Dig up corms and remove the bright orange stigmas in autumn, just as the flower opens. The flowering period may last only 15 days. Each blossom yields only 3 stigmas. Dry on absorbent paper in a dark place, and store in a tightly sealed dark container away from heat and light. You will need many plants to produce sufficient amounts of the stigmas. It takes as many as 4000 flowers to produce 30g.

I wish you a speedy recovery.

I do not dig up the corms. They remain in the soil for years. They do divide after a single year however, and after 3 years should be seperated and planted a few inches away from each other. Mine were all harvested just 2 weeks ago, and I got about 30 stigmas (3 lobes each).

Thank you!!!

red or yellow?

The 3 thin stigmas are deep orange/yellow, so yellow they are almost red color. The shorter/fatter yellow stamens are not used. Added to hot water for rice, they give off a yellow color. I just picked two more flowers today. I thought they were all done 2 weeks ago, but got a surpise. The blossoms can sprout up 3 inches over night!

cool!