Plant · P-265

Mashua

Tropaeolum tuberosum

Mashua is an Andean vining tuber, related to nasturtium, with a peppery flavor that sweetens after frost - the tubers, leaves and flowers are all edible. What actually limits it isn't cold but summer nights that fail to cool down: it needs nights to drop into the 50s-70s F even on hot days, and where nights stay near 80 F for weeks it grows poorly no matter how it's cared for. Beyond food, its tubers and foliage carry natural nematode- and pest-suppressing compounds that Andean growers interplant specifically for that effect. One cultivar bred for a longer critical day length can start forming tubers early enough to finish before a typical autumn frost, where the standard forms cannot.