Madder Root Growing Conditions
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: David Hober
Posted on: January 03, 2008

We have a business weaving silk and making neckties based in Isan the northeast region of Thailand.

I am interested growing madder root and other traditional dye plants such as indigo here in Thailand.

I am wondering how madder root will grow here and how much water it needs.

Also if I purchase seeds from you how easy is it to get them to germinate?

Madder is hardy for outdoor growing in USDA zones 4 to 10 (our catalogue says zones 5-10, but this is a bit out-dated)which means that it can take average annual minimum winter temperatures of minus 20 to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 29 to minus 23 degrees Celsius. It should be able to tolerate summer heat up to zone 10. I presume your home does not get much, if any frost in winter, but probably gets lots of summer heat. Plant the madder in a shady spot, mulch well and keep moist to keep down the root zone temperature.

The seeds are easy to germinate. The "E" after usage symbols (to the right of the Latin name) means it is easy to germinate. If the letter were to be an "M", it would mean it is of moderate difficulty to germinate and a "D" means it would be difficult to germinate. This legend is found in the centre of our catalogue.

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