Yorkshire (Pontefract) and so obviously can survive frosts and wet weather.
Now you've got me thinking about growing some again

[MKG]

Here you go, Ina ...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/g ... rdens.html

It's a lot of bother to go to to chew a brown stick

[ina]

Thanks for all your replies. Well - doesn't sound like the ideal plant for my garden... But I do love liquorice - and not the allsorts kind, which is very little liquorice and lots of sugar and other nasties - and it does look nice, so maybe I'll put it in a large pot for starters, and then think again next year!

[Brewtrog]

I've been growing it for 6 years now, harvested it once. It grows very happily in my herb garden, perhaps a little too happily, I've had to pull up shoots of it a few times. I don't give it any special treatment, just leave it to it and cut back any dead growth. Looking forward to harvesting it again this year, although I have a feeling it's going to be fun avoiding the rest of the plants while I dig it up.

[diggernotdreamer]

Yuk

[Green Aura]

Yuk

Yup, pretty much on a par with brussel sprouts in my book.

[Odsox]

Yuk

Yup, pretty much on a par with brussel sprouts in my book.

There are some weird people about.
I love both and actually look forward to the first Brussels sprouts every year.

[Green Aura]

I like Bertie Bassett's, I think. It's probably 20 years since I last had any.

[ina]

Yuk

Yup, pretty much on a par with brussel sprouts in my book.

There are some weird people about.
I love both and actually look forward to the first Brussels sprouts every year.

So do I!

[MKG]

I wonder what Brussels cooked in liquorice juice taste like. Mmmmmm - scrummy!!!!!

[ina]

I wonder what Brussels cooked in liquorice juice taste like. Mmmmmm - scrummy!!!!!

Er, no, thanks. Definitely separately.

And I love salty liquorice, which is almost impossible to get here... Sigh. One of those things friends bring back from Germany for me.

It's also really good if you have a sore throat!

[Green Aura]

A friend of mine, also German, dissolves this salt licorice you speak of in vodka and serves it up at her New Year party. Foul and lethal, in equal measure, in one shot glass.

[ina]

A friend of mine, also German, dissolves this salt licorice you speak of in vodka and serves it up at her New Year party. Foul and lethal, in equal measure, in one shot glass.

No thanks. Well, I don't like vodka...