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Plant · P-198
Maca
Lepidium meyenii
Maca is a root crop from the high, cold plains of the Andes, harvested for a sweet, mild-flavored root that is baked slowly or dried and cooked into a porridge called mazamorra. The dried root runs 13 to 16 percent protein and carries unusually high iodine and iron for a vegetable. Its young leaves are also edible, raw or cooked, with a hot, cress-like flavor. It needs a long, cool growing season with summer air staying under 75 F for most of the year, a condition a hot-summer climate cannot supply.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 6–8
- Soil
- Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Moderate
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6.5–7.5
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 1–8 in
- Mature spread
- 2–8 in
- Plant spacing
- 6–10 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
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African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
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Anise Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
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Apple Mint
Mentha suaveolens
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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