How To Keep Moringa Trees Bushy | Drumstick Tree

How To Keep Moringa Trees Bushy

The moringa tree also known as the drumstick tree is native to India and Africa; it's a subtropical tropical tree that we grow here right here in Plant City right outside Tampa, Florida. We're just right off of I-4 and macintosh and we're open Saturdays from 10 to 2. You can grab moringa trees in pots as well as many of the other moringa tree products that we make fresh and local. The drumstick is the most valuable part of the moringa tree. It holds the most amount of nutrients, it holds the most amount of value, it's eaten prevalently throughout the

developing world as a staple food vegetable.

We got this one from Grow Moringa Farms, this is one of our

first drumsticks that we harvested right on the farm some from some of our trees. The reason why we're able to harvest drumsticks that are so thick and big is because we popped the flowers off the drumsticks within the first year. We've been here about a year and a half at this new property which is a rent to own. I used to work here seven years ago as a nursery hand right in this back area. It's been really lovely getting a hold of this property, getting stable, getting the roots on the ground; and that's what we're doing we're growing moringa trees. We're growing moringa in many different ways and I'd love to share them with you.

Sprouting Cuttings

Pop The Flowers

Growing moringa from cuttings they have a little bit more information in the bark and the DNA that's being carried over to the new roots and so they flower very easily. You can see a beautiful flower here. We separate all the flowers we keep the flowers and we sell them separate from the leaves because they're even more anti-inflammatory and they're great in teas and things like that. They're also very good pollinators for bees but the purpose right now is to keep this tree bushy in a pot. To keep it more bushy and flush that way you get a better sale,

and you get fresh greens all the time. A flower will pollinate go to seed and

turn into a drumstick that hangs off the trees. It can take a lot of energy to make this drumstick, so what's going to happen is the tree is going to lose all its leaves

and it's going to stop growing and it's going to put all the energy into making this vegetable. So what you're going to want to do is pop all your flowers off the first year or two years until she's tall enough to make flowers that you can't reach.

That's when I know that she's tall enough to to go to flower and to seed. She's got tons of branches, they're taller than me and I can't reach them I'm like an

animal in the wild seeing these beautiful flowers as a food source and eating them.

Cutting Back Seedlings

It's natural for moringa leaves to turn yellow at the bottom so you just pop the bottom leaves off she'll grow taller and taller and she'll have fresh new green leaves at the top. Moringa leaves are short life short life span, they are very thin. One of the ways to keep your moringa tree bushy if she's

starting to lose her leaves, if she's starting to stretch, if she's starting to get too tall, you cut it and it regrows a new stem.

So if at any time you receive any trees from us and the trees look damaged up top have no fear just cut the stem and she will regrow a new one just like this.

Moringa Pots in Partial Shade

We got some trees going, they just popped. These are all about

maybe a month or two. We have a nice couple rows forming. As I go further back into the shade they get a little taller, they get a little bit more flush, and they start to look a little bit more green and bushy. If you're growing moringa trees in a pot try not to keep them in full sun. They don't have a cooling mechanism. Since their roots are not connected to the earth and the ground

and they're not protected by that natural climate, that natural geothermal temperature which is a cool 67 degrees.

Popping The Top Off

This one was about to stretch so I went ahead and just popped that

top off. She's going to split from the nodes on the branches still left on. You can keep them or take them off, these are "solar panels", they'll fall off naturally. You can eat the top as a fresh micro green.

Where To Cut On Bigger Trees

I haven't touched this tree since moving in. Just letting it do it's thing. I cut it back once, I popped the flowers a couple times, it was real bushy, it had a lot of greens on them, but I wanted to use this row as an example so you could see

why they're not bushy. I'd come back and I'd cut it back here about 18 inches from the split, that way from the collars they regrow new branches and it splits out and gets more bushy. So just cut it back here at a 45 degree angle about 18 inches from the split. And this tree will be a short bushy tree within a couple of weeks from now.