Last edited on February 03, 2024. View history
Cassava
Cassava
How to sow cassava: Cuttings, start indoors and transplant outside after temps are above 21º C
Sun requirement for cassava: Plant in Full Sun
Cassava, or Yuca (not to be confused with Yucca, the spiky desert plant), is a woody shrub native to South America. Cassava is cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas for it's edible starchy roots. The tapered roots are 15-30cm long and their white or yellowish flesh is covered in rough brown rinds. They are a major staple food in the developing world and the third-largest source of food carbohydrates in the tropics. Cassava is classified as sweet or bitter. The roots, leaves, and stems of both varieties contain cyanogenetic glucoside, a toxin that produces cyanide. They must be carefully prepared (usually boiled or fermented) to remove the toxin. Cassava can be made into a flour, dried to a powdery extract (tapioca), made into a fermented flaky version (garri), or ground and cooked into a crunchy meal (farofa). Cassava requires tropical climates, at least eight months of warm weather, and at least 50cm of water a year.
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Cassava facts
Lifespan
Height
365cmRow Spacing
2cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For cassava, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 180 days at its best temperature, about 2610 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your cassava will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 180 to 365 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Manihot esculenta Crantz
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Dilleniidae Euphorbiales Euphorbiaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: 0 °C, rest: 7 °C |
| Life form | shrub |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
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