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How to Care and Plant a Sweet Treat, Sugar Cane

DanSpecialty Crops, Sugar, This Land of Ours

How to care and plant a sweet treat. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

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Sugar Cane is the number one commercially harvested plant in the world. Growing in your home garden is not only possible, it’s also easy. Plus it makes a lovely ornamental, sort of like a mix between a giant grass and bamboo. You can grow this plant all year round, especially if you live in a tropical environment.

Sugarcane loves lots of sun. A little afternoon shade is okay, but not necessary. Plant in late summer so the cane can have time to overwinter and get established. This gives the plant a good seven to eight months of solid growth from early spring to late fall so that you can harvest after a year. 

Sugar Cane can also be planted in containers. Use a nutrient-laden soil with lots of nitrogen and phosphorus. Keep the soil consistently moist and add a well-balanced fertilizer to the soil when the stem starts to sprout.

If your sugarcane is an ornamental, you may want to prune it to shape in spring and summer to keep it to your desired height. Sugar cane loves to be planted next to Elderberry, Lemongrass, Comfrey, Sage, Lemon Verbena, and Nasturtiums.

Listen to Cathy Isom’s This Land of Ours program here.

How to Care and Plant a Sweet Treat, Sugar Cane

How to Grow Sugar Cane in Your Yard: Getting it Started

Video by: floridabeachhunter

How to Grow Sugar Cane in Your Yard: Getting it Started. In this video, filmed over 5 months, I try three different methods for rooting sugar cane starts to see which one works best. While your mileage may vary, I’ve discovered the method that works best for me. The video is a little long–15 minutes or so–but it is meant to be instructive for those who don’t have any experience with how to grow cane, which can be grown in most of the southeastern U.S. See part II, the Update to this video here: http://youtu.be/ld3RhcnjVf4