Cultivation of Moringa Seeds – Plant seeds one inch deep; keep the soil moist after planting. As there is much genetic diversity among Moringa Oleifera, sprouting can occur within a week or as long as two or three weeks. We have also observed seeds germinating faster in warm weather than cool. Seedlings grow rapidly, reaching 9-15 inches in a couple months. Cutting off the tops of the trees to a height of 3-4½ feet encourages branching and bushing at lower stem positions. Moringa prefers well drained soils and has high drought resistant but is not cold tolerant. Temperatures below 35 degrees Fahrenheit will cause it to die back to ground level or even kill the plant altogether if the roots are allowed to freeze. Moringa trees are prolific and can grow up to 15 -20 feet in a year.
Harvesting Moringa trees – Harvest very young whole plants, young leaves and even older leaflets and flowers for food. Pick the slender young pods (referred to as drumsticks) for eating whole like asparagus, or boil the older pods and then the seeds and the white, fleshy interior can be scooped out and consumed. Repeatedly prune the older flowering branches to stimulate production of new branch shoots.
For more information about Moringa, visit this website, Trees for Life, a non profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about this miracle tree:
http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa
Below is a moringa oleifera tree on the University of Arizona campus.
For those who would like to see it in person, it's on the SE corner of Gila Hall, located here
