curry plant makeover

My Curry Plant has grown astonishingly since coming inside. But I don't like how the lower stems are full of dead leaves.

So today I cut it down severely. There was plenty of new growth at the base of the plant, I cut down to that.

Here's what's left! It also went into a new, clay pot.

Back in the sunny windowsill.

I took all the cuttings and decided to experiment with growing them into new plants.

I was short on potting soil (in fact today's work used up all the rest of it) so it made sense to mix in sand, for this plant that likes fast drainage. These five got stuck into the tiniest clay pots.

With the rest of the cuttings I remembered to dip their stems into rooting hormone

and then they all got set in the shadier kitchen windowsill. Filled it up entirely. There's about twenty-five cuttings in all. The last three larger pots (pure sand by that point) have two or three per.

I'm not sure how well this growing experiment will go. The last attempt I made with masses of cuttings they all died. But that was probably because they got moldy; I was trying to keep them moist under plastic but not getting good ventilation. Here I can't cover them for humidity; the tender fuzzy foliage has to stay dry. For now the sand is nice and moist.

I am tempted to snip off all their little heads to get rid of the droopy look and encourage branching, but am afraid they'll loose too much moisture with an injury, so I'll wait.

Incidentally, I just noticed today how like the Tarragon (growing anew but slowly) the Curry Plant foliage is.

I also found out reading up on this plant online again, that some people think curry plant smells like maple syrup. And now when I put my nose near it smells like maple syrup to me, too. I don't know if I'll ever get the impression of curry-scent back again, but I love this new smell! In spite of its uselessness in the kitchen, I'm starting to be fond of this curious, pale plant.