Growing Taro, also Dasheen, cocoyam

Colocasia esculenta : Araceae / the arum or lily family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec

Not recommended for growing in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions

  • Plant small pieces of tuber or suckers, 5-8cm deep. Best planted at soil temperatures between 68°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 31 inches apart
  • Harvest in approximately 28 weeks. When the leaves begin to die down. .
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Best in separate bed

Your comments and tips

02 Apr 19, Rijo Mathew Joy (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
were can i buy Taro seeds for planting
12 Apr 20, Prakash Chandra (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Taro has no seeds. It is propagated by removing the offshoots from the mother plant (corm) when they are roughly 15 cm high or buy a taro tuber (the one that is used for eating ) and cut the top section with about 2 cm of tuber intact. Leave oi for a bout two days and plant it about 6-7 cm deep in the soil. Water plenty Taro plants can be bought from plant suppliers or sometimes in markets Be careful whether you want for eating or as ornamental.
01 Oct 21, Abdul FIJI Dalo Expert (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Otara market or any Fiji Indian grocery shops around papatoetoe plus you can simply drive around South Auckland you ll see abundance of Daro plants ask the owner if he wants to sell any. Don't plant or buy the black stem variety itchy when you eat it...best are the green stem ones...planting wise make sure soft fertilized soil suitable for any root crop. No big deal in planting simply use a spear like wood or iron to create a hole drop the Dalo tube in ...sun and water will do the rest...eat the leaves by cooking with coconut cream. If you want Dalo root to develop don't eat the leaves.
18 Jul 17, Taro (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Planted a whole bag of fijian pink in coromandel in may. Cut the corms up into chunks followed all instructions, but unfortunately they all rotted. Transplanted another variety that was growing before and it was 100% sucess rate although the leaves have produced round brown discolourations. Any suggestion for a particular variety and where to get it from? Cheers
15 Jan 17, (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Hi are we allowed to take raw taro to Australia?
11 Jan 17, Taro (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
Hi I was wondering what would be the most suitable variety of taro to plant in nz in any of the sub-tropical regions? Cheers
13 Jan 17, Graeme (Australia - temperate climate)
Japanese taro does really well in port macquarie and it is a nice looking large leafed plant in slightly shadier situations. The round tubers are delicious and a nice size, smalle than other taro but delicious.
29 Dec 13, taro fan (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)
can I eat the main tuber of the taro or can I eat only the croms???
Showing 11 - 18 of 18 comments

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. GardenGrow is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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