Maranta arundinacea
Maranta arundinacea
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of the moist to wet, lowland tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 23 - 29°c, but can tolerate 17 - 34°c[1]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about 5°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,500 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 700 - 4,000mm[1]. Prefers a fertile, moist soil in a sunny or partially shaded position[2]. Succeeds in most fertile, well-drained soils[1]. Friable soils are preferred for better tuber development and easy harvesting[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 5 - 8[1]. The rhizomes mature about 300 - 365 days after planting[1]. Successive crops are usually grown on the same land for 5 - 6 years[1]. Yields may within 5 - 6 years be between 10 - 35 tonnes per hectare of rhizomes, from which 2.5 - 7.5 tonnes of starch can be obtained[1].
Propagation
Seed - Division Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Maranta+arundinacea>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [2]Tropical Ornamentals; A Guide — Whistler. W. Arthur. · Timber Press Inc. Oregon. · 2000 · ISBN 0-88192-448-2 ↩︎An excellent little guide to some of the more commonly cultivated ornamental plants of the Tropics, often giving some information on the plants other uses.
- [3]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
- [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [5]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
- [6]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.