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When to harvest Taro (malanga)

 
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I´ve planted some Taro plants all at diferent times hoping to harvest them in sequence in order not to store them. The literature Ive found says I have to wait for the leaves to turn yellow before I harvest, but I don´t allways want to wait untill the max size has been reached.

So I want to ask, Is there any other way to know if Taro is good enough for harvesting? Is size a good indicator?

Thanks in advance.

PD I have the variety that has some purple in the center of the leaves and other one that don´t.

Thanks
 
gardener
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Location: Lower Mainland British Columbia Canada Zone 8a/ Manchester Jamaica
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With Taro it's more of a how long you wait is how much you get, let a taro go for 18 months in a good spot with a mild winter and your going to need a wheel barrel.
If you want a quick harvest like those baby taro you see in the market then you get very little. For instance leaf taro doesn't have it's roots harvested and is more of a multiple cut food.

It's wet and cold 70% of the year here so i mainly sprout the baby taro's and if we get a perfect summer I get slightly larger baby taro, but my planting locations havn't been the smartest either so usualy i just get leaves.
 
Camilo Vallejos
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Thank you very much. I suspected that was the case, but since I have a small garden and few plants I didn´t wanted to take a risk. I´ll harvest as needed but will save one for the next year as an experiment and for the amusement of a big taro. I also read about the leaves and soon will try one, recipes?
 
steward
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Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Temperate, coastal, sandy, windy,
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Taro's usually grown specifically for roots or leaves, as harvesting the leaves affects the root's size.
I'm not a fan of the root's super bland, slightly waxy texture, but the leaves are delicious.
I'll post something in the cooking forum, but be warned, it's more ideas than a recipe
 
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harvest the roots OR harvest the leaves, cut below the apical meristem. there was a neat episode of dirty jobs about taro harvesting.

you can harvest anytime, why wait until the leaves turn yellow?

for recipes see the other thread, this forum.

-Tentance
oldescrubland.blogspot.com
 
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