Growing Tips for Wasabi Starts

The wasabi starter plants we sell on our website and at farmers markets take us three months to grow to this point. At this point, we plant them in our customized greenhouses and 24 months later we harvest some nice rhizomes and many tasty leaves and stems. 

While you probably will not have all the advantages of our carefully controlled greenhouses, you can still successfully harvest some small rhizomes and lots of edible leaves. 

Here are a few key points to get you started in the right direction:

• Wasabi is a cool weather plant, it really doesn’t like temperature much above 75F for extended periods of time;
  
  
• Wasabi doesn’t like full sun, it doesn’t want full shade either. Ideally it wants filtered sun, for example under a tree;
  
  
• Provide well-draining soil. Some people choose to use perlite to enhance drainage. Make sure soil is consistently moist, but not overwatered. Many people think of wasabi as a plant grown only in mountain streams, they tend to overwater, thinking this is what the plant wants. Wasabi can thrive in a soil media, but just like most plants, overwatering will cause root rot. For the first 6 months or so, overwatering isn’t a big problem, but once the rootzone becomes filled, consistent overwatering can be lethal;
  
  
• Consistently provide the plants with plant food. 

Best of luck growing this wonder of a plant. We would love to see pictures of your garden with some of our wasabi plants thriving. Please tag us on Instagram so we can share to our story!

We hope you will find growing these fascinating plants as rewarding as we do.

Tim, Jeff, and Jim