Growing Taro

I thought this might be a nice place to post. hopefully some of you will get something out of it.  I don't think Taro is something that comes up often in these forums...

Taro Journey

Below I am taking the time to share about the why, and how, of what we have done over the last year.  Big thanks to all of you who have followed along on our taro journey, and offered your support and encouragement in one way or another.

Intentions and Guiding Principles

Our primary intentions in this venture were not to maximize monetary profits or get the most yield out of the smallest area. The main focus for us was to produce an “Ecological Taro” - grown using permaculture principles and inspirations gathered from regenerative and syntropic agriculture practices. Another aim was to collect and observe different cultivars for the purpose of getting to know them, their origins and histories, and how they respond to our experimental growing styles. With the observations and lessons learned our hope was to also help inspire other gardeners and farmers to not fear experimentation and alternative practices, which aspire to work with nature, rather than going to war with it.

We jumped at the opportunity to steward a piece of land that has not seen any poisons in decades, and with an abundant supply of very clean and cool water coming almost straight from the mountainside - fed by the beautiful Luoshan waterfall, Taiwan.  *Cool, clean, aerated, moving water.*

No chemical sprays or fertilizers were used at any stage of this growing season. Fertility was added in the form of leaf litter, wood ash, and the increasing biology within the system. Mosquito fish were added into the water channel that we created with a small bed making machine. These quickly reproduced and filled the waterway, many kinds of frogs began hopping around feeding on the dozens (or hundreds?) of species of insects, birds became regular visitors to get their daily nutritional needs, while leaving behind their own deposits - giving back to the system. Earthworms and other soil organisms began working the above water soil areas in between the diversified species of plants. These plants were selected because they were readily available and could help us move as far away as possible from a “mono-crop” style of growing. Every species provided its own unique service through their own microbiological networks, connections, and interwoven relationships, as well as biomass.

The goal was to establish and expand on a “sociobiome” - enabling natural quorum sensing to occur within the system - allowing for the intelligence of nature to express itself, and to over time, begin culturing an ever expanding balance between the elements of the system.  To allow for evolution and adaptations. To slowly and steadily move into more resiliency, health, and disease and pest resistance. This method takes time, and the first few years are often considered the most difficult. This was our first year, where the majority of the work takes place in the form of shaping the land area, and increasing fertility without use of granulated or store bought fertilizers. Being that this was rented land we did not have the luxury of going through an extended observational stage to get to know the area before making any major changes.

Challenges and Lessons

There were some challenges along the way. It wasn’t perfect. Diseases and so called “pests” were still present, although not detrimental.  The taro did not grow to their fullest potential, and we realized that one of the varieties, which has a darker purple stem, began to rot at the bases of 75% of the plants upon harvesting. In my own biased opinion these were still cleaner than 99% of the taro found elsewhere. There was still plenty of salvageable corm to be cubed and put away into the freezer, shared with friends, or sliced and sun dried for purpose of making flour. The only exceptions for a cleaner taro, in my opinion, might come from small scale organic or regenerative backyard gardeners who have an already established soil ecosystem cultured for more than a few years - with taro that has adapted to their own unique environment. We had to do this in 1 year in soil that, despite being clean, was overly tilled, highly oxidized, and had very little life or organic matter present in the beginning.

“Weeds” did become an issue, although not in ways most people would imagine. While the taro rows were kept mostly free of other competing plants, and covered in a thick protective layer of leaf mulch and cut grass, the alternating rows in between taro plantings were the ones with more diversity nearby, where there would be minimal root competition, while still allowing for a more diversified eco-system to exist. Pollinators were happy, and because we were going toward no-till the resident fire flies could also find a safe place to lay their eggs. These alternating rows were to be the areas of the next seasons taro plantings, after the roots and microbes “healed” the soil via root exudates, and injected sun energy in the form of liquid carbon and sugars, while providing a layer of protective decomposing matter to the surface. The “weed” issue arose mainly from the land owners who did not understand or appreciate our method, and despite our best efforts to communicate what we were trying to accomplish - it was still not understood or comprehended. Our style was seen as messy and unprofessional, and as a result we were asked to return the land at the end of the season, rather than being allowed to expand upon the foundations we tried to establish.

Another challenge in the beginning, before there was much vegetation to offer protective shade or other ecosystem services, was that there was almost no rain. The establishment phase of our plantings was a very dry period. While the water coming from the river source entered into the field at a very cooling temperature - it would often leave the system way hotter than expected.  We added azolla water fern and duckweed, but these did not expand as we hoped, probably due to the intense full sun and increasingly hotter temperatures of the late spring and early summer.

Reflections and Accepting Feedback

Would we do this again?  Yes, and No. It would be dependent on the context. This was an incredible amount of work. Despite having a price on our taro that was four times higher than found at the supermarkets, it still didn’t come close to paying for the amount of time and labor that went into the foundational process. We chose this asking price based on how much other organic and natural farming growers sell theirs for. Ours was slightly less, as we did not have an established market or brand name with recognition, nor the certifications to help show proof of “organic” practices.

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Organic growers shouldn’t have to be overwhelmed with paperwork to show that they are not using toxins in their practices. Growers who use “jug products” - mined and mass produced from half way around the world - should be the ones having to show what they are putting into the ecosystem.  Small family farm subsidies can help feed the world much more effectively.

I digress. Back to the point…

We have come to the realization that when trying to produce enough food to create an income for ourselves, while practicing long term regenerative, syntropic, and permaculture based methods, it just doesn’t make sense to rent land without a long term agreement and commitment.  Our style is meant to improve the soil over time, where every season is supposed to get better and easier with less work involved. Greater gains for less cost.  Instead we found ourselves practicing long term methods in a very short term environment, which resulted in greater costs, for a miniscule gain.  

From a permaculture sense this first year was primarily meant to be a more observational period anyway, while waiting for the soil conditions to improve. We gathered half a dozen different taro varieties and planted them into this area in order to see which ones fit in well, and also to learn about the cultivars found in Taiwan.  Of the taro varieties we harvested it became very clear that the “purple stem” variety did not fit in well with this system, while the “green stem runner” and “green stem clumping” varieties held up very well. These cultivars were presumably “Bun Long” and “Betelnut”. This was for the first year, where many stresses were present, and the soil conditions were only starting to get better established.  In comparison the purple was very difficult to dig up - to the point that I even broke my shovel. The green stemmed, on the other hand, didn’t even require the use of leverage most of the time. The running  green was easier than the clumping. I could just walk down the row and give most of the corms a twist and a pull while harvesting. The harvesting effort was 10x easier. No wonder this is the variety most often used by commercial growers, where efficiency can make the difference between a profit or a loss.  My guess is that the purple would likely do much better in a backyard garden habitat, where it can be more closely observed, fed, and harvested within a 6-9 month period. Based on my observations this one grows taller and produces larger corms than the green stem varieties.  Between the greens its was the runner that typically made larger corms. This one has likely been selected over time by commercial growers with the primary intent of making money in mostly degraded systems, so it would make sense for it to hold up better, be easier to harvest, and produce larger size corms. We ended up getting much less rot issues with it, but the corms were also much smaller than the purple, so the overall ratio might actually balance out if the primary intent is to feed, and less on making money.  All three varieties have great texture and flavor.  We have noticed that the purple is milder, less aromatic, and has a creamier texture after cooking,

Now that it is all over your feedback is also greatly appreciated. It is the dialogue and insights from you that have not only helped to encourage this process, but also gain a tremendous amount of respect - going back repeatedly and looking at same things but in different ways and from different angles.

Conclusions

Not only has our taro season ended, but apparently so is my own journey with growing taro…at least in a larger quantity in a semi-tropical environment.  We have decided to move to a climate that, as far as I know, doesn’t have this species growing.  Not naturally, anyway. From my research the furthest boundaries to the northern hemisphere that Colocasia esculenta has been grown, so far, are found in Japan at about 40 deg N latitude. We are moving to an area with a plant hardiness zone of 6-7, and at 50 deg N latitude.  A place with occasional deep freezes and long dark winters. Not exactly the ideal taro growing climate.

But I am trying! I was able to successfully bring starts to Poland with no issues, and they are now sitting indoors on a windowsill - waiting for the arrival of spring to be planted into the earth. Getting ahold of the more cold tolerant Japanese cultivars, such as “Araimo”, which can mature in as little as 6 months might be a good option to experiment with in the future. I had this growing in Volcano, Hawaii at one point, so it would be a wonderful variety to reconnect with.  But it is the “poi” varieties that i hope to acquire the most. Maybe the 6-8 month warm climate Hawaiian varieties could do if I can find a way to respectfully acquire them, and get them through the long dark winters with indoor greenhouse environment? “Mana Ulu” was a delicious cultivar with very unique characteristics, and known to be one of the earliest maturing of the Hawaii cultivars. “Pi’iali’i“, one of the more ancient cultivars found in Hawaii, and one I was really wanting to connect with, can mature in as little as 8 months according to the Bulletin-84 publication.  “Ele’ele Makoko”, “Ele’ele Naioea”, “Ula’ula Kumu”, “Ula’ula Poni”, “Ula’ula Moano”, “Lehua Maoli”, “Lehua Keokeo”, “Lehua Ele’ele”,  “Wehiwa”, “Kai Uliuli”, “Kai Ala”, and “Kai Kea” also in as little as 8 months.  “Mana Keokeo” and “Elepaio” in as little as 7 months. “Apuwai” and “Apu” in as little as 6 months!  “Bun Long” and other similar Chinese varieties found in Taiwan are showing to also be earlier maturing. The challenge here, as it was when moving to Taiwan, will likely be getting ahold of some of these varieties - many of which are considered, by some practitioners, intellectual property of Hawaii, and not to be shared without proper protocol and intent.  Having a sacred plant with connections to human origins get into the wrong hands and becoming genetically modified is a real fear for an entire culture of people.

As far as suitable environment Poland does have very nice warm summers with very long daylight hours, which I think could produce high quality taro in the right lepo (soil), especially with an abundance of cool clean aerated water readily available. Pushing the boundaries and working with edge effects is a permaculture practice, after-all, isn’t it?  The way to find out is to try.

Please wish me luck.  

Hi There,

I've been growing taro/ elephant ear for several years now -here in VA, zone 7 or so, bringing it inside for winter. obviously this is labor intensive, and I mostly have found it will grow inside if I remember the water. Trying an experiment this year, leaving one of the taro plants outside in the biofilter to see if it will survive, I doubt it will, but i have a bunch of plants to play with, so we'll see.

Also, I have even kept azolla alive outside one winter in a semi protected small pond with some shade cloth over top of the whole mess and lots of decaying organic matter around--a general mess in other words, but it survived there, winter outside, zone 7.  the next winter was not as kind, but some did manage to make it through in a more exposed situation, but  I brought in as much as i could find outside at the end of this summer, and need to keep it away from the fish, but with occasonal inputs of fish nutrient water.

One of the tricks with azolla is nutrient in the water. one summer I raised it well, but found toward the end of the summer it started to turn color, and I think that was a result of nitrogen deficiency.  The taro also does much better when it is helping purify fish waste in the water stream.

I've been working with koi and biofilters, and taro just fits in nicely.  I'm also growing  tumeric and ginger as well as some more cold hardy plants in the biofilters, and it seems that nutrient rich water is loved by all plants.  I know there are thousands of species of alocasia and colocasia and I like the idea of the 6 month ripening Japanese varieties. our oriental stores around here sell taro corms pretty cheap as a food, They even fit the description of the araime, and a quick experiment toward the end of this summer proved them viable, so depending on how things develop, that is a seed option for next year if I choose to go that way.

Of course the other alternative, rather than importing exotics is the idea of local plants like cattails, I put a few in the biofilter two springs ago, and had to pull them out of the biofilter because they were crowding everything else out in the biofilter.  I moved them down to act as a filter plant at the head of one of my gully ponds, and expect in a couple years it will be a major crop with very little care on my part.  I also started some arrowhead from a plant  at the nearby river, and two years later it has multiplied many times over as well.

Yes, the idea of having a long term property is a great idea for a permaculture experiment, and often rented land will just return to its previous state after it is left behind, and looking back at my youth I put lots of energy into short term stuff that was lost in time, experiments that partially worked whose primary function was my instruction. Still, we have to be careful about the wish to do things differently  IF.....   Those thought experiments just are to confirm that we know more now than earlier,  not that we didn't gain valuable perspectives from the "right" choice at the right time.

Note to self:Making the best choice I know how to make is always a good idea, regretting a past decision in light of new information is mostly unnecessary self flaggelation.

Remember, if you're not having fun you've got the design wrong:-)

I’m not sure if these would be considered edible taro, but if so, they’d definitely be an edible ornamental. And they’re being bred to be increasingly cold-hardy! 🥶😁

See here for more from “Brian’s Botanicals,” a plant breeder:

https://madmimi.com/p/e415c91?pact=1185755-181679582-14478067981-c665e2b7e06b531aec3a0729e48df57a2dc5318c#

I planted some colocasia in my chinampa, but unfortunately they didn't survive the winter. Being eaten by deer and the running water failing were probably factors. They weren't edible selections, so may have been horrid to eat anyhow. I'll probably try again in future though.
I love the architectural leaves - those ones you posted are stunning Jonathan!