Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-036
Taro
Colocasia esculenta
Taro is grown for the corm at its base, a starchy swollen stem rather than a root, sitting beneath a clump of thick-stalked, arrow-shaped leaves that can top six feet. It thrives standing in shallow water and also works as an understory crop, shaded by taller plantings like coconut or coffee rather than shading anything itself. Every part is edible only after cooking - raw corms and leaves are loaded with needle-shaped calcium oxalate crystals that irritate the mouth and skin, and cooking, drying or fermenting is what neutralizes them. It spreads slowly by offshoot corms rather than seed, so a planting thickens in place instead of jumping, though a broken corm can float off downstream in moving water.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 8–10
- Soil
- Loam · Clay · Silt
- Moisture
- Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 5.5–6.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3–6 ft
- Mature spread
- 3–6 ft
- Plant spacing
- 24–36 in
- Root type
- Rhizome
- Spread pattern
- Root
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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