Growing wasabi: you need to know that

Wasabi, the Japanese horseradish, is extremely aromatic. However, growing it is not that easy. Below you will find a few tips that will make it easier for you to deal with the coveted plant.

Useful tips for successful wasabi cultivation

Wasabi is pretty expensive. In Germany it usually only has a very small proportion of the real plant, the rest is often ordinary horseradish that has been discolored and changed in taste.
Therefore, it can be worthwhile for you to venture into cultivation, even if it is a challenge.

• Wasabi seeds are difficult to obtain. However, nurseries offer young plants. It's best to buy one to start growing. In addition, growing seeds is much more difficult than growing a young plant.
• You can grow Wasabi both outdoors and indoors.
• The minimum volume of a bucket should be 10 liters if you choose to grow your plant in a pot. You then have the advantage that you can offer her more regulated temperatures.
• The plant thrives best on streams or rivers. If you have this option, use it!
• The wasabi needs a shady location and moderate temperatures in summer. These should be between 8 and 20 degrees.
• In the garden, snails and aphids can become unwanted pests that you have to reckon with.
• Use nutrient and humus rich substrate.
• You should keep the soil constantly moist, but avoid waterlogging.
• In winter, if you have this in the garden, you must protect the plant with fleece, brushwood or similar, as it does not tolerate temperatures that are too low.
• It is best to overwinter wasabi in an unheated conservatory or greenhouse at just above zero degrees.
• Follow these growing tips and with a little perseverance and luck you will soon have your very own wasabi!

You have to keep this in mind when harvesting the wasabi

You can harvest the roots (rhizomes) as soon as the stem of the Wasabi plant is about finger-thick, i.e. after about two to three years.

• The roots would then have to be 18 to 21 cm long and therefore ready to eat.
• However, you can use the stems, flowers and leaves earlier and also process them, for example to make a salad more exciting.
• You can also use the stems, flowers and leaves to make a somewhat milder wasabi paste.
• Once you've harvested the roots, grind them like horseradish to get the coveted paste.
• Only rub off the required amount of the harvested rhizome, otherwise the taste will quickly be lost.
• Always harvest only parts of the plant so that the rest can recover.
• You can keep wasabi roots in the refrigerator for up to a month before they go bad.

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