As mentioned, mashua pickles are delicious and the adventurous fermenter could probably produce a very unique product. About 10 weeks are required to form a good yield, which places harvest around the middle of November. I initially screened plants in their seedling year and unfortunately culled many plants, some of which, I later learned, would probably have been early flowerers in their second year. Description Description. Like many tuber crops, mashua can be grown as a perennial, but it is difficult to manage. aggregatum), Potato: What You Should Know About Potato Fruits, Potato Ploidy and Endosperm Balance Number, Top 10 Beginner Mistakes with True Potato Seeds (TPS), USDA Zones for Andean Root and Tuber Crops, Book Review: Pandora’s Potatoes – The Worst GMOs, Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) and Relatives, Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) and Relatives. True seeds are fairly easy to produce, but varieties do not grow true from seed. The flowers have large nectaries and are sweet with a bit of aniseed flavor. Although they can be eaten raw, this doesn’t appear to have ever been a common practice in the Andes. Neato! piliferum (Hind 2010). Mashua is a name of Quechua origin and isaño of Aymara, both peoples of the central Andes. That said, the self-pollinated progeny of most mashua varieties have a great deal of consistency in phenotype. The five sepals are red, orange o… Tropaeolum tricolor is a Chilean endemic vine, so why call them 'Bolivian Nasturtium'? Mashua is one of the more difficult of the Andean root crops to store. It dehydrates relatively quickly once dug. In the If you find that they are becoming soft, either put them in some barely damp soil or in the crisper of your refrigerator. Flowering begins a few weeks after tuber formation, in October for most varieties. The crop is propagated by planting tubers. Bears will dig up your mashua and eat every bit of it that they can find. A spectacular beauty for pot, conservatory or sheltered well-drained garden. All parts of the plant can be eaten raw or cooked. This plant likes to climb and will make more efficient use of space if it can. Mashua is also sometimes consumed as a dessert, by boiling and then freezing the tubers. Isothiocyanates have antibiotic and insecticidal properties. Mashua varieties in North America sometimes test positive for Potyvirus, which could be Bean Yellow Mosaic Virus, Mashua Virus Y, Tropaeolum Mosaic Virus, Turnip Mosaic Virus, or as yet unidentified mashua viruses. I have had single plant yields as high as 16 pounds (7.25 kg), nearly ten gallons of tubers, when mashua was given a very long growing season and grown on trellis. It works well in strongly spiced dishes where it can’t get the upper hand. Underground, the plant forms tubers that reach up to at least 13 inches (33 cm) in length, although more typically in the 3 to 8 inch (7.5 to 20 cm) range. This cool-climate plant isn't for everyone, but if you can provide the right conditions, it's an exciting plant to grow. * Mashua varieties have tested positive for the genus and these viruses are possible culprits, Mashua frequently demonstrates fasciation, which can be beautiful, but also typically lowers yield. They are narrowly funnel-shaped and about 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long. In cold climates, there is some urgency to complete the harvest when temperatures of 30° F (-1 C) or below are imminent. lineamaculatum and the variety ‘Blanca’ (once offered as ‘Sidney’ in the UK) with var. If you feel that the flavor of mashua is just not intense enough, this might be the plant that you have been looking for. Most people are aware that the leaves and seed pods of the common garden nasturtiums, T. minus and T. majus, are edible. Mashua is easily propagated from tubers. Be careful digging out the seedlings, because the roots can be several inches long by the time the first shoot breaks the surface. These were low titer results on test strips, which might indicate that they are related viruses and not actually those viruses, but I have included them in the table below until that is sorted out. That all sounds pretty good. Unfortunately, these species are difficult to obtain. It is best to store the tubers where they can get some light once they have sprouted; sprouts that grow in darkness will become spindly and fragile. If you know of a source for any of them, please hook me up! Unlike most of the other Andean tubers, mashua responds very poorly to this technique and the tuber will often rot once you have pulled the dominant sprout. As a plant that is both dependent on short days for tuber formation and vulnerable to frost, mashua cultivation is limited to climates with mild autumn weather. Unlike many of the Andean root crops, mashua easily sets germinable seed, which can be used to breed new varieties. It is a good idea to pot the tubers so that they don’t continue to expend their reserves. That would need to be improved for this plant to be much of an edible. Why did one study find such a large drop, while the other found none at all? The variety ‘Ken Aslet’ is generally associated with var. It is able to flower and form tubers in both spring and late summer in the Pacific Northwest, although they don’t have the opportunity to grow large in spring before the day length rises above 14 hours. Every 2 – 3 years as a rule. Mashua is very tolerant about transplanting and you will get a head start by potting the tubers. piliferum. Mashua was introduced to Europe as early as 1827 (Hind 2010) and appears to have been grown continuously since then, but primarily on small scale as an ornamental. Each flower can produce up to five seeds, but it is rare to see more than two without making hand pollinated crosses. I haven’t tried it yet as it didn’t look incredibly appealing. The numerous flowers are borne singly on long wiry stalks growing from the axils of the leaves. I usually pinch out the tips of any stems by the time they reach six inches in length. The variety ‘Ken Aslet’ is widely available in the nursery trade as an ornamental variety. Larger tubers generally produce bigger plants faster, with more stems, which leads to greater yield. Once you have enough experiment with them in less protected situations in the garden. The optimum germination temperature appears to be between 55 and 60 degrees F. Warmer temperatures inhibit germination.