Growing Edible Aroids

A hispanic market that caters predominantly to a Puerto Rican community had a fine array of fruits and vegetables. The following tubers looked the most promising.   I probably should have purhcased more and eaten some, but instead purchased just enough to plant.  I potted 4 of the Yautias and got bored.  I plugged the rest directly into the garden in an area that gets watered regularly, has dappled late afternoon sun and should be a perfect location.  The Malanga is in a pot.  If these germinate, I'll load photos of the progress. 

Yautia lila, presumably Xanthosomia violaceum at $1.95 per pound	Malanga no other name listed.  It looks something like Colocasia esculenta at $1.79 per pound 1 month later, I see no signs of growth and fear that this was com- post sold at $1.79 a pound.  I'll try again next season.  I can't give up after just one loss.
The Xanthosoma has now begun to grow.  It's taken 4 weeks, but you can see the development of the first leaf.  The colors are sur- prisingly bright for a tuber purchased in a grocery store.	After a few weeks, the violacea have grown into landscaping plants.  All this for only $1.70 is a bargain.

With the help of several aroiders (notably Julius Boos), I've collected the names of many edible aroids and sorted them for easy identification.  If the above plantings germinate, I will start searching for other ethnic markets in this area.

• edible aroids sorted by common name
• edible aroids sorted by scientific name
• edible aroids sorted by cuisine
  

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