View Full Version : Grocery store taro
Gardener972
04-28-2008, 12:05 AM
I bought some taro from the Asian grocery store that is sprouting. Have any of you tried to grow it?
Mark Hall
04-28-2008, 04:39 AM
Hi, I buy tubers each year from the asian grocers as it saves over wintering them. here are a few pictures of what we can get in the shops in the UK
Dean W.
04-28-2008, 09:22 AM
I have some too I'll have to get a picture. ;)
Dean
magicgreen
04-28-2008, 10:57 AM
Guess I'll go down to the market myself and see what they got!
Dean W.
04-28-2008, 11:32 AM
Here's a picture of my Taro...
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee185/Dean_Wil/100_6921.jpg
Dean
mskitty38583
04-28-2008, 01:53 PM
i knew taro sounded familiar...they use it in hawaii for poi. duh! im having one of those mondays. i watched them use it last season on top chef when they went to hawaii. it looks like an ee to me. is it any good? i know that it has to be cooked a long time or it can lead to throat irritations. but ive never had it.
Dean W.
04-28-2008, 03:09 PM
My wife knows how to cook the stems, but I'm unsure about the tubers.
:03:
Dean
Gardener972
04-28-2008, 03:28 PM
Excellent! I'll get mine in the ground right away! Do you think they'd be a perennial here in Dallas?
Yeah, doesn't that stuff look N-A-S-T-Y?!? I'd have a hard time eating something that looks like paste and apparently has no taste either.
Dean W.
04-28-2008, 03:34 PM
I leave mine in the ground here in zone 8b. :parachutenanner::0520:
Dean
john_ny
04-28-2008, 03:34 PM
I bought some, last year, in the commisary, on a militaryy base. They were only 69¢ a pound. I got 10 of them in a pound. They sprouted in about a week. I called them, Seven Cent Elephant Ears.
Gardener972
04-28-2008, 03:37 PM
Big difference between 7b and 8b do you think? Perhaps if I planted them up near the house, that would make a difference. Too bad there aren't red taro like caladiums!
Dean W.
04-28-2008, 03:39 PM
Hey, I guess there is a difference in the zones. Maybe, someone else can shed some light on the subject.
Dean
Mark Hall
04-28-2008, 05:11 PM
I get -7 here in the UK and they come up next season. Its quicker to start them fresh in march to plant out in may
chong
04-28-2008, 05:33 PM
I bought some, last year, in the commisary, on a militaryy base. They were only 69¢ a pound. I got 10 of them in a pound. They sprouted in about a week. I called them, Seven Cent Elephant Ears.
You do not have to plant the whole tuber. If you pick tubers with the top showing active growth with one or two "eyes", just cut below the lowest "eye" and place in a "to go" box with a transparent top. Place in 1/4" deep water. Also, dust the open wound with Rootone, or fungicide powder like Captan. Rootone not only has rooting hormones, but it is mostly fungicide. After the top grows a couple of inches, transfer to a suitable planting container or field that can be flooded.
By cutting the top for planting you can enjoy the tuber, boiled or fried like potatoes. Or sub for potatoes in soup. Unless you like poi, then sub for potatoes in mashed potatoes!
Steve in France
04-28-2008, 06:48 PM
I bought some at a local Chinese Market and then noticed they were available from the normal Supermarket , Giant, Safeway. In Europe you can also find Xanthasoma as tubers in the Asian Markets as I'm sure we can here in the US but I have not found any yet.
I have few in pots at the moment and also I grew market tubers every year in France.
Mark the UK zone 7 is so very different from a US zone 7 as you know. I'm not sure Colocasia Esculenta (Taro) would survive without a very heavy mulch , but I'll have a go :-)
Later
Stev
Randy4ut
04-28-2008, 08:25 PM
Steve,
Here is my esculenta 'Ruffles' from last year. They were my first ee's up this spring and growing like crazy... Only had about 3"-4" of mulch covering them over winter...
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n225/randy4ut/Elephant%20Ears%202007/100_2069.jpg
Mark Hall
04-29-2008, 05:06 AM
Randy, That is one monster leaf you have there. I have only seen ruffles in the black form not in green. Does it send out runners or just more tubers?
Steve, If you are having trouble finding Xanthosoma tubers ( cocoes) drop me a PM and I will see if I can send you a little gift. I am sure its not going to cost a fortune to send a couple of tubers over.
Steve in France
04-29-2008, 06:44 AM
Randy , good to know that they survive outdoors, I've not tried Ruffles so far . Ruffles was/is available in Europe, Black Ruffles too I think.
Mark I have two forms of Xanthoma here with the promise of a third , so many thanks but you cannot send me stuff :parachutenanner: it's more than my residents permit is worth .
Thanks
Steve
Randy4ut
04-29-2008, 06:50 AM
Steve,
WOW!!! Never heard of a black 'Ruffles'. Know where someone could get their hands on one? PM sent...
Steve in France
04-29-2008, 07:36 AM
Randy here is a link for 'Black Ruffles' CFF - Colocasia Black Ruffles Elephant Ear Plant for sale - Rare & Exotic Alocasia, Banana plants, Palm trees For Sale - Mail Order Shopping PayPal! (http://www.centralfloridafarms.com/colo-blackruffles.htm)
I'd get one and send it but funds are now low because of vacation plans .My wife thinks vacations are more important than plants , go figure :ha:
Later
Steve
Lilith
04-30-2008, 06:39 AM
When you are looking for elephant ears in the store, try Latin and Carribean Markets also, not just Asian markets. You get different ones in Latin?Carib markets. Buy the ones labeled "Malanga" and "Eddoe". I got really lucky one year and got Malanga that had black stems.
Steve in France
04-30-2008, 10:54 AM
Good tip ,I'll have to have a look in D.C.
Do you think the black stemmed ones were Xanthosoma violaceum ?
Later
Steve
Dean W.
04-30-2008, 11:19 AM
Lilith, good suggestion. I wonder about the Indian Markets. Has anyone checked those?
Dean
Gardener972
04-30-2008, 03:30 PM
Lilith, good suggestion. I wonder about the Indian Markets. Has anyone checked those?
Dean
The only thing I've seen is "taro" and it's not labeled as to what the variety is.
Lilith
04-30-2008, 06:20 PM
Yes, we do think it may have been X. violcaea. It is really huge growing in the ground if it gets a lot of water.
Be aware that as a food crop, you may also be getting colocasias in this mix. There are some Eastern Indian folks here who eat the tubers of Colocasia "Black Magic". They grow them in their yards for this purpose.
Mark Hall
05-01-2008, 03:56 AM
Blimey, I wish we could get black magic over here that easy.
In the UK these are whats listed in the shops and what they growinto.
Taro or Dasheen = Colocasia Esculenta
Cocoes or cocas, cocoyam = Xanthosoma V
Eddoes= smaller colocasia
Arvi or arbi= again small Colocasia with very round leaves.
I have a friend in london who buys Cocoes and they turn out to be Xanthosoma Saggitifolia and where I get them from buying Cocoes gets me Xanthosoma Violacea.
There is also a tuber called a Red Murkhi and it is a type of colocasia withvery pointed leaves.
In Short you never know what your going to get. But thats the fun of it.
In the UK on th e Hardy tropicals web site we have all entered a competion to see who can grow the biggest leaf on a plant that is grown in the garden
I can't get hold of a Jacks Giant so I am going to try Alocasia Gigantia.
Here's a link to the thread with a few pictures.
Hardy Tropicals - View topic - Biggest Colocasia Leaf Competition (non Wilko's) (http://hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=918)
Dean W.
05-01-2008, 09:39 AM
Mark,
Thanks for sharing the link. Those are some huge leaves.:04:
Dean
milantropicallover
11-21-2010, 12:50 PM
and what about ulluco, camore and yuca? i found all thise tubers from a peruvian market and seem to be closely related to the taro.
anyone know if they have a big tropical foliage?
mbfirey
11-21-2010, 01:20 PM
Yuca is only related to Taro in the way you'd cook it- leaves are very different...more palmate.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTc_u4sv-36BcHxoBvr4wUNjgTK3q8RIHrwDXk94UI1aAAJ3LOY_Q
Ulluco is more like a potato (though when I've eaten them- I feel like I'm eating toes. They taste a little like beets to me:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2808366745_27f99ca823.jpg?v=0
Can't find "camore" anywhere on google... did you spell it correctly?
milantropicallover
11-21-2010, 04:32 PM
Thanks a lot ! you're right i wrote it wrong ,the last one is called camote!
It seems i have to keep on looking for other EE species in asiatic market..eheh
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