It is much easier to grow wasabi in your backyard than you thought. If you consider that many gardeners consider wasabi a difficult plant to nurture and maintain. The thing is that wasabi is particularly picky about humidity, temperature, water content, and the environment.
You need to be patient as wasabi can take up to two years before it reaches maturity and you get to reap the rewards. If you are still up to the challenge, then please continue and follow along while we discover successful ways to grow wasabi.
Tools You Need to Grow Wasabi
Whether you’re a computer programmer, a stay at home mom, or gardener who wishes to try his or her hand at growing wasabi, you will need a set of tools.
Following is a list of tools you’ll need:
- Greenhouse or your preferred growing room
- Sheet or tarp where you will place the wasabi
- High-quality fertilizer
- Distilled water
- Seeds
- Shovel or Roto-Tiller
Planting Requirements
Wasabi plants do best when they’re grown in temperatures that range from 7 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees celsius. You need to bear in mind that they do not favour extensive temperature fluctuations.
Having said that, you’ll have nothing to worry about if you stay in an area where the night and day temperatures are fairly consistent. This way you can confidently grow wasabi in a grow room or greenhouse.
It is in your best interest to opt for a well-shaded area. You do not want to expose your wasabi seedlings to direct sunlight. Come to think about it, when grown in the wild, they thrive on forest floors. All they need is a little bit of sunlight to spur leaf growth.
Your best bet is to plant them under trees or set up a shade structure on a sheet or tarp.
Why Wasabi Requires Full Shade
For those of you who wish to grow wasabi in your backyard, you need to ensure you have full shade.
The shade of a tree is usually a good plan or even a separate corner in your patio or porch area. Anywhere with full shade.
What we need to remember is that wasabi will droop and wither way too quickly if you let it grow in areas with a lot of sunlight.
Precautions You Need to Take When Watering Your Wasabi Plant
You cannot go wrong if you ensure you keep the tarp or sail moist like you would if you had to take care of lettuce.
Do not be fooled by the fact that wasabi plants in Japan find themselves in a streambed. The bottom line is that it does not like to stand in water. Ideally, you want the plant to be well-drained where the soil remains wet as much as possible.
More Effective Methods of Keeping Your Wasabi Watered
You can always set up an efficient micro-irrigation system. Besides, the last thing you want is a wasabi plant that has issues with root rot or you notice fungus growth. To avoid this you should avoid soaking the soil with either a watering can or a hose.
Another thing to remember is to utilize good quality fertilizer and to follow the directions given. After all, the pH level of your soil should be between 6 and 7 if you want to experience the best results. You could fertilize your wasabi once a year.
Caring for your wasabi while it's growing is of utmost importance. One needs to remove weeds at least every other day. As the soil is very rich, weeds will take over very quickly and compete with your wasabi seedling for root space. To be on the safe side, weed every day.
The effort required to care for your wasabi is well worth it. When you continue to do so and demonstrate the necessary patience, your wasabi will thank you with a bountiful harvest at the end of two years.
At this point, they will be around 61 cm tall and 61 cm wide.
Harvesting Your Wasabi Plant
A few final points on what to look out for when you harvest Wasabi. Dig up only one to ensure the plants are ready to be harvested before you turn your attention to the rest.
Be careful about cutting the rhizomes when you take them out.
When you leave a couple of wasabi plants behind and undisturbed, they will self-seed, meaning you do not have to buy more seed when the next growing season arrives. Ideally, you should place the seeds about 30 cm apart to deter overcrowding and the risk of them dying off.
