Snookie

WOW I'll be Sugar Cane coming up and some Waskely Wabbits chewed up the leaves lol

[IMG][/IMG]

__________________
Mayor of Lizard Creek

Kbud

@Dangermouse01: LOL! Exactly

Do you guys know if sugar cane is perennial, with protection, will it come up each year? Also, is it possible to make white and brown sugar at home? Not just the juice, but the baking ingredient? If so, how much would each cane make?
@Nicholasnaranja: That is a sweet pic! (pun not intended) (Get it, SWEET pic?

Sweet Historical Fact (Pun intended): When white settlers first colonized Hawaii, they created giant sugarcane plantations. As sugar was a commodity then, the island became instrumental to the U.S. and the settlers alike. King Kalakua (didn't use the accents in his name and I don't know if I'm spelling this right), supported this trade, which put Hawaii on the map. He was in favor of being annexed by the U.S., though the public didn't agree. When he died and Queen Liliuokalani (did I spell it right?) came to power, she tried to leave "Hawaii to the native Hawaiians." The white sugarcane plantation owners gave a fuss, because they were doing thriving business. They appealed to Congress, which in turn sent in warships. Queen Liliuokalani backed down, and was put under "house arrest" in a hotel. Though I will not give my opinion, many think this was
unfair. The President at the time called the conduct "disgraceful" and ordered the U.S. to back down. Due to extreme Nationalism and Expansionism at the time, when he left office, the next President annexed Hawaii. Again, not giving my opinion here. Just thought that was a cool historical story to go with the topic

__________________
Hi! My name is Spekter! Hopefully I can be of some help!

I grow tasty/useful tropical plants and carnivorous plants!

Check out my tasty tropical plants blog: http://spektersplants.wordpress.com

Snookie

Not sure if it will come back year after year but do know this cane WILL FREEZE .....

I covered mine and took all kind of precautions and SHIZZZAM it still died lol

__________________
Mayor of Lizard Creek

waggoner41

Sugar cane is a perennial, at least in Costa Rica.

For how much sugar you can produce, you are on your own. Down here the kids suck on the chunks of cane and we watch at the farmers market as they squeeze the juice out of the canes. Think old time wringer washing machines.

__________________
Soil Type: Black Loam

Nicolas Naranja

Commercially an average stalk of sugarcane has 0.3 lbs of sugar in it. You could probably make brown sugar at your house, but not white sugar. White sugar takes a lot of heat to make. As far as sugarcane coming back after a freeze, certain varieties are more cold tolerant than others. Sugarcane is grown commercially in Louisiana, where it gets into the 20s.

__________________
Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Illia

Being someone who's looking into growing some cane this year, anyone know a good place that has instructions on home-making brown or raw table sugar?

Kbud

Thanks all!

Illia, I agree. I'd love some instructions. I'll search for it.

__________________
Hi! My name is Spekter! Hopefully I can be of some help!

I grow tasty/useful tropical plants and carnivorous plants!

Check out my tasty tropical plants blog: http://spektersplants.wordpress.com

wolfyhound

Brown Sugar | Practical Answers | Practical Action
I found this. There's a local(Gainesville Florida) Historical farm that actually does cane processing the same way they did in colonial times, but unfortunately all I remember from the demos is that they crushed it using a donkey to turn the crusher and they boiled the sap into a syrupy liquid.

From all I've read and remember, you crush the cane to get the liquid sap, boil that to make a syrupy liquid, and it will "set" into a solid sugary mass. I "think" that if you don't boil it hot enough/long enough, you end up with cane syrup as the sugars don't crystallize.

Not an expert and I've never done it myself(it's way too easy to buy jugs of cane syrup made by other people!) but I have always found it fascinating.

Kbud

Dear Illia,

Sorry for taking a bit to get back to you on this, but I checked out eHow.com and found just what we're both looking for (man, I love eHow, they really do have instructions on how to do everything!!) There were several results, but I just looked at this one. Though it isn't convienient, I am totally doing it when I get sugarcane! Here is the link: How to Make Raw Sugar From Sugar Cane | eHow.com. Basically, the idea is, like wolfyhound said, to extract the juice from the cane by boiling. You could also probably use a mill (I saw a show on HGTV once where they turned a 17th century (I think) sugar mill into a house, but I'm talking about the small ones you can buy on eBay (which is where I'll get my cane). Anyway, once the sugar solution is out, you boil it into a syrup, throw it into a jar, and let it crystallize over several months. As it crystallizes, scoop it out and put it in bags for storage. Obviously, you would be getting brown sugar from this. I would crush it to make it more like the grocery store stuff, or leave it flaky. I think that is just a choice you have to make. As the process takes awhile, I would make a lot of it at once so as not to waste materials.

Thanks,
Kbud

__________________
Hi! My name is Spekter! Hopefully I can be of some help!

I grow tasty/useful tropical plants and carnivorous plants!

Check out my tasty tropical plants blog: http://spektersplants.wordpress.com

Snookie

Thanks:}

__________________
Mayor of Lizard Creek

kaczercat

ate it in DR, very sweet!

__________________
Matt

Snookie

?

__________________
Mayor of Lizard Creek

Kbud

Still looking for sugarcane. pouty face

__________________
Hi! My name is Spekter! Hopefully I can be of some help!

I grow tasty/useful tropical plants and carnivorous plants!

Check out my tasty tropical plants blog: http://spektersplants.wordpress.com

Snookie

Awe meh yah

Can't get enough of the Sugar Cane stuff:}

What U got on your mind?

__________________
Mayor of Lizard Creek

sunfish

Illia

I finally got myself some canes a couple weeks ago, Blue Ribbon variety. I hope to get plenty of different varieties over the next year, but, some awesome Hawaiian ones I've yet to see actually for sale online.

Kbud

@illia: Already I'm jealous.

Thanks for the link, sunfish!

__________________
Hi! My name is Spekter! Hopefully I can be of some help!

I grow tasty/useful tropical plants and carnivorous plants!

Check out my tasty tropical plants blog: http://spektersplants.wordpress.com

Illia

Look through eBay. It's getting late in the year for if you're going to grow it without an extended season or a little winter protection but you'll still get enough for next year's propogation and growth I'd imagine.

Anyway, ebay has a lot of people selling cane cuttings. I got mine from a guy who sells various southern-states heirloom varieties and they came in great shape, huge looking sticks. They're in the ground now.

Kbud

Thanks Illia! That's actually what I've been doing for the past few months! When you mentioned blue ribbon cane, I first thought of that sale on eBay. They looked quite pretty, with a blue/violet hue. I am looking into getting the yellow sweet asian bulk sugarcane cuttings from a person named 7servant7. Here is the link: Bulk Super Sweet Yellow Asian Sugar Cane cuttings Fresh 3 7 inch Pieces | eBay. What do you think? Is that who you bought your cane from?

Thanks,
Kbud

__________________
Hi! My name is Spekter! Hopefully I can be of some help!

I grow tasty/useful tropical plants and carnivorous plants!

Check out my tasty tropical plants blog: http://spektersplants.wordpress.com

Illia

I got mine from this guy. I try and stick with heirloom and other more uncommon varieties, as it seems most yellow and/or green cane is the "supersweet" commercial stuff. Nothing seriously against it, I just like mine either prettier, older, or with a higher chance of having unique or bold flavor.

I got two pieces from him, one is rooting very well and the other is hopefully just taking longer.

If anyone reading this is or will be selling unusual Hawaiian varieties I'd love some. I've seen some neat colorful, contorted, and even bulbous looking ones that I'd love to try. That and I heard of an "Asian Black" that sounded fun.