Eddoes, turmeric and galangal

[chriscross1966]

Anyone got any experience of growing these willing to share the knowledge?.... I had reason to be driving past the Morrisons at Chippenham and went in... was really impressed by their fresh section and picked up some of the aforementioned tubers. At a total of less than 2 quid for a coupe of Eddoes, three galangal roots and five turmericI thought it represented good value too.... they  can have space in pots or the ground in the greenhouse..... any ideas as to what sort of potting mix to use, watering regime, fertilizer etc....

[chriscross1966]

[artichoke]

Since you have not been answered, I have planted eddoes and had fantastic huge leaves but do not remember if the tubers were worthwhile....sorry. One of my own plans is to buy eddoes again from See Woo in Greenwich (very cheap) and have a serious trial. I love eating them and would like to grow them. Not very helpful, I know.

[pigeonseed]

Sorry never tried any of them.  :-\

[queenbee]

Our Morrisons has these and they are in the World food category, I have been tempted to try them. Could anyone tell me what Mooli's and eddoes taste like, I hate sweet potatoes so before I try I would be grateful for your comments.

[artichoke]

Moolis are just mild radishes. You see them for sale in French shops, grated and mixed with mayonnaise.

Eddoes.......how difficult; a sort of firmer mealy non-collapsing "potato" texture with an extra flavour to them, and a good carrier of other flavours. Not at all like sweet potatoes, which soften quickly and sometimes feel faintly slimy in the mouth (I like them).

Anyone else?

[Crystalmoon]

I really like Mooli & grew them last year with great success - the flea beetles didnt seem as keen on their leaves as ordinary radish. Sowed them direct with the radish in a raised bed & left them to it with just abit of water when very dry.

Ive never heard of Eddoes but they sound very interesting xJane

[Jayb]

Eddoes seem to be quite easy to grow, and make beautiful plants, I think you could probably keep one as a house plant until it gets too big. Mine have been growing either in the poly or greenhouse, they seem to multiply easily enough and grow well in large pot. Likeing a bright spot but not in direct mid-day summer sun. I've been using a general purpose multi compost, with regular feeds and watering in summer. Sparingly spring and autumn and left fairly dry during winter. Last year I left some in pots in the green house through the winter and they sprouted this spring, so hardier than I first thought.

Turmeric, very similar to ginger to grow and pretty much as above. They haven't produced much root but still fun and the old saying in a good summer.... Again a pretty foliage plant to grow, I think it also needs a dry season. Similar to eddoes it survived the winter, well this time just scraped through as I forgot about them. Recently potted up and starting to grow.

I've not grown galangal before but I've got some in the propagator at the moment, really hope they sprout.

How are yours doing chrisc?

[chriscross1966]

Not much sign of anything yet.... but there's a sprout on an eddoe and one of Galangal's has a greenish bud/lump.... turmeric hasn't done anything yet....

[Toshofthe Wuffingas]

There's a nice stall on King's Lynn Tuesday market that sells exotics. On a visit there this week I picked up a couple of small turmeric roots and a Thai root from the ginger family, Ka (or Krai) Cha, sometimes called fingerroot. It has a very mild ginger flavour. Both went into pots of multipurpose compost in the greenhouse. My problem will be overwintering them as I dont have a lot or warmish window space in my old cottage. I'll try and keep you informed.

[Jayb]

If it helps, I've had fairly good results with overwintering Fingerroot (and turmeric) in a frost free place, as long as it is kept fairly dry it seems to manage ok as it goes into rest mode.

[Toshofthe Wuffingas]

Thanks for that advice.