Growing Guide: Grow Moringa Trees on Your Homestead Donna Larson, March 27, 2024March 27, 2024 Have you thought of growing The Tree of Life? This miracle tree is easy to grow, and it’s incredibly nutrient dense, packed with antioxidants. Let’s look at why and how you can grow moringa on your homestead. Grow Moringa at Home Most anyone can grow moringa. Whether you’re on a large scale homestead for animal fodder, or in a suburban yardstead. You can keep it trimmed neatly like a hedge, or you can grow tall, willowy trees that sway with the wind. Your homestead, no matter how large or small, needs to grow moringa. What is Moringa? Moringa oleifera tree, known as the Tree of Life, is said to be the most nutrient dense super food in the world. Let’s look at some of the facts. Moringa has seven times more Vitamin C than oranges. It has more iron than spinach. Moringa has more calcium than milk. Moringa leaves have more protein content than eggs. It has more Vitamin A (beta carotene) than carrots. There are 15 essential amino acids in the moringa plant. It is truly a powerhouse plant that you can add to your regular diet. Why You Need to Grow Moringa There are reports around the world of countless healing properties of moringa. Some are scientifically proven, and some are merely anecdotal. Entire cultures relieve certain ailments by using moringa on a regular basis. Here’s a list of possible medicinal uses for moringa: 1. It’s anti-inflammatory. The science is in on this claim, and nobody disputes it. Taking six to ten grams of green leaves per day (double that for dried leaves), can help relieve inflammation-induced pain. 2. Moringa contains the substance niazimicin, anticancer agents that eat cancer cells. 3. Lactating mothers use this plant in India to help boost their production of breast milk. More importantly, studies show that mothers who ingest moringa improve the quality of their breast milk. They found a higher count of fatty acids, like oleic acid, which is important for infant brain development. 4. People may use the leaves of the moringa plant as a laxative, but this effect requires a large dose. Ironically, small amounts can help soothe the digestive tract by reducing inflammation of the lining. 5. The extracts from the seeds and leaves of M. Oleifera (moringa) are being used worldwide in the treatment of antibacterial-resistant strains of Staph A, E. coli, pseudomonas, and more. This information fascinates me, as a dairy woman. Staph A is pretty much a death sentence to dairy cows. If moringa extracts successfully treat this type of mastitis, it can change the diagnosis. 6. Researchers are testing moringa in trials with diabetic patients, hoping to control their blood sugar. The jury is still out on this one though. There doesn’t seem to be consistency is studies that show positive results for better controlling insulin levels. 7. Moringa extract is used in treating asthma and bronchi infections to help open the airways in the lungs. 8. Those with high blood pressure can use moringa to lower their blood pressure with almost certainty in just hours. 9. Since it’s rich in iron, cultures around the world use moringa to help treat anemia and sickle cell disease. 10. Scientists believe that compounds in the moringa plant help protect the nervous system; however they don’t fully understand how. Depression, multiple sclerosis and other nervous system diseases may be treated with moringa. That’s only ten medicinal uses of moringa that we know of today. There are several more also, too many to list in a blog post. Grow Moringa for Livestock Besides that exciting find of using moringa to treat for staph a., cultures around the world feed moringa to their livestock for its nutrient content. Moringa growers are farming blocks of the miracle tree as a livestock fodder crop. Moringa is then fed to ruminant animals in particular to increase their nutrients and long-stem, rough fiber. For cows, eating moringa can increase their milk production by as much as 25%. Because it’s such a fast-growing tree, they’re able to succession sow their crop, harvest leaves, and regrow for future harvests. Consequently, some climates around the Equator can grow moringa in this way year round so that they’re harvesting five and six times annually. Grow Moringa For Water Purification If you grow moringa to a fully mature tree, it’ll grow seed pods. The seeds are edible or may be harvested for planting new trees, but some parts of the world use them to clean their water. Trees for Life fully explains how to use the seed pods for water purification. Moringa Plant Care Alright, you’re convinced right? You need to grow moringa on your homestead. Let’s learn how to do it. To start, you need to understand that moringa is a subtropical tree. I’m growing in USDA zone 9a, where we border subtropical with temperate, and we’re growing moringa as a perennial just fine. There are many folks who grow moringa up to zone 7 in the United States, but they have to protect the root ball in winter. Consequently, the tree will go dormant, but it comes back in the spring. Light Moringa loves full sun and heat. The more sunlight that you can give it, the better. Even in Florida, where I always say that “full sun” doesn’t mean the same thing here. Moringa is happy with 12-14 hours of sunshine. Since it tolerates our brutal summers so much better than most anything else, I’m using moringa to help create microclimates in my garden. I’m planting moringa on the western side to cast afternoon shade over parts of my in ground beds, benefitting both the moringa and those shaded plants. Soil Moringa needs almost no nutrients added to a poor soil. It likes well draining, sandy soil. This makes moringa incredibly easy for anyone to grow, unless you’re in a bog. Water Most importantly, moringa doesn’t want to be over-watered. Moringa prefers to be watered sparingly. This makes it a lovely drought-tolerant addition to any homestead. Seeds do need to stay moist in order to germinate, and I’d give it more water during it’s first year of growth. Once it establishes roots, you can pretty much neglect your moringa tree, and it’ll still thrive. Temperature Again, it likes the heat, the humidity, and the sunshine. A colder climate will have a hard time keeping this tree alive through freezes. Fertilizer I don’t have a professional opinion or actual advice on this. What I do have is my own personal experience. I’m on year three of my first moringa tree, and I’ve yet to fertilize it. The moringa tree has a nice tap root that reaches deep in search of nutrients. You can feed your moringa a high phosphorus organic fertilizer, such as bone meal, while your young sapling is establishing a root system. If you notice a lack of leafy growth, you can add some higher nitrogen. Composted chicken manure or feather meal are good options for extra nitrogen. Leaf Harvest Every part of the plant can be harvested for edible or medicinal use. However, when you grow moringa at home, you’re probably only going to focus on a leaf harvest or a pod harvest. The leaves are the most common part used for health benefits at home. You can take them fresh, or dehydrate and use them later. If you dehydrate them, you’ll need twice as many leaves (by weight) to equal the same beneficial properties of fresh, green moringa leaves. To harvest the leaves, simply strip the small branches with your hands, dropping the fresh leaves into a container as you go. You can easily break the small limbs off of the trunk. If you allow the larger branches to remain on the trunk after stripping the leaves, they may grow new leaves. Generally, you can cut all of the branches off when you harvest the leaves at once. The tree will be signaled to sprout new limbs. If there’s time left before your freezing winters, you’ll get another harvest. In my zone, 9a, we can get four leaf harvests out of an established moringa tree each year. Seed Pods If you skip the leaf harvest and allow your moringa tree to grow to full maturity, it’ll flower. Pollinators love the beautiful cascade of yellow moringa flowers. If they successfully pollinate your moringa flowers, they’ll grow into pods. Pods grow to about twelve inches long from the top of the tree canopy. When they fully dry, you can cut the trunk of the tree at about three to four feet from the ground. Don’t worry, this kind of pruning encourages new growth. Take the leaves and the dried seed pods. The dried seed pods, which look like giant beans, can be broken open to reveal the seeds. In some places of the world, the seeds are ground into a flour for making porridge or small cakes. The seeds are the part used for water purification mentioned already. For us, we simply use the seeds for sharing to grow moringa and for extra seedlings. Starting Seeds Moringa seeds are probably the easiest I’ve ever started. I’ve heard of soaking them in a damp paper towel, or snipping the end of the seed before planting. On the contrary, I did nothing special to my moringa seeds before planting. In fact, I held onto seeds for four or five years before I finally got the courage to plant them. I had three seeds. I planted them about 2 inches deep in mushroom compost. Two of those came up. I had planted them pretty close together because I wasn’t sure what my germination rate would be. After I saw the two had sprouted, I removed one. The other is now three years old in my garden, and it’s thriving. Grow Moringa From a Cutting I’m told that moringa is easily propagated from cuttings of the limbs. Supposedly, they can be placed in a bucket of fresh water until they grow roots. Once rooted, you should be able to plant them into a mixture of soil or directly into your garden bed. Alternatively, you can simply stick the cut limbs directly into a pot of moist soil, and they should root. The best time to take cuttings to root is in a warm Spring or Summer when the plant is naturally in an active growth stage. Winter dormancy will hinder your efforts to propagate your moringa tree. Perennial Plant Remember, moringa thrives in tropical climates. If you’re in a temperate climate, you can keep moringa as a perennial if you protect the roots during hard freezes. Heavily mulching the base of the plants is recommended through winter for those cooler zones. For us, we let it grow through winter as best as it can, then we copus the whole thing to about three feet. As Spring temperatures arrive, and the evenings stay in the 60s or higher, the moringa tree will begin to grow new shoots, kicking off the growing season. Growing Problems Space has been the only issue that I’ve found in growing moringa thus far. Moringa trees can grow quite tall, reaching heights of up to 30 feet in optimal conditions. This may not be suitable for smaller gardens or tight growing spaces unless pruned regularly to maintain a manageable size. This is as much of a problem as growing most any other crop. If you have the space, definitely grow moringa. Pests and Disease Moringa is generally resistant to pests and diseases, but it can still be susceptible to issues like aphids, caterpillars, and powdery mildew. Regular monitoring and appropriate pest management strategies may be necessary. Our organic pest control measures can be used in your moringa care plan if needed. Summary Due to its easy nature, its dense nutrient content, and its multiple medicinal purposes, most homesteaders would find growing moringa to be a great choice. They have excellent potential to provide your family and livestock with an easy to grow, powerful super food. I encourage you to start your own moringa tree at your homestead. If you want to hear more on this topic, I invite you to listen to our podcast episode with our friend, Moringa John. Happy Growing! Donna @ Hazel Belle Farm Donna and her family have been homesteading for most of their 20+ years together in some shape or fashion. She currently lives on their 20 acre farm where they grow as much food as possible. What started as a just a few laying hens, has grown into large gardens, pastured poultry, pork, and lamb. They are continuously evolving their small farm to not suit their family’s needs, but also providing to their local community. Donna’s favorite part of the family farm is her self-built micro-dairy, where she gets to love on dairy cows while serving her local community. Milking, cheesemaking, and processing dairy have become the soul of their homestead and the center of their farm. Sources: Web MD Medical News Today National Library of Medicine Trees For Life MoringaTree.org Gardening Homesteading