Vetiver is one of our favorite essential oils. (We’ve used it in a number of our Recipes and Blending Guides in the Atlantic Aromatic Library.) In a blend, it offers a deep, rich, earthy tone. Therapeutically, it also has great anti-inflammatory and grounding properties.

It’s always an incredible experience to get to know the plants of the oils we love so dear. Being a member of the Grass Family, Vetiver is pretty easy to grow here in Florida, so I have enjoyed growing it, harvesting it, and sharing it with friends!

My first harvest was a couple of years ago, yielding one little ball, which we gave to Timothy Miller when we met him for lunch in January of 2017. We told him it was to help bring him back to Florida soon, and it worked! He ended up teaching a class here that October.

I replanted the stalks from that harvest, and they produced three giant plants, so I began digging up around them. I’ve seen videos of a much larger Vetiver production, where they used a tractor to chain off a 10-foot wide plant and lift it after a six-foot hole had been dug around the roots. My smaller, three-foot plants were difficult enough. Next time, I'm putting the roots in a pipe, so that I can retrieve the roots more easily.

My friend Rehne in LA got me started on growing Vetiver by sending me some of my first stalks. Rehne plants her Vetiver in a 12-inch corrugated pipe that’s been cut and put back together—placing it partially in the ground. With this method, harvest is easy. Pull out the pipe, open it, and voila!

Where are those pipes when I need them? At least I know now and will try that this year.

Now, harvesting is quite the experience. The smell of the Vetiver is instant—as soon as the shovel hits the soil. The sound of breaking roots was inevitable, and as I dug deeper, the roots revealed themselves.

Once the roots are washed, they are white and plump, and they smell of earth. This smell permeated my porch for the next week.

Once I trimmed off their leaves, I cut the roots off. Then I began to separate them into stems with a bit of root for replanting. Once the roots were free, they got several soakings, power squirts, and more soaking to clean them of dirt. Drying overnight, they easily dropped the dry sand the more I cleaned the stalks. I separated the rootless and now they’re ready to replant—this time in pipes. It was a messy job separating the stalks; once done, I gave the roots a final trim and collected a few small pieces that I could use for incense!

I made one ball for a friend, a tradition we started with the first harvest last year. Tried to do another, but I may end up weaving these fibers to make a fragrant basket! Perhaps with a bit of Lavender?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Nw83dJEw4

Sylla's Vetiver Planting Tips:

To facilitate harvesting vetiver roots, Sylla recommends planting individual vetiver stems in sections of black corrugated plastic drain pipe.

Planting Instructions:

1. After harvesting roots, trim the leaves and separate vetiver into individual stems, ensuring each has some root remaining.
2. Cut black corrugated plastic drain pipe into 12-inch (or longer if desired) sections.
3. Dig a hole and place a pipe section vertically in the ground, with approximately half below and half above the surface.
4. Fill the bottom half of the pipe with soil, level with the surrounding ground.
5. Plant the vetiver in the top few inches of soil within the pipe.
6. Allow the vetiver to grow for one to two years, depending on your climate.

Harvesting:

1. Once mature, easily pull the pipe from the ground.
2. Cut down the side of the plastic pipe to access and harvest the vetiver roots. NOTE: The cut pipe can be reused when replanting.
3. Repeat the process for subsequent harvests.

Learn more about Vetiver at vetiver.org and their Facebook page.

Have you ever grown Vetiver? If so, what did you do with it? Leave us a comment below!