Taro growth stages

Description

Another perfect perennial plant is Taro, Colocasia esculenta, kalo, dasheen or known by many other names. If you live in Hawaii you know this plant. It’s growing, taro stickers and t-shirts and tattoos are everywhere! This is the staple crop that poi is made from, even if you don’t enjoy poi, you can enjoy the starchy corm of the taro plant. You can cook cauliflower just like potatoes in many different ways. Not only are the corms edible but so are the leaves and leaf shoots! This is a wonderful vegetable, and to me it is an essential tropical plant. Those big heart-shaped leaves just scream tropical. There are non-edible varieties, hundreds of edible varieties, water-growing varieties, soil-growing varieties, shade-loving varieties, and sun-loving varieties. Grow different varieties to find your favorite or suit your needs!

How to Plant Taro

When planting taro with corms, you should plant the corms 2 – 3 inches below the soil level. Wibowo Djatmiko (Wie146), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Because taro cultivars rarely produce seeds, which have little chance of being fertile at first, they are propagated by root division or using to remove from it. of cucumbers. The large corms are usually harvested for food, but smaller corms are mostly used for cultivation. Parts of corms or larger corms can also be used, as long as they are obtained from healthy mature specimens. If you don’t have access to mature plants, you can propagate taro using grocer or market-bought corms. Be sure to choose corms that do not have mold or rotten tissue.

Planting Taro Root

As with rice, many growers flood the young taro fields. Source: madrones

The Eddo plant is grown by vegetative propagation, usually through corms or tubers. Like potatoes, you can plant small tubers or parts of a large one. You can also start buying taro from a nursery.

How can I grow the Taro plant at home?

• Taro can be grown at home in pots, containers, backyards or farms. They grow best when grown in greenhouses but can also yield when grown at low temperatures. They grow in temperatures as low as 10 degrees and produce best when grown between 25-35 degrees Celcius.
• The soil used for indoor or outdoor cultivation must be rich in nutrients and manure. The manure must be organic with no fertilizers involved. Potash can also be used.
• It takes almost 40-50 weeks for a taro plant to grow to its full potential and produce taro roots in their healthiest form. Taro roots are harvested only when the giant leaves of the taro plant begin to turn yellow and slowly decline.

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