Plant · P-941

Indigo True

Indigofera tinctoria

True indigo is a fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing shrub grown for its leaves, which are fermented and oxidised into the deep blue dye that gives the plant its name and that has coloured cloth across Asia and Africa for centuries. Native to Malaysia and now pantropical, it wants full sun to light shade and moist, well-drained soil, and needs shelter from hot drying wind. Cut back to 10-20 cm above ground every four to five months, it can be harvested for dye up to three times a year.