Growing wasabi: Spicy, healthy and great flavour from your garden

Do you love sushi and Japanese cuisine? If you do, then wasabi is certainly a part of your diet. This plant is known as Japanese horseradish and it is a rich source of vitamins and nutrients. It is not only for sushi, but for various salads and other dishes too! Wasabi is also used as a medical plant. And the taste! Spicy, great aroma and delicious for your sour rice!

What makes wasabi so special?

In Japan, wasabi is considered an all-natural antibiotic. For many centuries, this plant was used to suppress the growth of some types of bacteria, fungi or yeast. Substances in wasabi act as very strong antioxidants and can slow down the toxic effects of many chemicals that can get into the human body. Some even believes that wasabi contains substances capable of fighting the growth of cancerous tumours.

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Seedlings are better than seeds

In our climatic conditions, wasabi can be grown both from seeds and from seedlings. But if you buy seeds, you have to sow them around the second half in autumn. Wasabi needs to growth throughout the entire winter in order to develop an adequate root system. Just make sure that the soil will not dry out. If the substrate dries out, the seeds will no longer germinate. You need to spray the plants with moisture or water them several times a day. We advise you to sow your seeds approximately 2.5 to 5 cm apart. The good news is that you can easily get wasabi seedlings in many garden centres today.

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Growing wasabi

Wasabi plant is resistant to frost and that is great news. It can even withstand temperatures down to approximately -12 °C. In Japan, you can find it growing widely in rather cold and mountainous areas. Japanese horseradish should have no problem growing in the shade. Wasabi actually hates habitat with too much sunlight. The soil should be rich in humus and constantly moist. Wasabi reaches maximum maturity after about two years. With proper care, the plants should be around 60 cm tall and the roots are harvested when they reach a length of around 20 cm.

Photo: Pixabay