Wassup Wasabi?


Whenever I've seen a plant droop and its leaves start to go yellow, it's always been because I've either over or under watered it. Wasabi is the first plant I've seen which has reacted to light in the same way.

I'd been keeping my plant on our sunny kitchen windowsill whilst deciding on where to plant it out, when I noticed its leaves were drooping alarmingly. A quick move to our much duller bathroom windowsill and you can see most of the leaves are much perkier now, with just the yellowing one showing how the rest of the plant looked previously. That leaf is past saving, but luckily a new one has started to emerge to replace it.

I'm glad I've had this early warning because the place I'd earmarked on the allotment won't be suitable. Instead, I've decided that the space underneath the apple trees is just what it needs. This is doubly good as I'll be making use of an area I was regarding as 'dead' space.

When we met on Wednesday, Matron told me the commercially grown wasabi in Hampshire utilises a similar gravel bed and running spring-fed water system as used for watercress. She's devised an ingenious solution and the perfect growing conditions for her wasabi as a result. I don't have the same option for mine, so I'm going to improvise a bog garden instead. There won't be running water, but it should be suitably damp and shady. I'll keep you posted on whether my plant likes its new home.

Comments

  1. Arabella Sock24 June 2013 at 08:46

    My wasabi is under the same conditions as Matron's! Pot under the water barrel tap so that every time I fill the watering can from it I give it some water. Be interesting to see whose does the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP24 June 2013 at 09:43

      I'm beginning to wonder whether I should add lots of gravel to the mini bog garden I've planned. They'd planted it out in the kitchen garden at The Pig, which is on clay, so it looks people are trying it out in a range of different conditions...

      Delete
  2. Jo@awholeplotoflove24 June 2013 at 11:16

    I bought a wasabi plant last week, it wasn't until I got home & read the label that I had to put it in a suitable damp & shady place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP24 June 2013 at 11:20

      Hi - that's one of the reasons why I wrote this post - it's all too easy to get carried away and want a plant without checking we have the right conditions for it. I've also heard slugs really like Wasabi too, so I'm hoping my fiendish raised bed (old car tyre) will help to deter them!

      Delete
  3. CJ26 June 2013 at 07:12

    I'll be interested to know how this does. I assume it's frost hardy and you won't have to bring it in in winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP26 June 2013 at 10:05

      That's right - certainly down here in the south west at least. It likes cool, wet, overcast conditions.

      Delete

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