Cassava/Yuca/Tapioca new propagation technique - Subtropical/Tropical Gardens

This past winter I came across a video (https://youtu.be/O1XH8FoU_60) that showed a new technique to propagate cassava, yielding dozens more plants from the canes than the traditional foot-long cuttings. I have begun experimenting with this technique and have experienced some success thus far. The plants are sprouting and putting out small roots. I will keep providing updates as this progresses. Here's to hoping! Let me know if anyone else has tried this technique and/or if you have had any success.

https://youtube.com/shorts/RxUEWl18_pA

Just picked up some more cassava today. Going to try planting the individual nodes horizontally. They planted them very close together... The yield must be insane, even aside from the ridiculous growth rates.

I'm not completely sure they would be able to grow out to full size at that close proximity, but you could start seeing small tuber yields at a couple months, and slowly harvest out the bed instead of waiting the full 6-9 months for full size roots.

Joshua Brangenberg wrote:I'm not completely sure they would be able to grow out to full size at that close proximity, but you could start seeing small tuber yields at a couple months, and slowly harvest out the bed instead of waiting the full 6-9 months for full size roots.

Perhaps this is the best way to start them so that after x time you can then transplant them to a more spacious zone. Maybe that would improve efficiency by a few months and still get full sized yields.

Joshua, please keep us posted about how the yields are, I'm interested in whether you get the same number of tubers or fewer with the shorter lengths of cane (generally here we cut them into pieces that are maybe a palm or a hand length long and get a cluster of tubers, i don't know if the multiple tubers come out of the multiple nodes on the cane or if it's irrelevant).

Here is an update on the cassava propagation. So far I’m getting lots of roots. It’ll be many months before I’m able to assess the tuber growth, but roots=tubers!

https://youtube.com/shorts/_adYvDQGbO4?feature=share

Here's a mid-summer update on the cassava experiment (started from nodes vs. cuttings). Most of the plants started from nodes are not doing as well as those started from cuttings. I do have a few started from nodes that are 6-7' tall, however the majority are 3-4' tall. Those started from cuttings are 8'+ at this point. Here is a short video I filmed a few weeks ago to show the progress.