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First cultivated in the Mediterranean region, saffron is, by weight, the most expensive spice in the world, and learning how to grow saffron at home means you’ll have plenty of this flavorful spice to use in your cooking. It comes from the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus. Considering the high price this spice fetches at market, you might be surprised to discover how easy it is to grow. In this article, I’ll provide a quick-and-simple low-down on how to grow saffron.
How to grow saffron
The fall-blooming, purple-flowered saffron crocus grows from a bulb-like structure called a corm. The corms are planted in the spring or early fall. Saffron crocus flowers smell a little like vanilla and spice, and the dried stigmas add a distinct flavor to foods like Spanish paella, rice dishes, and bouillabaisse. Growing saffron is fairly straightforward.
Planting saffron
To plant saffron crocus, start with high-quality corms. They can be purchased for a reasonable price from several different online companies, including Nature Hills Nursery . Choose a planting site that is very well-drained and has soil rich in organic matter. Full to partial sun is ideal. Plant the corms in spring or in the early fall, to a depth of about four to six inches. Once planted, you won’t see anything sprout from the bulbs until late fall. That means that, if you plant the corms in the fall, you won’t see any growth for a full year.
To protect the corms from chipmunks and voles, plant them in a wire bulb bag or cage or surround the bulbs with sharp gravel when planting them.
What to do when saffron bulbs bloom
When the flower comes into bloom in the autumn, the elongated, orangeish-red stigmas are plucked from the flower. The flowers are small, and the stigmas are like little orange threads, making harvesting large quantities of this spice quite time-consuming (hence, its hefty price). Each bulb produces one flower and each flower produces three stigmas.
To dry your harvested saffron, spread the thread-like stigmas on a cookie sheet to dry in a warm room until they easily crumble. When stored in an air-tight container, dried saffron remains fresh for up to two years.
How to grow saffron through propagation
As soon as the flowers fade, you can gently dig up the crocuses and separate the bulbs, replanting them immediately. Doing this yearly quickly results in a large colony, but if you only want to take on this task every three or four years, that’s okay. Just remember to divide them before the corms become over-crowded and production is affected.
How hardy are saffron crocus?
Saffron crocuses are hardy down to -10 degrees F. If you live in a region where temperatures regularly dip below that limit, be sure to mulch the planting site with several inches of straw or compost soon after the plants are finished blooming.
Growing saffron at home is a very rewarding experience, and I encourage you to give it a try by following the simple steps outlined above.
For more on growing unusual herbs and spices, please visit the following articles:
If I use the mesh bag or baskets, will the moles/voles/chipmunks eat the flowers or dig down after the corms? The critters decimated my unprotected saffron bed.
Using bulb cages or surrounding the bulbs with a DIY cage of hardware cloth are the best ways to keep critters from eating the bulbs. I’ve also experimented with surrounding the bulbs with crushed oyster shells with success. Small mammals don’t like to dig through their sharp edges.
We grow saffron in Northwest Ohio, 100 bulbs this past fall gave us about 2.5 grams of saffron after harvest. Heavy clay soil amended with compost from goat and chicken droppings and bedding. We’re waiting for the frost to dig up the bulbs and separate them, hoping to increase the harvest next year.
After reading your directions I think I would like to try to do this this spring and have them ready for the fall. I thank you for the interesting tips and I hope it works out for me. Tina
Does anyone have detailed instructions on how to container saffron. I live in Denver. Planted in milk crate. Don’t know how to deal with winter. Pull in garage. Water. Any light. Planted oct 3
I would put the crate in a protected area that stays just above freezing. An unheated garage or root cellar would be best. Water every six weeks and move back outdoors in the spring. They won’t show their faces until the following fall, but that should show them safely through the winter.
My mother used to grow saffron, but I don’t remember purple crocus flowers. The orange threads were very similar. Is there any other flower that you use the threads from that is similar to saffron?
Thanks, Cathy
Not that we know of.
Does anyone know what kind of fertilizer the saffron crocus need? Mine quit blooming after two years and the fertilizer I have does not help
Hi Dennis. You could use any bulb-specific fertilizer on your saffron crocus, but if they haven’t bloomed in a while, it’s probably time to dig them up and divide them. Saffron crocus seem to need divided more frequently than some other bulbs. Also, maybe they need a bit more sun?
My crocuses and other bulb flowers quit blooming after a year or two because of a high clay content in the soil, so incorporating compost into their soil helps.
I always had it in my head we couldn’t grow saffron crocus here. I’ll certainly look into for the future. Thanks for the info