the leaves are 12" long by 10" wide. plant stands 2' tall, expands to 3' wide with all the leaves wide spread on all direction. sorry not a good photo cause the wind is blowing strong.
Taro for tiG
very healthy looking plant!!! you're a sweetie to look for these for me.
just lucky i guess LOL! there are lots of tropical roots and rhyzomes in Latin or Oriental markets. just look around. one never know how they will perform when planted. i also have started edible gingers. they are growing good too. i am sort of experimenting to see if it will bloom. the ginger also sprouted, that is why i planted it. now i will not only have fresh gingers. i will also have the opportunity to see it bloom.
as promised, next time i go grocery shopping, i will surely pick up some for u. :)!
there are no ethnic groceries in my town. and we're a fairly goodsized town with a large Mexican population, you'd think we'd have something. but everyone here just shops at Walmart:) LOL!!
there are no Asian market here either, but lots of Latin stores. the Walmart here is just a regular department store, no groceries.
i like grocery shopping in Latin store cause they have varieties of produce similar to the ones i am familiar with in oriental cooking. the regular grocery store hardly have any oriental ingredients. i like the prices too, very reasonable. LOL!
I really like that one, I'll have to check for an ethnic market.
Cala, i can get u some too, since i am going that way.
gee, what have I been missing....LOL. I have a pan asian store right at the end of my block. We have huge Asian supermarkets here, chains just like Safeway. I love to shop in them, they have the best fresh and live fish! I am always accosting some poor lady to tell me how she cooks a weird looking vegetable and they are so kind and try to tell me in English. Usually I think I do miss something very important in the translation though. But I try! LOL! I will definitely look around with thoughts other than consumption. Now what am I looking for Ma Vie?
Kelley,
look for Taro roots. they are black in color root stocks. some are large, some small. be sure to peel all around the root, pick only the ones that are nice and firm. if they have "pink eye"** [protruding thingy that will eventually be the new plant], otherwise pick a firm root. sorry for lack of better command in English language, u got to bear with me.
**pink eyes are similar to the caladium's sprouting prior to planting on the ground. those are good signs the root is matured.
taro comes in various shape and forms... in roots, leaves color, height, form of growth and plant shape. taro roots are sometimes hairy, specially the small ones. look for them where the potatoes are located. u won't miss them.
if there are any any Marina's Seafood store/market around u the better for u Kelley. they have a very wide selection and super low prices! but if not mistaken u are closer to San Francisco's China town if not mistaken. in the Fall they also have fresh water chestnuts. those are far sweeter than the canned ones.
there is a Marina's seafood store in Foster city as u get off the freeway. sorry my navigation skills in northern Ca. is bad. Marina stores are huge. compared to other asian store.
edited to add url: here is how the taro roots look like: http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Vegetables/Taro.html
url for info re: taro roots... http://tx.essortment.com/taroroottubers_relt.htm
This message was edited Friday, Aug 16th 6:04 PM
Our grocery store carries some of the Asian vegetables. I bought some taro roots a few weeks ago. I got one that was huge ... like 4 pounds. The little ones have sprouted already but the big one hasn't. I'm not sure if it will. It might decide to rot instead. They had other root vegetables too but I wasn't sure what they were - 'cept for the yucca root. I'n surprised you can't find them in your grocery stores down south.
poppysue... they sure take their sweet time to sprout. keep the root in a plastic container for a while. then the pink or reddish sprout will appear. they sure do take a long time to come up as a plant. if u have planted, keep soil barely moist. not soggy wet. one thing for sure, they do make a statement once they beging to grow.
am sure there are others who knew how to make them sprout quicker. maybe tiG, Cala or Badseed???
poppy, we are a just newly large town. Still small town thinking. I could probably find all this if I went to Atlanta, but I don't go out much.
You don't have a regular grocery store chain in your town? Here we have Hannaford Brothers & Shaw's markets. I think both of them have pretty good produce sections with a few Asian veggies now & then. It may depend on the season too as to when they're available.
we have quite a few groceries, but I've never seen taro. I'll have to look next time I'm out. or better yet, call around tomorrow.
MaVieRose,
Gosh now I know what taro is...West Indians call it Dasheen or Edo..one is a little larger than the other. I don't know which is which but I have had them cooked in stews and curry etc.
Did you plant them in a covered bowl and then into soil? Or did you let them sprout first and then plant them.
What about the Lotus tuber than are in the Asian stores...have you tried planting them in soil? I wonder if you have to let them produce little sprouts too.
I bet the lotus tuber would grow. Take a look at this page it has good pics of the lotus http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph32.htm
I cringe at MaVie's suggestion to just keep the taro root barely moist. Since they're water loving plants I stuck mine in containers with no drainage and kept them pretty wet. I planted them just barely covering with soil. The small ones have a couple leaves so I think they'll be Okay. I think I may have to move the big one into a different pot tho so it will drain properly.
Poppysue I've seen the fresh lotus tuber, but they have the ends trimmed off. I should go to the Asian supermarket around the corner and see if I can find the dried lotus root. Will let you know what I find.
no need to cringe Sue, i had 2 i planted last April. 1 i kept very moist, knowing they grow in bog areas of the Philippines. the other one i kept the soil moist. the 1st one rotted altogether. the 2nd one is what u see now in the photo. taro's, gingers, and hosta do grow in bogs or swamps area in the Phils. the very reason why farmers in the rural areas plant them along the banks of the rice field.
i planted in April, they came up sometime later part of June. it took so long, cause i planted the big taro root. about 4" long and 3" in circumference. i never feed them, just plain water each day. they are not so fuzzy plant to keep. the smaller ones are very easy to grow, i guess cause of their size.
i never had first hand experience growing them in the Phils. cause we have gardeners to maintain the yard. gardening struck me, when i first came to the US in the early 70s.
Joydie, if u find the fresh lotus, yes u can grow them in a pond.but not the dried ones. plant them in a pot, with lots of rocks to weigh the pot down, so the rooted part inside the pot is on the water.
the big taro root i kept in a plastic bag, in a dark place of the cupboard, preferably underneath the sink. when i saw the pink sprouts is when i planted them in the pot. these things i relate to u are from experience. to be honest, i search for the url's mentioned above i search only earlier today cause i wanted Kelley to see how they look, for lack of knowledge in describing them.
often times, it is nice to be bilingual [one can always understand the other language], but the handicap lies in the hardship between 2 languages. a biligual person always think in native tongue. then comes the difficulty of expressing them in English... the very reason why i do lurk in most forums rather than express my opinion. it is easier to help in the ID forum cause i can alway find url's that shows photo and give descriptive explanation of unidentified plant/s.
MaVie rose I love the leaves on this taro..the ones we get at the Asian markets here are all about the same..but at .10 cents each what can I say! they grow quick and make large leaves...but not like this one.Some stores here get huge (3-4 lb) taro roots....they are about a foot long and 6 inches thick..but always rot instead of grow..seems they all have mold on them when we buy them..cheap at $1.75 each..but no bargain if they rot.! :-)
Kyle... the one on the photo is a big taro root i planted. i seem to be the only one buying them around here. so i must have lucked out LOL!. ask the produce manager when they get the new shipment, so u get them fresh and not moldy. pls. see above explanation on how i planted them.
perhaps u if u can find an eye on the big ones, u see locally, u can plant them. otherwise lmk, i can send u one too.
Poppysue it seems there are 2 types of taro, one is grown in water and the other isn't. Check the links that she posted.
MaVieRose,
Okay, I found the taro at the Asian grocer around the corner. I picked out 2 small ones that already had the pink shoots...yippeeeeeeee. I also found 3 small fresh lotus roots with some of the small root still left on. In addition, there were some fresh gingers there that had small sprouts. It cost me less than $5 for 2 or 3 of each. I will pot these up tomorrow. What fun this will be.
This summer I put several of my hostas in pots into the pond. I have this plastic swan planter that belonged to my deceased mother. I just couldn't bear to part with it so I planted different kinds of hosta in it and some Japanese Irises. When the plants bloomed this summer they were quite nice. A little whimsy to shake up the garden.
happy for u Joydie :)! good luck!!!
I wish you would post some pictures Joydie............ I would love to see your garden!
Kell,
I got this VERY expensive camera last fall. I don't even know how to use it properly yet. There are so many gizmoes and gadgets and attachments. I'm taking classes to learn how to use it properly. There are tons of different kinds of lens in addition. I got it for a song from a professional photographer who didn't use it very much anymore.
I took 2 rolls of film...the first one of the front tropical beds I have not developed yet. The second roll I messed up when I tried to rewind the film so that roll went into the garbage....sigh...and it had pictures on it from when my sister and nieces were up from Indiana.
MaVieRose,
Thanks for the soil mixture instructions. Oh I forgot to mention that people might also be able to find these different roots wherever West Indian foods are sold or at a market. I'm going today to get some of the little Edo tubers. Will look around to see what else I can find too.
Joydie....now you know why he did not use it..............LOL
Kell,
It takes fabulous pictures that are suitable for book publication, but I always used those instamatic thangies before...lol. I can even do underwater photos with it...well when I learn how to use the darn thing properly...lol.
u're welcome Joydie :).
u will never learn to use ur camera unless u download the software on ur pc. when the digital camera here @ home was bought. no one bothered to use it cause no one knew how to operate it. i took the software and downloaded it on my pc. learned to use it the hardway... walked myself thru all the features the camera has to offer. play around with it, till u feel confident enough to use it. i understand, as humans we are always intimidated with something new, but do give it a try. next thing u know, u will be posting in all the forums LOL! the only way is to give it a try. good luck Joydie :)!
I am just joshing you Joydie. I would not even attempt such a camera........... I will be dead before I could learn it!! Go to a class to learn??? I can't stand to even read an instruction book. More power to you!
MaVieRose its not a digital camera so there isn't any software. Kell I know you're teasing me. Its a good thing he gave me 6 rolls of free film...lol..now I have 3 rolls left.
like Kelley said 'More power to you!' LOL! good luck. :)!