Plants will ship Mid-March 🙂
Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum) potted plant, organic
$16.00
Family: Nasturtium (Tropaeolaceae)
Perennial in Zones 8 to 12 where it does best at middle elevations. As a garden annual, this is a good choice for temperate gardens, where it will mature its tubers by November.
Vining perennial native to Peru and Bolivia, with flattish, palmate leaves and orange, spurred flowers. Highly desired delicate climbing vine to 8 feet, very very showy on the landscape. Tender. The production of the thin-skinned, tuberous roots is stimulated by shortening days, therefore harvested very late in the season. Tubers are used in soups, being kind to the liver and kidney, also purportedly an anaphrodisiac that gets served up when the lady of the house is feeling exhausted. When fresh, the mashua are as peppery as a Nasturtium bud, but when cooked they are mild and yummy in taste. They are particularly nice when roasted along with meats. The leaves are also edible, as are the buds and flowers. The tubers make a good pickle. Plant like a potato. Trellis. Benefits from growing in soils of relatively low fertility but good structure. In hot areas, give shade or partial shade. Hill up. Give plenty of water late in the growing season to encourage formation of tubers. Space plants 3 feet apart.
Potted Plant, Certified Organically Grown
Out of stock
Question
Nick –
Hello I was wondering if mashua is available in late july 2021? i know that it says in-stock but i just wanted to make sure considering most other places don’t have it available. if started in the autumn/late summer will it survive over the winter indoors with a moderately cold winter or is it best to store the tubers and start them up in the spring? thanks!
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Richo Cech –
Hi Nick,
Mashua plants are in stock and orders made in late july ship in October. The reason for the gap between ordering and shipping is 2-fold. 1) its too hot to ship plants. 2) we ship first come first served and September shipping is already full. Unless you have a heated greenhouse I think it would be safest to order in January for spring delivery. Richo
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nick –
i do have indoor lighting artificial lighting that can keep plants growing quite happily. our winters are so mild that some tomatoes survived in the ground and kept trying to produce fruit all winter. i have seen some sources online make reference to growing mashua indoors so i believe it might be doable. if i purchase the tubers now they’ll arrive in october? if our winters stay mild it should survive, I’d think, if the leaves only die because of the frost and not day length. if you have any more information on this i would love to hear it, thank you
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Richo Cech –
Hi Nick,
We have plenty of Mashua. If you order right away you’ll still get in on the October delivery. I like it when growers are confident about their ability to work with plants of any and all types. My job is to get you a live and properly identified starter.
Richo
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Gustavo Luna –
Traduction: I would like to know if you have Mashua morada (purple), it is the one I am looking for to plant and use as food and if you do, could you tell me when is the best time to plant it and where? Is better to plant it outside or inside the house here in Hoston Tx. Thank you in advance for you response.
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Richo Cech –
hello gustavo, thanks for contacting. The picture on the website shows the kinds of tubers that can be expected. We don’t giuarantee any particular cultivar, they all do pretty much the same thing, and all the tubers are incredibly. . . pretty. richo
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Question
Eugenia Wagner-Shaw –
Do you know the variety? Is it ken Ashley?
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Richo Cech –
Hi Eugenia, we have a number of varietals going and aren’t listing these down to variety–just making sure you get a solid Tropaeolum tuberosum. Richo
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