Gardening Time - Vicks Plant

 

Vicks Plant

While at Black Creek Nursery this year. Hubby and I came across this amazing plant. It looked like a mixture of a succulent plant and oregano. Hubby looked at it and smelled it and called me over right away. He like it smells like Vick vapor rub. I smelled it he was right! Right then we new we were going to buy some. I am sensitive to the eucalyptus in the Vick’s vapor rub. It gives me a headache. Therefore, we can’t use it in the house. We both wondered if this plant was the answer to that. We bought to a decided to see where that goes.

I looked it up when we got home. It is Vicks plant (Plectranthus Tomentosa). Many sites have talk about it being as good as the rub. Some sites also said it would attract bees and butterflies and repel mosquitoes. We though this plant couldn’t get better.

Potting cuttings

I planted with my saint John wort. More as a cover crop to the pepper and egg plants. It did spread all over the garden bed. Not as good as I hoped it would but enough to add another layer of plant mulch to the bed. Though I don’t know if it was happy there or not. It had sunny light but was covered with plants. I harvest 6.95 ounces of it, this year. I don’t think that is two bad for a plant that was $2.95. The other cool part was I took cutting of the plant. They all rooted, and I have 9 cutting growing into plants!

Look at the roots on the plant

How to use the plant; I’m still trying to figure that out. I soak all that I harvested in olive oil. It turned out smelling horrible. I was hoping to pull out the oil and make it into ointment. I think I might try it in coconut oil next time. I have read you can boil it and breathe in the vapors. I also have seen where you can make it as a poultice. These things are great ideas. I might try that.

Vicks plants 

Have you ever grown, or heard of Vicks Plant? Have you used it? What was your favorite way to use it?