How to Grow Indigo Plants & Process It into Blue Dye
Тәжірибелік нұсқаулар және стиль
Tips on how to grow and extract indigo pigment from homegrown plants. This method uses a variety of Japanese indigo, suited best for cooler climates. From this small batch, I was able to extract 19g of pure indigo pigment.
🧼 ENROLL in my NEW Natural Soapmaking Course: bit.ly/soapmakingcourse
Visit Bailiwick Blue for Indigo seeds and pigment: bailiwickblue.com/
💚Please like, comment, and subscribe
00:00 Introduction
02:45 How to Grow Indigo
04:14 Harvesting Indigo
05:24 Extracting Indigo from Leaves
10:54 Final Words on Growing and Extracting Japanese Indigo
📧 Free Newsletter Sign-up: www.subscribepage.com/lovelyg...
📚 Get the Lovely Greens Book
USA: amzn.to/3fKMij1
UK: amzn.to/3wkkW9g
Canada: amzn.to/3wkkW9g
More places: lovelygreens.com/a-womans-gar...
Indigo Hair Dyeing Video: • Two Step Fool-Proof In...
Rebecca Desnos Natural Dyeing: rebeccadesnos.com/
🤩 Gardening Discount Codes: linktr.ee/lovely.greens
👋 Connect with me
• lovelygreens.com/discover-lov...
• / lovely.greens
• / lovely.greens.iom
• Become a Patreon: / lovelygreens
*Lovely Greens is a participant in Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.
#garden #naturaldye #craft
Пікірлер: 135
This is the best video on the topic I've found. You didn't waffle, your steps were clear, and you explained the reasoning behind everything. Just a fantastic video.
@Lovelygreens
2 ай бұрын
Thank you so much 💙
This was so fascinating! I teach biology and I think I may incorporate this in the lab. Thank you for the lovely education, Tanya!
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
My pleasure - your kids would be fascinated! A good friend teaches hot process soapmaking in her chemistry class and hers love it! Practical science at its best 👌
@lissyadams6497
8 ай бұрын
That's-amazing-I-would-have-loved-this-at-schoolx
Nice to know there is an Indigo suited to cooler climes.
@sujathapankaj7647
10 күн бұрын
Yes. absolutely That is great information
This video was great! It would be fascinating to see other videos of the additional dye plants you're growing. Thanks!
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Thank you, and I'll keep it as an idea, especially when the madder is ready for harvesting 🙂
@ouisie99
8 ай бұрын
I would be interested to see you process other plants, as well. I'll be growing indigo, woad and a couple of others this coming year and, honestly, haven't thought much beyond the planting. @@Lovelygreens
I am growing Indigo for the first year and it isn't really hitting of.... So I thought, let's seek for tips and tricks. Only to find one of my most favourite YT-ers has already made this super clear video and I missed it....!! Thank you so much! 💙
@Lovelygreens
4 күн бұрын
You are most welcome! 💙😊
I have an entirely new appreciation for indigo products. Great presentation!!
Excellent video, thank you tor sharing the process and stages of how to make the dye. It was interesting to watch from start to finish. Regards.
Very beautifully explained and demonstrated.thanknyoubsooo much
WOW! What a process! And your indigo came out so blue 💙 thank you for the video!
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
SO blue! It's incredible 😍 💙
What a wonderful interesting video. You have a lot of patience and it paid off. Thank you for sharing this experience it really does inspire.
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
You're most welcome! A lot of the process was just waiting, but it was exciting seeing the colour develop and the pigment settle out each time.
Must appreciate how patient and hardworking person you are
What a great process.
Thank you . Really interesting
What a amazing video, thanks a lot
Wow, the process of growing & extracting the Indigo is so fascinating!! U ROCK!!
Bravo Tanya!
Incredible process! Thanks for sharing.
interesting tanya
Hard work paid off. Well done. Keep sharing🎉
This was so fantastic! Thanks so much for all the steps. So cool.
Great video Tanya. On a different topic find the music very relaxing in this one, After building my birdie planters and filling with soil now I know how Josh must of felt. Next job is to plant them up once I know what is being planted.
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Haha! Poor Josh. He's such a good sport with helping me in the garden :) Congratulations on your Birdies Beds! I'm sure they'll fill up before you know it 🙌
Thank you so much for the information!
Very interesting, Tanya. I look forward to seeing the blue soap.
Thank you!
Such a beautiful pigment. I enjoyed seeing the process.
Nice tutorial ! Thx u so much !!
Beautiful 🌿💙 Thank you for sharing!
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Thank you! Cheers!
amazing. thanks for sharing this!
@Lovelygreens
6 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very informative and inspirational, Thanks
Thank uou Tanya for sharing this info about indigo plants❤
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
My pleasure 😊
I loved this video. I didn’t realize there were so many indigo cultivars. It’s good to know there is one for my colder climate. The one you grew was quite a handsome plant. I am planning a herbal dye garden because I spin fiber and I am very interested in dying fiber/yarn. Have a great week Miss Tanya! TeresaSue.
I love learning from your channel! Thank you for sharing💜
@Lovelygreens
6 ай бұрын
My pleasure 💚
Oh.. My gosh.. Amazing experience.. Congratulations for your dedication and thanks sharing with us ♥️ good luck with your soap making. 😇
I have so many questions....! But definitely a very informative and interesting video.
So interesting.
Thank you for making this video. I am wanting to make some natural dyes in every color and this will help with the blue color.
Amazing🎉
Love it, I worked for Cone Denim, centuries ago and loved the smell of all the denim. The indigo was magical to watch. TY! Might have to try to grow it.
Great idea and instructions. More vids like this please.
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
More to come!
Wao! What a wonderful video to watch. I was mesmerized with your demonstration. Thank you Tanya for your teaching.
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
It's my pleasure 🙏
I love this slow process, it looks so peaceful. It's also my first time seeing that siphoning technique. Thank you! I'll try to learn the biochemistry of this too so I could better understand the dye and improve the filtration process.
@Lovelygreens
2 ай бұрын
I've not seen the siphoning technique, either, but it makes more sense to me doing it that way and not disturbing the indigo sediment.
Thanks for the video 💝💔💝
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
You're most welcome 💙
What-a-great-video-to-watch.Also-enjoying-your-dying-ideas-in-your-book-toox
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Thank you, Lissy 💙
This was amazingly informational. I am researching teaching natural fabric dyes with my elementary art students. Your video made it look achievable! Thank you so much!
@Lovelygreens
4 ай бұрын
Glad it was helpful!
They look a lot like basil! Thanks for the video…love it as usual
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
You're most welcome, Roxanne 💙
Thank you I’ve been wanting to paint with natural colors and I’ve been really wanting to do a Cubhouse too with the natural colors and you can do a lot of stuff with it. Thank you. This video is amazing so I live in Utah with it in Utah.
@Lovelygreens
24 күн бұрын
You are most welcome! How interesting to use indigo for paint 😍
Do you have a video using the powder you make?
Thank you for your video, lovely garden! Have you ever used Calcium Hydroxide aka Slaked Lime to precipitate and alkalize your extraction? I grew JI for the first time last summer, central California in 90+ degree weather and it did very nicely. I got 3 good pigment extractions and lots of fresh leaf extractions. I saved much seed as well. I love your technique and have learned new approaches. Thank you. 🌱
Wow! Makes me think.........who the heck discovered how to do this? Yikes! Absolutely Amazing!
Thank you Tanya! This is perfect -- l loved seeing your process. Would the same steps be involved in extracting dye from Dyer's Woad? and is it as blue as the Japanese Indigo?
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Yes, absolutely, but as I understand it, woad doesn't contain as much indican as indigo. So you'll get less dye and less vibrant blues from it. That's how the introduction of indigo to the European market destroyed woad as a crop in the 16th and 17th centuries.
@alpinereid5265
8 ай бұрын
@@Lovelygreens Thank you!
Wow that was fantastic to watch. Thank you for sharing. Where did you get your seeds from? I would love to try to extract some indigo. That was a brilliant video Tanya. Thank you. X
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it. What a fascinating process! 💙 I got my seeds from Bailiwick Blue bailiwickblue.com/collections/seed/seed
Now I want to plant indigo...
I seem to remember the ancient Britons used to use something called 'woad' to make a blue dye to paint themselves with. I must say that your flowers look very nice!
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Woad has the same blue pigment as indigo but just a smaller amount! It grows easily in temperate climates, though, even becoming invasive in some non-native areas.
😍😍😍wow!! thankyou so much for taking us along on your indigo extraction. Such nature magic! This is right up my alley! As a soapmaker, I can't wait to see your indigo soap made from this. Also I have a question for you.. Well a couple of questions actually😅So, I live in a hot climate, opposite to you i guess in the Isle of Man, could you tell me if there is an indigo variety that's suited to the hot north of Australia? And if so, can it be processed in the same way that you have here? I'd love to see you make some indigo dyed fabric as a future video idea if you are so inclined too, that would also be amazing! Love your work Tanya, you are a true garden goddess 😍
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Aww, thank you! 💙 there are indigos native to Australia, such as one of the plants I show a photo of early on. I'm not sure about its dye potential for blue, though! I imagine growing many temperate to subtropical plants is challenging for you due to heat, low humidity, and water scarcity in the soil. True indigo Indigofera tinctoria and Japanese indigo would probably be among them. They like lots of moisture and indirect light, if possible. But as I believe, where there's a will, there's a way!
can you recommend where I can buy a plant or get fresh seeds to grow kojyoko indigo plant?? thanks for the video!
@Lovelygreens
4 ай бұрын
In Britain, where I live, you can get seeds from Bailiwick Blue. Thats where mine is from.
Is the benefit of doing multiple rinses mostly to make sure it's just the indigo/no leftover soda ash?
@Lovelygreens
7 ай бұрын
Yes, as well as other impurities, as I understand it. If the indigo is going to be used for soapmaking, it's a good idea. I know that some people who extract indigo for textile dyeing don't bother, though.
Hello Tanya Lovely Greens. Making indigo looks like a very rewarding task. You have the patience of Job. Good to see. By the way , Can i send you a couple of pairs of faded Levis ?😄
Can you grow the entire plant indoors if you have to? Where I am the summers get so hot. Oh! And can you ferment Woad like this too?
@Lovelygreens
24 күн бұрын
It probably won't flourish as a houseplant, but there's no harm trying. Not only does it need warmth and sun but high humidity, which you won't have in the house. As for woad - yes, this is how you would extract woad pigment, too :)
@pumpkinslice1811
23 күн бұрын
@@Lovelygreens Does adding sugar to the vat help fermentation along? Sorry all these questions. 😅
I made an oops! I dried the indigo in the sun after each harvest. (I read somewhere that was the process!) Now that I have dried indigo grown from seed, is it possible to still ferment and use it?
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
You can, but it won't give you as much blue dye as fresh leaves. Dried indigo leaf is what's used for dark hair dye rather than blue dye!
Hello Tanya. I need an advice. Recently I received my seeds but its May already. What do you think is the best solution . To keep them till next season or try to plant.? I live in Toronto. Not sure if it's enough time to get a harvest . By the way is it perennial ? May be i should put in the pot this year?
@Lovelygreens
12 күн бұрын
Indigo seeds need to be sown in the same year as you get them because after their first year, they lose most of their viability.
This is awesome 😎 I live in Humid climate aka New Orleans! I would love to get some Plants 🌱 do you have a link ? Or seeds 😊
@Lovelygreens
6 ай бұрын
I'm not too sure about US sources but Google might be able to help 🙂
Did you record the weight of the plant material used? Just curious about the ratio of plant:powder dye
@Lovelygreens
14 күн бұрын
No, I didn't
@iAmGrizzlyBear420
13 күн бұрын
@Lovelygreens no worries, still helpful information either way 😁 I plan to do some tests myself to figure out exact yields.
How much patience you have to gradually show all the steps, great...
Now I want to grow some. I do need the cooler climate seeds. I have died wool long ago with indigo. That indigo required urine/ urea? and it looked green in the tub, but once exposed to oxygen it started turning blue. Must be a different plant.
@Lovelygreens
4 ай бұрын
You used urine? I've not heard of that in modern dyeing before.
@karswan
4 ай бұрын
@@Lovelygreens Yes. That was years ago when I was a member of a weaving guild.
Where can I find the seeds? Do they like warm or cold weather? What type of soils do they like acidic or alkaline
@Lovelygreens
7 күн бұрын
Indigo likes sub-tropical conditions - it dies if it approaches freezing. Seeds are supplied by various companies and individuals. What country are you in?
Indigo blue is not instant gratification is it? But so worth it. Great informative video.
@Lovelygreens
3 ай бұрын
You've definitely got to work for it, but the reward is dazzling 😍 Thank you
Curious. Do you do your native blue woad?
@Lovelygreens
11 күн бұрын
I have in the past, but it's inferior to indigo when it comes to the amount of pigment it contains.
@amandabearss797
10 күн бұрын
@@Lovelygreens ok.
Instead of pouring back and forth, wouldn't a bubbler do the job with less strenuous exercise? I have one pump from making a bubbler for worm "tea" which does require aeration. I'm in a temperate rainforest zone, so both woad and one variety of indigo will grow. I saw a video on a historical channel where they processed woad, it's colour has more green, but it's equally beautiful.
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Yes, a bubbler would work, but that's just another expense and gadget that, for most people, would be unnecessary. What's wrong with exercise? 🙂
Labour off love Tania 🥰😊
Can this be food coloring?
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Indigo isn't food safe, but you can grow and use butterfly pea flower for vivid blue food colouring 💙
Mother nature is absolutely amazing that one can get blue pigment from green leaves.
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
I totally agree!
Is greaseproof paper aka parchment paper?
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
It's waxed paper that doesn't allow oil or water through. Waxed baking paper.
@brandyjean7015
8 ай бұрын
@@Lovelygreensso I was just googling, various ways... and finally hit upon what is greaseproof paper called in the US? And the answer was parchment paper. It's actually a silicone treated paper that doesn't leak. The old fashioned wax paper (what my childhood sandwiches were wrapped in before ziplock bags) does leak if it gets a crease & the wax cracks. It still entertainings me the differences across the pond in our common language. I'm retired in the foothills of the Cascades in SW Washington state, so indigo wasn't even on my radar until you introduced me to this species. So thanks again.
Wish i was there, i would love to help you out for free.. i love gardning! I'd entertain Maggie and Cosmo... Right now i have a fever but nothing is better then Tanya and her garden!!
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Thank you and speedy recovery, Jeanine! 💙
Can it be used in food? Or is it toxic?
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
I'm not sure how toxic it is, but it's not food safe. For homegrown natural blue dye, grow butterfly pea flowers.
Can’t you leave some to grow seeds?
@Lovelygreens
11 күн бұрын
You can - they seed prolifically, whether you want the plants to or not 🙂
Can i still do that without a greenhouse 😢?
@Lovelygreens
4 ай бұрын
It depends on your climate. Indigo is a subtropical plant that doesn't grow well or produce much dye in cool climates.
My birthday today 🎉🎉🎉
@Lovelygreens
8 ай бұрын
Happy birthday!
@craigbeas6111
8 ай бұрын
@@Lovelygreens thankyou 🎉💐💐👍
We grow blue indigo in New England USA no problem whatsoever
Can u send me powder?
@Lovelygreens
5 ай бұрын
Sorry, no. But you know how to grow your own now.
I would LOVE a series on natural plant dyes. Maybe you could make a playlist. Natural grays, browns, greens, yellows, oranges, reds, violets, and blues. 🪴🌈🌱❤️🌿
@Lovelygreens
3 ай бұрын
You should find my friend Rebecca Desnos on Instagram 🩷