Maca

[Deleted]

Has anybody grown Maca (Lepidium meyenii) before? I got some seeds from Horizon Herbs, but I'm not sure how to grow them.

[atash]

Maca is an interesting crop. Despite being a high-altitude deep tropical (a notoriously specialized environment difficult to reproduce elsewhere), it can be grown in at least some low-altitude, higher-latitude environments.

It's a biennial, but for harvesting purposes (other than seed), grown as an annual, a lot like a turnip. Same family, by the way.

It is not day-length sensitive. The roots are capable of fattening up during long-day growing seasons here on the west coast.

The bad news is that it is quite temperature sensitive. it does not like high heat. It's chemical processes are optimized for fairly chilly temperatures. Over a certain temperature, they start shutting down and the plant is at risk of languishing.

It does better in a climate with a long, cool growing season.

The folks who sold me some of mine, in Willets, California, sow it late summer to ripen into autumn. At my latitude (47.5 degrees), I have seedlings in a tray waiting to get big enough to plant out by spring. Most of mine will be allowed to overwinter to mature to make seed, but some will be "sacrificed".

[atash]

Oh, a few more observations: the seed germinates promptly (if viable); there's no deep dormancy on this one. It grows away quickly if happy.

[rowan]

As said, the seed germinates easily but I could not keep it alive in my hot, dry summer here in Aus.
Last year was wetter and I got a few plants growing well but when I went to cook it, it tasted terrible - bitter and dry. I don't know why I even tried again this year. Tried to cook it many ways but I couldn't get it to taste pleasant.

[raymondo]

I've tried twice and failed both times. It's very attractive to cabbage moths. The plants start small and the foliage is delicate. If the moth doesn't get it any passing snail or slug quickly finishes it off.
I'll probably keep trying though, being the stubborn cuss that I am!

[castanea]

Even in a relatively cool summer for us I could not keep it alive. Some plants that are well adapted to cold climates can aslo handle heat well, but maca does not seem to be one of them.

[Deleted]

I've read that maca is supposed to be quite frost tolerant (down to 14'F). So long as it were well covered during really cold snaps, could it possibly be grown from fall to early spring in cool winter areas?

[stevil]

This is what mine looked like sown in April and "lifted" (not much to lift ) in October.... I moved them into my cellar under lights which has a constant +4C in winter to see if they would overwinter, but I had a rat visiting who had a gourmet maca dinner one night...

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[ottawagardener]

Lucky rat. I wonder if there's a fanatically attempt amongst rat gourmets now to re-locate that tasty veg.