Place your jar into a larger pot on a trivet, or use a double boiler.Use a glass jar, enamel or stainless steel pot. To make your indigo dye vat, strip the leaves from the stems and squash them into a container.The beautiful rich blues of Indigo dye come from the leaves of the plant.
![indigo plant indigo plant](https://butterflygardenstogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DETA3-148-1024x1024.jpg)
Not sure where to get started? Check out my 30 day Natural Dyeing Boot Camp! Try It Now Extracting the Indigo Dye When it leaves behind a blue stain it is ready to harvest and be used in your dye vat!
![indigo plant indigo plant](https://fastly.jwwb.nl/public/w/u/q/temp-alnjdltwpuqgaigmmoib/indigo-om-je-haar-donkerbruin-te-verven.jpg)
To check when your indigo bush is ready to use for dyeing, just crush a leaf between your fingers. Once you have an established plant you can propagate others by bending a soft branch and inserting it into the soil, whilst leaving it attached to the main plant. The plant is visually attractive with soft, medium green leaves and pale pink or white flowers that appear in Autumn. However note that when grown in cooler climates, the seeds must be harvested each year and replanted the next growing season. Japanese indigo can be annual, biennial or perennial depending on where it is grown. This makes it a great dye plant for cooler climates, with an extended growing season. The plant can also be grown indoors or in a hot-house inside a pot. However it may be cultivated in colder climates, as long as it is protected from frosts. Japanese Indigo is from the Polygonaceae family and grows best in hot or humid climates. Creating your own Japanese indigo dye from your home-grown Japanese indigo is not as hard as it might sound!