Indigofera tinctoria
Indigo
The dye made from this
Saturn plant is
produced by fermentation and has been used in Asia
for over 5000 years. At the beginning of the
17th century, it replaced woad in Western Europe
as the blue dye of choice because of its greater
strength. Despite its rather complicated
preparation, indigo is one of the few blue dyes
from nature, it does not fade, it dyes in cold
water, and it requires no mordant. In early
America, some types of indigo were so valued that
cubes of it were used as money, and it was a
valuable crop on Sea Island plantations, where
slaves were made to stand in the vats and
oxygenate the dye by paddling it for 2-3 days.
In India it is known as black henna and
employed in hair dye and hair dressing oils as
well as body decoration; there the
British Empire forced peasants to grow it for
export instead of rice for food because the
British so valued the color. It also plays a
role in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where the
herb's bitterness is applied to stop bleeding and
as an antiseptic. Indigo red, a brown aspect
of the dye, has been shown to be effective against
leukemia. This plant is a legume, which
means it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It also kills
nematodes. The color indigo represents the Third
Eye and is traditionally associated with deep
meditation and great stillness.
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How to grow
Indigo: This tender
perennial needs hot, humid weather and a mild
climate, but it can be grown in more northern
climes as an annual. Rub the seeds gently between
sand paper to wear off part of the coat and then
soak for 24 hours in warm water. Bottom heat can
speed germination after sowing, but it can still take
3 weeks to germinate. It likes
full sun and grows 3-6ft/90-180cm tall. You can
harvest the leaves up to four times a year.
General
growing info.
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Indigofera tinctoria
Indigo
75 seeds $4.00
Uses in
Witchcraft & Magic:
Saturn Herb
Other Dye Plants:
Woad
Weld
Dyer's
Chamomile
Dyer's Broom
Dyer's
coreopsis
Safflower
© 2004, 2012 Harold A. Roth; No reproduction without permission