permaculture

[Robyn Francis <erda@nor.com.au>]

On 17/7/07 6:13 AM, "Juergen Botz" <jurgen@botz.org> wrote:
> Anyone know what's good to co-plant with manioc?

Cassava guilds need to be built around the planting, growing and harvesting
cycles and regimes of cassava. From planting a cassava cutting to first
harvest-sized roots takes around 8 months and digging up the roots can
involve serious excavation at times. It has an extended harvest period and
is best regarded as living storage since the roots must be eaten or
processed within 3 days of harvest.

You can do some interesting stacking in space and time with cassava,
depending on your climate and seasonal factors. Cassava provides a canopy
for understorey annuals, especially leafy annuals that appreciate shade in
hot weather/climates like lettuce, coriander and mustard greens do well.

In parts of Asia, companions are often living mulches of peanuts, ground
nuts and/or creeping crops like kang kong, Ceylon (Indian running) spinach,
warrigal greens (NZ spinach), pumpkin, choko and vine squash. The cassava
roots can be harvested as required with minimal damage to the vine crops.

Best to avoid planting cassava around perennials that don't like their roots
disturbed if you're growing cassava as a root crop.

ciao
Robyn


-- 
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Robyn Francis 

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