Ashwagandha Combo Pack, Ashwagandha, Vedic, Withania Somnifera, Ashwagandha, African, Organic Seeds, GMO Free Seeds, Heirloom Seeds
Includes: 1 Ashwagandha (vedic), 1 Ashwagandha (African Type)
Name: Ashwagandha
Scientific Name: Withania somnifera
Ashwagandha is applied to the skin for treating wounds, backache, and one-sided paralysis (hemiplegia).
The name Ashwagandha is from the Sanskrit language and is a combination of the word ashva, meaning horse, and gandha, meaning smell. The root has a strong aroma that is described as “horse-like.” In Ayurvedic, Indian, and Unani medicine, ashwagandha is described as “Indian ginseng.” Ashwagandha is also used in traditional African medicine for a variety of ailments.
Don’t confuse ashwagandha with Physalis alkekengi. Both are known as winter cherry.
Origination: Withania somnifera is cultivated in many of the drier regions of India, such as Mandsaur District of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. It is also found in Nepal, China and Yemen.
Recommended Uses:
The plant’s long, brown, tuberous roots are used in traditional medicine. In Ayurveda, the berries and leaves are applied externally to tumors, tubercular glands, carbuncles, and ulcers. The roots are used to prepare the herbal remedy ashwagandha, which has been traditionally used for various symptoms and conditions. In Yemen, where it is known as ‘ubab, the dried leaves are ground to a powder from which a paste is made and used in the treatment of burns and wounds, as also for a sunscreen upon women’s faces.
Height: 35–75 cm (14–30 in) tall
Flower Color: small, green and bell-shaped / orange red fruit
Uses: The berries can be used as a substitute for rennet in cheesemaking.
Other Names: Indian Ginseng, Poison gooseberry, winter cherry
Growing Instructions:
Start seeds outdoors after last frost 3/8” deep keeping evenly moist until germination. Or start indoors in flats ¼” deep in early spring. Keep soil moist. Germination in 10-20 days. Transplant to larger containers and harden off seedlings gradually to outdoors. Transplant in late spring once plants reach 4”. Plant in full
sun 24-36” apart and water when dry
Name: (African) Ashwagandha
Scientific name: Withania Somnifera
Family: Solanaceae
An evergreen woody shrub in desert and tropical areas but capable of being an herbaceous, perennial in temperate zones; African Ashwagandha shares the same characteristics as Vedic Ashwagandha but differs in its large leaf size and quicker growth. Belonging to the nightshade family it produces green berries encased in lantern like pods that mature to a pretty bright red. You know the seed pods are mature when the calyx becomes transparent showing the berry within.
Origination: India but naturalized in Africa
Recommended Uses: Medicinal – Leaves and berries are very toxic, the leaves are used externally. The root is used in ayurvedic medicine as internal tonic for immune system issues, stress, fatigue, and concentration. In African medicine the root is considered a sexual tonic.
Height: 2 to 3’ high and wide
Hardiness: Herbaceous, perennial in zones 8 and up. Hardy to 15.
Flower Color: White
Other Names: Ubuvimbho in South Africa
Maturity: 200 days but can be done in 100 days as an annual
Growing Instructions:
Sow seeds in early spring in greenhouse/indoors. Surface sowing as light is needed for germination. Germination occurs in roughly 15 days. Transplant to full-sun location 1’ apart in well-draining alkaline soils.
Nubia Hart (verified owner) –
Also good germination rate