Does anyone grow sugar cane? I was given some to plant behind our pond. I Googled it and found a great site from FSU, but I'm not sure where to cut the pieces or if I even need to.

I've never grown Sugar Cane but I found this when googling ... scroll down a bit for step by step instructions: http://www.wikihow.com/Plant-S...

And, a youtube video: http://homesteadbasics.com/ind...

Thanks Lin!

I grow a couple of different sugar canes and they will root just laying them on the ground...wee bit of dirt on them maybe...lots of water.

Lots of water might be their undoing here in the land of drought!

I've watered the cuttings of sugar cane and nothing has come up. I planted them shallow in a raised bed behind the pond. The pieces are near the limestone wall of the raised bed. Could that be what's keeping them from sprouting? From everything I've read, sugar cane is so hardy, it's hard to keep it from growing.

Gee Sandy...they ARE weeds! What is your pH? I would reckon from how it grows here that it prefers acidic....

Our soil is very alkaline and I planted them along a limestone wall.
Wonder if I can dig 'em up and move them? Looks like they've been in the ground since early April. They may be toast by now. I'll check.

Well, here's pic of the two pieces I dug up this morning. They've been in the ground since the first of April. I think I'll move these two and let the others die a natural death.

Sandi, maybe try starting one in a pot? Potting mix is generally pretty acidic, what with all the peat in it. Dust with cinnamon to prevent any advance of fungal activity?

Lots of sun and lots of water, too, I'd imagine. The lower one with the green still on one end looks fine, but maybe they need the outer cane part to rot in order to put out roots?

Trying one in a pot is probably a good idea. I appreciate it, but I think if my soil is alkaline and I'd eventually have to put whatever was in the pot into the ground, I should just give up on this experiment. I have way too many pots already to keep watered. I just thought it would make a nice backdrop for the pond, not to mention twarting those pesky raccoons!

Can you change the composition of just the soil in that one area? Maybe add peat and coffee grounds and try to get it more acid? I have tried, with varying degrees of success, to acidify soil in certain areas for plants that like it. It's easier in a pot but can be done in a defined bed.

I already have too many plants (yep, I said it) to care for. I think I'll just try to keep up with what grows for me. I already have too many pots of EEs and hibiscus, plumerias, etc. to add any more. I'm out at 6:30 AM watering every day before it gets too hot. It was 101° today.

I was going through photos from three years ago today. I can't believe the difference in the way the backyard looks now. A few years ago at the same time, the garden was lush and blooming. I know I didn't do anything differently then. I'm going to have to rethink what I really want to grow and let some of this other stuff go. Now I sound like an old woman. Wait, I am an old woman!!!

This is an old thread I have picked up. But I thought it would be good if I told what I had heard in the farmers' radio programmes which I listen often. I did grow a plant too 3-4 years ago. What I did and what I had heard on the radio was that the farmers always plant with the 'two eyes' [nodes] in the ground, for best results. Shallow planting will not make the 'eye' [which is the growing part] to sprout new leaves.
Hope your garden is good after 8 months since your above post.
It's summer here - actually it is officially the second day - and this will go on till the end of May. My garden is dull at this time as nothing much grows in summer. What I have to do in my small garden is to maintain the plants carefully through summer.
Did you plant the sugarcane or did you lose interest? Their blooms are beautiful.

Hi Dinu! I did not replant. I do think maybe my soil need some rejuvenating this spring. I plan to order some compost and re-do the beds. If I do try the sugar cane again, it will only be a few pieces from the grocery store. I have marked your post and will come back to it if I try again. That's very good information about the eyes.

I love the look of big fields of sugar cane blooming, it's amazing.

When they burn those fields, we get the smoke here in Austin!

Many farmers, by burning the old crop are losing valuable organic matter being added to their fields. There are some wise ones who advocate leaving the old crop there and that would also reduce weed growth and hence also save on labour while of course, organic matter is added. Burning is said to damage little beneficial creatures living near the surface of the fields.

It is a most pleasing sight of the shiny, hairy, white flower heads of the s/cane in the fields against a blue sky. I love to see them too. Our state is also a prominent sugarcane growing area. Sugar mills are there, but jaggery making is a very profitable venture in many villages, located close to sugarcane fields.

Yes, they burn the fields here too and that is not a favorite of mine. Where I live, they do a lot of slash and burn and they burn the old crops before planting the new. It's not as smokey as I've seen it in other parts of Mexico where sugar cane is the predominant crop. Not good though, I've got respiratory problems and the smoke will drive me inside.