Growing Indigofera tinctoria Here I tell my photo-story of how I grew ‘true indigo’ Indigofera tinctoria at home. Enjoy! Early beginnings in April 2025: soaking the seeds in hot water to kickstart the breaking of seed dormancy. My setup: Grow lights (2 x15 W) and old rose pots as lampshades (pretty proud about this idea). The lights were too bright in living spaces without shades. My partner installed a very practical timer which provides the plants with 12 hours light per day.Tragic germination rate!! Out of 30 seeds only 3 young plants emerged from the soil in early June. I wonder if the indoor temperature was too cold during Scottish spring.Very cute little indigo plants trying to get stronger and taller. I didn’t know that they ‘pack up’ when nighttime approaches. The photo on the right shows the folded leaves when the day transitions to evening.July: soaking up all the light. The blue pigments within indigo leaves develop as a sun protective measure.We’re moving into August and the plants grow rapidly. Getting a bit crowded here!~*Some more glamour shots of a thriving indigo plant*~ Okay, back to the story.I did a test print using the Hapa zome technique and the pigments of the indigo branch transferred to the fabric almost perfectly.All three in their individual felted pots.October 2025: The plants grew tall! I collected all fallen leaves and crushed them with table salt (a fresh indigo dyeing technique) and after the leaves turned to mush I massaged a piece of cotton with the crushed indigo. It didn’t turn blue, unfortunately. Instead I achieved a very pale green (see photo on the right). It was also not lightfast (needed a soy binder probably).November 2025: My indigos survived moving to a new flat. I hope they’ll also survive the winter (they’re not hardy at all 🙁 )! I’ve also started soaking indigo leaves in water and hope I can obtain their pigments for my first indigo vat (dye bath). Before I can continue my blue (or green?) colour journey, I’ll prepare my working space in the new place. Until then – bye for now!