Wasabi!

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by JCardina, May 25, 2008.

  1. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

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    Location:
    Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada
    There's no forum for Brassicaceae or Cruciferae, I hope this is the right one:

    Went to the farmers market in Courtenay, B.C. yesterday and a Japanese family with a stall that normally sells veggies and fresh wasabi root and leaves had wasabi plants in pots for sale so we immediately bought them. I had been meaning to ask him if he would ever sell the plants but kept forgetting and there they were.

    I have about 6 separate plants in 1 gallon pots, they look like they've been in the pots for some time and very healthy looking.

    I'd like suggestions on where and how to try growing them. I know they are finicky but I think I can create the right conditions on our property.

    We have a pond fed by a natural spring so I'm planning on planting some beside the pond just slightly above water level at the extremely shady end, some in the ditch that the stream flows in right beside the water (also shady) then make a channel so water flows over the rhizomes, possibly some in the back of the property which is a swampy alder forest unfortunately slugs will be a bit of a hassle there and finally some in a garden with dappled to shady light in the same back property area.

    The guy who sold them to us said moist well drained soil in a shady place, of course everyone says moist well drained which is contradictory but we've got a standard mix we use which is about half ProMix HP and half Sea Soil potting soil with a good bit of perlite added for extra moisture retention which I work in with about half again as much natural dirt in the planting hole. It works great for our tropicals.

    I'm thinking that might be sufficient and the areas should be good but any suggestions would be appreciated.
     
  2. Just Curious

    Just Curious Active Member

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    Location:
    New Westminster BC
    I've seen them grown in an upland deciduous forest, in a greenhouse in pots and also grew several hundred myself using a flood table. All here in the Vancouver area.
    I found them easy to propogate but they are prone to aphid damage and can rot very quickly if the water quality gets poor.
    During summers here they like 80% shade but much less in winter. The deciduous forest was ideal for this.
    Plants in one gallon pots should be ready to eat. If the seller hasn't picked off all the baby plants, (which they probably have) you can replant even the smallest and they should grow.
    Freshly grated wasabi of good quality is an outstanding product and I'm surprised more people aren't growing it.
     
  3. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

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    Location:
    Comox, Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada
    Excellent news, thank you! I'm planning on planting them in and on the edge of the alder forest in our back yard so I'll try some in the spring that runs into our pond, some at the edge of the pond and some back in the trees once I find a way to keep the slugs away without killing the cats.

    They are in 1 gallon pots but there are 3 in each pot so quite small. No need to cut them up though as the same guy sells fresh root and leaves (which are *very* tasty) in the same stand every saturday morning. I'll wait until I'm overrun with them before I start hacking them up. :)

    I guess the rumours of them being extremely hard to grow were highly overrated. Perhaps hard to grow in factory production conditions but not at home? Time will tell I guess.

    I think there are some wild plants that are very closely related here in B.C.; I was up at Paradise Meadows last fall which has an excellent boardwalk and trails that is high alpine swampy conditions and there were plants in and on the edge of the streams all over the place that had leaves exactly like Wasabi. I didn't have the guts to taste one but they sure looked similar and grew off of very similar looking rhizomes.

    In any case, even if I just get leaves out of these they are super tasty in a salad or in home made sushi rolls.
     

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