Sowing Woad for Natural Dye: Chinese vs European Woad in the Garden

Today has been all about woad. I did my first sowing of the year which comprised of 6 × 150 plug trays.

They are now cosy on a heat mat at 19 degrees Celsius…. I am looking forward to seeing them pop up next week.

We are upscaling our pigment production this year and this sowing will give us 6 x 12 metre beds.

I also went to check on the Chinese and the European woads in the garden, both of which are in their second year and will be producing seeds this year. It is interesting to see the differences.

Above Chinese woad going to flower

Below European woad going to flower

The Chinese woad is much smaller with narrower, darker leaves and will be flowering a good few weeks before the European woad.

Here is a very interesting article by Ashley Walker from Natures Rainbow in England, in which he looks at the differences between European woad (Isatis tinctoria) and Chinese woad (Isatis indigotica)

It is worth noting that the Chinese woad we are cultivating is a different variety to the one Ashley grew. Though it shares many of the same characteristics, the variety we are growing is a lot smaller and does not have a tendency to flower in its first year.