🥦 Cassava / Yuca
Manihot esculenta
vegetables
perennial shrub (grown as annual for roots)
☀️ Sun
full sun
💧 Water
low, very drought-tolerant
🗺️ Zones
8, 12 (8, 12 month growing season)
🧪 Soil pH
5.5-7.0
🪴 Soil Type
well-draining, tolerates poor, acidic soils
🚿 Drainage
Well-drained
📏 Spacing
36-48 in. apart, 40-48 in. between rows (stem cuttings)
⏱️ Maturity
8-12 months (from planting cuttings); 240-360 days to harvest mature roots
🍴 Edible Parts
🍽️ Boiled, fried (yuca frita), tapioca, cassava flour, farofa, fermented (gari/fufu)
Key:🤝 Grows well together❌ Keep apart☀️ Sun needs💧 Water🗺️ Hardiness zone
🤝 Companions (6)
Pigeon peas fix substantial nitrogen for cassava's tuber development; their deep taproots and cassava's storage roots occupy complementary soil layers.
Beans fix nitrogen that feeds cassava's heavy-feeding root development; cassava's tall stalks provide light support for bush beans.
Corn and cassava occupy different vertical and root zones , corn grows tall and shallow-rooted while cassava develops deep tubers with minimal competition.
🤝 melons
Melons sprawl as groundcover beneath cassava, making efficient use of space , cassava's upright growth and melons' horizontal spread don't compete for light or root space.
Peanuts fix nitrogen and create dense groundcover that suppresses weeds around cassava while cassava's tall growth doesn't shade them out.
Sweet potatoes create living mulch around cassava, suppressing weeds and retaining moisture while their shallow roots don't compete with cassava's deeper tubers.
⚠️ Keep Apart (1)
⚠️ plants requiring rich nitrogen soil
Cassava thrives in poor soils and depletes nitrogen; nitrogen-fixing companions may struggle to establish
📝 Growing Notes
Drought-tolerant staple for 800+ million people. Intercropped with legumes for nitrogen. Shallow-rooted so pairs well with deep-rooted pigeon peas. Note: must be properly processed to remove cyanogenic compounds.
🛒 Buy Seeds & Plants
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Botanical Interests
True Leaf Market
Burpee
Territorial Seed Company
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