Wasabia japonica aka real wasabi! How to grow (with pics!)

[meizzwang]

CULTIVATION TIPS:
1) use 50% washed sand, 50% good quality potting soil. If you prefer to plant them in the garden, select a spot in full shade and amend the soil with good quality top soil. Be sure the soil drains well.
2) FULL SHADE is recommended. When I say full shade, this means no direct sunlight. There are exceptions to the rule: when it's between 33-50F, these can take full sun. I wouldn't risk it though: from my experience, the leaves will wilt if it gets warmer than 50F. Ideally, if the plants are placed in better light during the winter and 75% shadecloth during the summer, you can maximize growth.
3) cool nights(in the 50's and low 60's) is needed during the summer. If you can't provide this, the plants won't likely be able to tolerate 100F temps. Speaking of which, we did have temps over 100F and night temps that didn't go below 70 for a few days last grow season, the plants did fine because they were kept in full shade. Day temps. normally go above 80F during our summertime, and again, Wasabi can take this if you keep them in the cool shady locations.
4) Use good quality water low in total dissolved solids. They can tolerate higher salts (probably up to 200ppm), but this seems to make them more heat sensitive.
5) If grown potted, start them off in 6" pots and then once pot-bound, you can plant them into a 3- 5 gallon container. The more space they have to stretch their roots, the bigger your plant can get and the more wasabi you can harvest. Only pot them up in a big container once they get pretty big and have a lot of growth momentum. In the ground, space them out at least 2-3' apart, they take up a F-ton of space and the leaves can get YUUUUGE!!!
6)Fertilize 1-2x a month, 1/4 strength, but only when the temps are between approx. 45-74F. Lower or stop fertilizing if it gets hot! You can use maxsea 16-16-16. Try to stay away from high Nitrogen, as this encourages more leaves and less rhizome. I personally prefer organic, the leaves seem to taste better for whatever reason compared to using chemical ferts. More on this subject as I continue to experiment.
7) Some say adding sulfur to the soil increases the flavor. Preliminary tests on potted wasabi plants indicate that after the soil is depleted of it's organic food reserves, removing the top 1-2" of soil and adding a nutrient rich organic soil layer to the pot increases the flavor. It also keeps the pH balanced out and your leaves will stay green and healthy.
8) NEVER let the soil dry out!!!! NEVER!!! These grow on the side of streams in the shady, cool Japanese mountains that are snow-melt fed. They're always kept moist, but not water-logged. IF you see the top layer of soil dry out, the plant is likely water-stressed.
9) I haven't gotten to this point yet, but the main rhizome can be harvested after about 2 years and the side shoots can be propagated to replace the mother plant. I've only propagated the side shoots, and did this during the dead of winter when it was nice and cold. The key to success is taking side shoots only when the plant is really happy and growing fast.
10) Do not let these plants freeze, or so they say! I say experiment once you propagate extra plants and share your results. It doesn't get cold enough here to run any experiments.
11) Extreme heat(ie. 110F day temps) is OKAY so long as you have cool nights and full shade. Now, if it's 110F in full shade, that plant will probably die, but I remember my plants feeling very warm (soil temps in the 80's?) and still not being phased by it. In Japan, air temps can get very hot, but they claim the snow-fed streams that Wasabi is grown in stays between 55-60F 13-16C(?). Those soil temps are very ideal, especially if you can get that during the summer!

Wasabi growers are very secretive about how to grow good quality wasabi, and Japanese growers report water grown wasabi is better than soil grown. Fortunately, I'm just a hobbyist, so I don't mind sharing all this with you! I'm running some experiments and will report back on the results regarding soil grown wasabi, I believe you can grow equally good quality wasabi this way.

Now that you have a general understanding of how to grow Wasabi, I hope you enjoy my story behind this plant!


Back in high school (decades ago), this super intellectual star trek nerd dude with a pony tail (yeah, he looked like the comic book store owner on the Simpsons, except this guy was actually really fascinating and chill person to talk to) told me that the wasabi you get at sushi restaurants was nothing more than horse radish and food coloring. I thought, that's gotta be horse shit! Turns out, he was right.

well, decades later, I wanted to find out why they don't use real wasabi at japanese restaurants, and it turns out it's because Wasabi is deemed one of the most challenging crops to grow commercially. It takes 2 years before you can harvest the modified stem, grate it up, and serve it with some fresh sashimi. Even that, the quality reportedly depends on how it was grown: wasabi grown in cold, fresh mountain water tends to have better flavor and quality compared to soil grown.

Anyways, given that we all love to grow difficult to grow plants, Wasabi became a natural candidate to try out! I grow them under 75% shade cloth, and they're in a spot that only gets morning sun/afternoon shade (they're growing with my Disas!) The morning sun is shaded by the shade cloth, but it provides "bright" full shade when it's nice and cold during the morning. Cool conditions and bright, indirect light accelerate growth.

I purchased a TC start and some rhizomes from a company in Oregon, and it was a very rough start. First off, the rhizomes were pretty small and you pay a hefty amount to get them. Secondly, a few rotted off in the very beginning, and took a long time to adjust to my growing conditions.

Initially, when the TC start arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes: 3-4 elongated, weak, yellowed from a lack of light, small leaves and a tiny plant in a 2" pot. WTF? It seemed very disappointing, but it was a blessing in disguise. At first, I underpotted the plants and once it started growing, it was fed a very dilute fertilizer solution of 16-16-16 about 2x a month. Turns out, out of all my soil mixes, 50% washed sand and 50% potting soil is the absolute best.

In the photo below, to the left, the big old plant is Wasabia japonica 'Mazuma' which was the tiny 2" tissue culture start. To the right is Wasabia 'Daruma', acquired as a rhizome division in February 2017. Notice the TC start is so much bigger and happier than the rhizome divisions:



Another shot-the big mazuma clone is already sending up a flower bud! I can't believe how fast these plants grow:



I suspect these plants won't take 2 years and perfect conditions to produce good quality wasabi. If you grow them fast, but then slow them down and stress them a bit before the harvest, I bet the flavor will improve. Will experiment to see if that's true, to be continued....

[AudacityOfTheMind]

Man Mike that's cool! And I'm curious to when you're going to harvest and try some on some nigiri sushi🍣

[meizzwang]

The leaves are very peppery and in your face as you chew them, you definitely get that nose burning sensation, but it's less extreme than horseradish. After the initial heat goes away, there's a pleasant, sweet aftertaste. Definitely will keep you posted on what the rhizome tastes like.

[bogman]

Hey Mike, once again, our interests cross! Those are happy looking Wasabia alright. I've been growing Daruma for some years. It's looking stressed from crowding, so it's time to repot, maybe divide it. I use a bit of Gypsum in the potting mix and keep a saucer of water about 4-5 inches below the crown. A 1/2 inch layer of chicken grit (starter) covers the media surface to reduce/eliminate fungus gnats.

Here, it's too hot or too cold most of the year to attempt outdoor culture. So, I've got it in the highland Nepenthes lab, where the HID light is too far/weak for the CP. I suspect it would be cost-effective to grow under lights, especially the CA lightworks LEDs. Since Wasabia does like dimmer light, the "footprint" of a given light's useful space would be larger than what companies suggest.

My plant has flowered every year, but did not set seed. The long flower stalks have leaves and look like they might root. But, I've had no success. I see yours is blooming or will be soon.

As an Asian foodie fanatic/cook, I've been getting freeze-dried real Wasabi powder from an outfit in NZ, NAMIDA. It's clearly not horseradish, DNA tested in Switzerland, and is supposedly 100% Wasabia rhizome. The chefs I've worked with have told me about using a shark's skin grater to grate the fresh root, which runs about $80+ per pound, if you can find it. The freeze-dried powder is the next best thing out here. When the Yen is down, compared to the dollar, I've found good deals on Japanese delicacies like real smoke-cured bonito filets (Katsubushi), but haven't seen a good price there for Wasabi. I think the NAMIDA costs somewhere around $30/50 grams. Mixed with ice water and allowed to sit in the fridge, it's very different than the cheap imitations: fast burn which recedes, a bit hotter in the middle of the tongue and, as you mentioned with the leaves, a sweet aftertaste. Even the best Sushi places in town use the horseradish paste-most Americans don't know. So, I prep some real stuff when we go out and sneak it in! (My wife hates that!) I suspect, Mike, you'll be doing the same in a couple years! I bet a microplane grater would work.

Being in the boondocks of VA, if one wants authentic cuisines, it's just about mandatory to grow the plants. Over the decades, the seed bank and plants in culture here includes: A ton of Brassicas, including open pollinated Chinese cabbages from named prefectures, Thai Galanga(l) Alpinia and Koempferia galanga, Thai Finger Ginger (Boesenbergia), Thai lime (Kaffir, C. histrix), Chinese Water Potato (Sagittaria), Chinese Water Chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), Oka Hijiki-"Land Seaweed" from Japan (Saltwort, Salsola komarovii, Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica), Cee Gwa (Luffa acutangula), Chiles and a pile of other traditional veggies.

Since many of these aquatics/semi aquatics can be invasive, shallow "ponds" were dug into a dry hillside and lined with greenhouse plastic. It's easy to adjust the water level by piling soil, under the plastic, around the perimeter. For Wasabi, there are incredible pictures of floating rafts, growing beds, linked together and in rivers. This Japanese system is much different than the West coast grower(s) who basically set up a greenhouse over a cold stream. Haven't heard much about that operation in years.

[meizzwang]

That is freakin awesome bogman and LOL Love the story about going out to the sushi restaurants and bringing your own wasabi, that's a genuine action that only "our kind" would do! Anyways, do you have any pics of your asian botanical gear? Would love to see what you got going, feel free to post it here if you want! You'd love it here in California, we have access to a lot of asian veggies that are otherwise difficult to find. OMG-Cee Gwa?! that stuff is soooo amazing stir fried with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, sake and white pepper. It's very cucumber like and has a mild, sweet flavor, but I think the texture is what makes it great. Never knew about it until I met my wife and she made some.

I wonder how the dried wasabi works because apparently, the compound that gives it that rush of heat to your nose apparently lasts 15-20 minutes after grating before it oxidizes? They must have some way of preparing and drying the material such that oxidation is minimized.

yeah, growers here are pretty tight lipped about how to properly grow these plants, it's a tough job but you could hypothetically change the sushi industry in very little time if you get it down. I've heard there's also wasabi ice cream, and imagine a creamy wasabi dip for something as simple as french fries....you can potentially make so many different things out of it.

[bogman]

Mike, I'll try to post a few pictures, especially of the perennial or tropicals. My growing space got out of control with weeds, so I didn't plant much. If I can sneak in some Yu Choi Sum and "Napa" seeds for a fall crop, I'll be happy. I kind of got addicted to Tianjin preserved vegetable for winter stews and soups. I finally found a good recipe on fermenting and drying/cooking/making it. Since I ferment a lot of things, the Chinese brassicas top the list. Unfortunately, I can't find the seeds for proper Tianjin cabbage. It's a bit drier, taller and thinner than Napa, maybe "Celery cabbage" would work better. A friend of mine, from China, is coming to visit in a few weeks, and I've got other "connections"; maybe one of those folks can find seed. I'm told that even the native Chinese often shy away from commercially fermented products. I read an article where the reporter visited a large facility and could read Chinese; the pile of bags with salt were labeled "Not for human consumption"! Yikes! Too late, I've got several little ceramic tubs of the preserved vegetable and it's going to get consumed!

Let me know if you'd like any seeds. Cee Gwa grows like a banshee and does not get the myriad of squash bugs. I usually give basketfuls away when I grow it. The 1 1/2 inch diameter fruit size seems to be best. Oddly, the really young fruit are bitter. They make great pickles with vinegar and spices. I'm going to try your recipe out, sounds yummy.

I just started working part-time, so this spring was too hectic. The garden space is about 140 feet on each square side, with a 9-10 foot deer/rabbit fence. The soil is rich and loamy , on a south-facing slope-great for weeds! Spring rains were so frequent, the weeds took over; I'm battling them now. Next spring, I'll be "retired" (emphasis on the "tired"), so the plan is to raid the seed bank and plant a lot.

I'll bet the dried Wasabi is made much like dried Horseradish, either freeze-dried whole or sliced and dried at low temperature. Both plants, and Chinese Hot Mustard, create that burn after different cells get mixed together; it's a chemical reaction. When dry, these chemicals don't react. So, you can dry without grinding/mixing first. Once dried and ground, a bit of ice-cold water will allow the components to react. It takes about 10 minutes for the magic. I learned the hard way:

I once made some home-made egg rolls and mixed up some dry mustard powder with water. After a few minutes, I was dipping the rolls, only to be disappointed at how weak the hot mustard had gotten; thinking it was too old. So I ladled it on thick. A phone call interrupted my dinner and when I finished the call, dipped a fresh roll-it was ballistic. Moments later, my stomach hurt like hell; it was continuing to "heat up" in my gut! Wasabi is similar, but it is less stable than mustard, so loses its punch faster. The dry Wasabia powder keeps for many months, frozen and airtight or vacuum sealed. The Namida brand is freeze-dried, probably whole. Sushi Sonic, a similar product from China, is not as clean tasting to me; it's got a slight metallic taste, but still superior to horseradish.

[bogman]

One of the uncommon beans from Asia is Winged Bean, Psophocarpus. The entire plant is edible. sometimes it's called "Dragon Bean". The strains I grow are from Hunan, China, and day-neutral.



The flavor is crisp and clean. I made an awesome salad with cooked winged bean, shrimp and a Tamarind sauce. Also, unlike many beans, this one will set in very hot weather. Last year, for the first time since Thomas Jefferson was alive, we had temperatures so hot, our regular green beans went sterile-no fruit. My brother  (110 miles north) phoned me to ask why his Pole beans had flowers but no beans (my plants were the same). 12 weeks in the 90s and hot nights made most varieties of beans go sterile, unless one snuck in a small crop of bush beans before mid June. Climate warming, particularly in the USA, has real effects on food production. In 2016, we had essentially complete crop loss on Lima and regular pole beans.

The heat made me push back the planting dates for winter radishes-the seeds did not germinate at proper planting time; the soil was too hot. Luckily, frost date was also pushed back and we got a good crop of colorful radishes. This is a Green Daikon from China, Green Luo Bo"



The interior/flesh color is bright green. These are big, 7-9 inches long and 3-4 inches thick. This, a winter-storage type, is one of my favorites, along with Beauty Heart, nicknamed Watermelon radish, here in the US.



When you cut them in half:



Not wanting to pay for as many Shiitake mushrooms as we like to eat, I grow quite a few of those. They dry beautifully and many Chinese prefer the dried Shiitake as they develop a deeper, more umami flavor.



This crop was last October's and almost ready to pick. Yield of that batch was 22 lbs. This strain, Night Velvet, usually produces three crops per year.

[meizzwang]

WOW!!!!

[bogman]

These are Chinese Water Potato, similar to our native species (also edible), only larger:


They're slowly starting to go dormant and the tubers get harvested after frost. Another semi aquatic, harvested after freeze is Chinese Water Chestnuts, a Spike Rush. These are the ones you see canned. Another "water chestnut" makes barbed, floating caltrops. I'm pretty sure that one is illegal to import/grow. The Chinese type is a fairly attractive plant:


The Chinese Artichoke, Stachys affinis, was introduced to France years ago and got the common name "Crosnes" (pronounced "Krones"). It's a perennial mint-family plant with tubers that cook quickly, tasting a bit like butterbeans with a hint of corn. Tubers form very late, Oct.-Nov. They're small, but often produced in abundance:


This is the current top growth:


Thai Lime leaf is an odd, two parted leaf, essential in many Thai dishes. The fruit tastes terrible, but is used to remove leeches and the zest/peel is used in Thai curry pastes:


Here's a group of Gongers, icluding Zeodary, Turmeric, Finger Ginger and others:

[meizzwang]

Now that is amazing, thank you for sharing!

[bogman]

Aug 10, 2017 13:33:27 GMT -5 meizzwang said:

Now that is amazing, thank you for sharing!

Thanks, Mike!

What's really amazing is how much work it is to hack out growing spaces here. It's an insane jungle.



No kidding, a machete just pisses you and the jungle off; I use a Samurai sword. You need two hands and a bigger swath. I've been to rain forests/tropical jungles and they are less rampant. Why? Because all the foliage dies in winter here. When the rains, heat and humidity return, the deep,rich soil, sunlight and water create junglezilla. The plants are competing in a three-dimensional takeover of all available space. Want to go native? Come visit during the summer!

[AudacityOfTheMind]

The wasabi you had probably isn't the real thing.... Check this out



Here's another video about this dude that might be on to something about growing wasabi.

[meizzwang]

LOL audacity! The dude in the second video looks like a MOBSTA! That dude would likely end you if he found out you're not eating real wasabi....

[AudacityOfTheMind]

Sept 8, 2017 15:10:50 GMT -5 meizzwang said:

LOL audacity! The dude in the second video looks like a MOBSTA! That dude would likely end you if he found out you're not eating real wasabi....

I know!!! That Dude is The ENGLISH Wasabi MOBSTAH!!! So you best grow the real deal Holy Field WASABI OR ELSE💪🏼😖😷🤒

[meizzwang]

Here's some new updated pictures of the wasabi plants! I also have healthy, "grown for Jesus" established divisions of both cultivars available for those who are interested. In my experience, all the plants I bought were either tiny/etiolated or were extremely difficult to establish, so MW took care of that problem and is now offering you healthy, established plants! These are currently growing fast so as long as you keep them in optimal conditions, they should do well for you! Fresh wasabi goes for $70 for 1/2 a lb!!!

Mazuma-this cultivar seems to tolerate more heat than Daruma and might be even slightly faster growing. This is currently getting morning "winter" sun, so it's less intense than summer sun. The 75% shade cloth that normally covers these plants has been taken off for the winter:


Same exact plant, photo taken 14 days later! Ya, it's growing at Baller speed. I feed them 2x a month when the temperatures are between 45-74F. What I'm learning is that the leaves of Mazuma and Daruma will wilt in full sun when the temperatures go above 50F, but below that, they can take full sunlight. I highly recommend keeping them in "well lit" full shade, if that makes sense:



Here's Daruma-I like the looks of leaves on this cultivar better than Mazuma, and after a full season of sulking, it's finally growing very fast!


And 14 days later, not as much mass has been put on compared to Mazuma, but it certainly has grown a bit: