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Post by cortona on Jan 2, 2011 14:58:32 GMT -5
today in a etnic shop i've found this tubers i've buyed a nice quantity to try koking it and try to plant it! anibody can id it? Emanuele
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Post by stevil on Jan 2, 2011 17:12:49 GMT -5
Looks like a type of Taro, Colocasia esculenta!
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jan 2, 2011 17:19:36 GMT -5
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Post by steev on Jan 2, 2011 18:58:40 GMT -5
Taro for sure, but they're only used mainly in confectionary by those who don't like the taste of library paste; those who do, make poi.
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Post by paquebot on Jan 2, 2011 23:25:21 GMT -5
Not taro. I think that it's something from East Africa, mainly Ethiopia and Kenya. If so, it won't grow from the tubers but from seed. And they would be used as a substitute for potatoes.
Martin
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Post by orflo on Jan 3, 2011 4:22:57 GMT -5
That's a form of taro (colocasia esculenta), as Stephen already mentioned. You could try planting it, but it needs a ling season and lots of warmth/humidity, I tried it in my greenhouse years ago, but it didn't produce anything
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Post by stevil on Jan 3, 2011 4:40:30 GMT -5
I've grown Taro and Tarua in large pots which I have outside during summer and bring inside for the winter . They are actually quite nice house plants (particularly the dark leaved forms such as Black Taro), but rather susceptible to aphids. However, not really worth it yield-wise (1 or two tubers/year/pot), just for fun really to be able to eat the world's most northerly taro . The leaves are also used as a delicious vegetable (there are special forms selected for the leaves). Taro contains calcium oxalate crystals (although selected for low levels) and must be cooked before eating.
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Post by stevil on Jan 3, 2011 4:53:07 GMT -5
Here's my Black Taro Attachments:
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Post by cortona on Jan 3, 2011 6:20:59 GMT -5
hu, i've black taro and i dont know... thanks, for me is simply another nice houseplant, wel, i wil try tsome tuber as a potato sostitute and plant the other is pots and i have another nice houseplants to gift to gardening friends thanks all for the help and attention Emanuele ps about the wiki link wath i have is exactly the same as the ones shown in the lower photo.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jan 3, 2011 8:01:24 GMT -5
LOL Library paste! I've always heard that poi was a love/hate deal.
Martin, you say these grow from seed? I don't believe I've ever seen them flower! My grandmother grew them in Florida. We never ate them, in fact, I very vaguely recall being told that they were poisonous. I'm going to try to find some photos of flowers....
MODIFICATION: They look like anthurium or peace lily flowers. I'm guessing they are related?
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Post by stevil on Jan 3, 2011 8:57:39 GMT -5
hu, i've black taro and i dont know... thanks, for me is simply another nice houseplant, wel, i wil try tsome tuber as a potato sostitute and plant the other is pots and i have another nice houseplants to gift to gardening friends thanks all for the help and attention Emanuele ps about the wiki link wath i have is exactly the same as the ones shown in the lower photo. Emanuele - I haven't eaten the Black Taro - I suspect that this one is higher in oxalates (selected for the leaf colour rather than low levels of oxalates). Please just eat a little bit first and if it irritates (burns in your mouth) stop!
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Post by stevil on Jan 3, 2011 12:13:25 GMT -5
Martin, you say these grow from seed? I don't believe I've ever seen them flower! My grandmother grew them in Florida. We never ate them, in fact, I very vaguely recall being told that they were poisonous. I'm going to try to find some photos of flowers.... MODIFICATION: They look like anthurium or peace lily flowers. I'm guessing they are related? Yes! The yellow flowers contrast particularly well against the black taro leaves: Attachments:
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Post by atash on Jan 3, 2011 12:25:01 GMT -5
It's taro.
It's one of the smaller types, which are sweeter than the big ones that are just blandly starchy. I dunno if the small sweet ones are just younger, or if they are different varieties. There are around 1,500 some clones of Taro floating around. It's native to somewhere in the vicinity of tropical Southeast Asia but is now close to pan-tropical. It is one of the few crops traditionally grown by Polynesians, and along with sweet potato which they picked up in South America it proves they traveled over astonishing distances from one shore of the Pacific to the other.
Taro might be used for poi in Polynesia but it has other uses in Asia. It's used like a potato, potentially boiled and eaten straight just like a potato, and it makes tastier "french fries" than real potatoes. It's also cooked into a sweet-starchy filling for buns and pastries. I think Taro is pretty good actually.
It needs a warm, humid climate, but mysteriously some Asian families here grow luxuriant crops of it. My guess is it does better if you give it lots of fertilizer and plenty of irrigation during the summer to compensate for the cool dry summers here.
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Post by cortona on Jan 3, 2011 12:26:27 GMT -5
thanks stevil, i wil not try eating the black taro, h've buyed it past season and i have just little material, anyway oxxalates descourages me efficently to try, i like a lot the plant so...it is sure. i've never see the flower that is realy nice!!! in the same shop i've find a nice sweet potato that is pink red with withe flesh, being almost difficult to find sweet potatoes different from the usual withe ones i've buyed a sample and i wil try it this spring. no info on were it comes but... we will'see!
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jan 3, 2011 14:10:08 GMT -5
Stevil, those are some beautiful flowers! I'm not much interested in these plants for food. But I do remember being enthralled with the giant plants my grandmother called "Elephant Ears". Relatives perhaps? Maybe misnamed? Regardless, I think I will have to find a spot for them in the future. I really like your black leaved variety.
OH, do they have the same "air scrubbing" qualities that the "Peace Lily" is rumored to have?
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