How to Grow Taro? Understanding the Planting Methods and Precautions in One Article

Surely everyone is familiar with taro. It is soft, glutinous and sweet on the palate, smooth yet not greasy, and is a food that people greatly enjoy. How does this delicious and healthy food come to be? Let me tell everyone about the planting methods for taro.

1. Planting Time

Taro is generally sown in spring and harvested in autumn, planted from January to March and grown and harvested from August to October.

2. Planting Conditions

1. Soil

Taro is a fertilizer-loving crop. You should choose loam or clay loam with deep soil layers and rich organic matter to ensure that the corms growing underground absorb abundant nutrients. A pH value of 5.5-7 is most suitable.

2. Temperature

Taro originated in India and likes high temperatures. During its growth process, the temperature should be maintained at 20-30°C.

3. Water

No matter which variety, they all like moisture. Dryland taro requires moist soil, while wetland taro requires a certain water layer.

4. Light

No strong light is needed; weak light is sufficient.

3. Planting Methods

1. Preparing the Planting Site

The soil for planting taro should mainly be fertile, nutrient-rich, and have a thick soil layer. After choosing the site, plow the land and open furrows. The furrows should be 50 cm wide and 35 cm deep, with a row spacing of about 80-100 cm. After digging, fill the furrows with fertilizer.

2. Sowing

Before sowing, spread intact seed taros out in the sun for a few days, then place them indoors and cover them with wet sand to promote sprouting. At this time, keep the room temperature at 20-25°C. They will sprout in about 20 days, and once the seed taros have sprouted, they can be planted. Plant 4500-6000 plants per mu. Use a wide-and-narrow row cultivation method, sowing at a plant spacing of 27-33 cm, with wide row spacing of 60 cm and narrow row spacing of 30 cm.

3. Watering

Do not water taro before emergence. Keep the soil moist in the middle and later stages, and pay attention to drainage during the rainy season. Eighty days after emergence, in combination with watering, make holes beside the plants and apply fertilizer. Taro dislikes dry soil; when drought occurs, the leaves turn yellow and wither, but overly wet soil with standing water is also unfavorable for root growth. During the seedling stage, the soil should have sufficient bottom moisture, and watering should be strictly avoided. During the seedling stage, keep the soil alternating between dry and moist, and pay attention to drainage when it rains.

4. Intertillage and Earthing Up

During the seedling stage of taro, intertill to eliminate weeds and warm the soil in combination with topdressing. At the end of the seedling stage, intertill and level the cultivation furrows into flat ground. After that, earth up once about every 20 days, 7 cm thick, for a total of two times. The purpose of earthing up is to inhibit the sprouting and growth of the terminal buds of daughter and granddaughter taros, reduce nutrient consumption, allow the taro to fully expand and produce a large number of adventitious roots, and increase the plant's drought resistance.

5. Harvesting

Taro should be harvested promptly after maturity. In the Yangtze River basin, early-maturing varieties sown early are mostly harvested from early September to early October, those sown late are mostly harvested from late September to late October, and mid-to-late-maturing varieties are mostly harvested from the end of September to early November. Harvesting may be appropriately advanced or delayed according to market demand, but generally it should be completed before heavy frost to prevent the taro from suffering frost damage.

6. Seed Saving

For taro seed saving, choose high-yield plots with uniform growth, and select plants with the characteristics of that variety as seed plants. Seed corms should be harvested on a sunny day when the aboveground parts have withered and yellowed and the daughter taros have fully grown. For the multi-daughter-taro type, 25-50 grams is suitable, and small ones should be above 15 grams; for the kui taro type, they should be above 25 grams.

4. Precautions

Throughout the entire planting process of taro, attention should be paid to controlling temperature and moisture. It should not be waterlogged or drought-stricken, and the temperature should not be too low.

For pests and diseases, prevention should be the main approach. During the entire growth process, taro may be attacked by fungal and bacterial diseases, such as taro blight and soft rot. Control them promptly, start applying medication before the disease occurs, and strengthen water and fertilizer management. For pests such as aphids, cotton leafworms, and underground pests, targeted treatments are needed.

Growing taro is actually not difficult; the key lies in careful management during its growth process. To maximize economic benefits, the entire ecological environment for taro growth must be well maintained.