Taro
Colocasia esculenta
Loves wet ground; cook before eating.
Hardiness: zones 9 to 11
Light: part shade to full sun
Size: about 4 ft tall, 4 ft wide
Harvest: October to December
From: SE Asia
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.
Good for: food.
Native to: South & Southeast Asian tropics, Hawaiʻi & Pacific Islands, New Guinea & Melanesia. Hardy in zones 9 to 11.
The story
Taro was domesticated in Southeast Asia and New Guinea and carried across the Pacific by Polynesian voyagers; in Hawaiʻi it is kalo, the elder brother of humankind in the creation chant, and poi pounded from it was the staple of every meal. It grows in flooded terraces, the loʻi, that Hawaiians engineered for centuries.
Planting
Full sun or part shade, rich, wet or steadily moist soil, and heat; it grows in a flooded bed, a pond edge, or a big pot standing in water. Plant a corm top or huli in spring.
Growing
Keep it wet and fed; it will not tolerate drought. Mulch upland plantings. Leaves can reach 4 feet.
Harvest and use
Harvest corms at 7 to 12 months when the leaves begin to shrink; every part must be cooked thoroughly to destroy the calcium oxalate crystals. Leaves make luau and callaloo.
What to watch for
Raw taro burns the mouth; taro leaf blight in wet weather; aphids.
See if Taro fits your yard
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More perennial vegetables, greens and herbs
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home