This week we continue our series on How to start your own self-sufficient food supply. We are going to give a talk on How to grow your own Arrowroot plants at home.

Arrowroot is a tropical-looking plant. As it sounds, the root is in the shape of an arrow. The large, green leaves make for a beautiful house or garden plant. As a tropical plant, Arrowroot needs to be warm and moist. As with most tropical plants, Arrowroot can not take cold weather so it must be kept indoors in cold weather. The Arrowroot plant seems to be a fairly hearty plant, easy to grow and maintain. They do not want to be soggy or they will rot.

Arrowroot is used as a substitute in cooking and DIY recipes. For the DIY person, Arrowroot may be something you want to try out.

We started your first Arrowroot experiment this last spring and it seems to be going well. We ordered some arrowroot sprigs from an eBay seller. The springs came quickly and in good shape so we had no issues with these mail order plants.

In our research, we found that Arrowroot could not be left out in the cold, so we decided container planting was in order. We used five-gallon buckets to plant our new Arrowroot babies.

As always, good potting soil is needed for healthy baby plants. Again, Arrowroot likes it warm and moist as it is a tropical plant. Do not let your dirt get too wet or stand in water, the roots will rot.

Our baby Arrowroot, now in the five-gallon buckets went into the greenhouse. The greenhouse keeps the plants warm and allows us to control the water on each plant. We like to keep our plants outside but you can never really control natural watering. If it rains it rains, there is just nothing for it. Also, we have talked about keeping the cats and other animals out of the pots. This is very important when you are trying to establish new plants.

The Arrowroots have grown well and steady. There does not seem to be any special needs for Arrowroot other than warm and moist and not pests.

Several of the tall growth broke off, not sure what happened there. So we decided to try another experiment as we could not bear to throw out the broken greens. We put the broken greens in a vase of water to see if they would root. Surprise to us, they did. The greens in the water seem to be rooting and growing very well. We were not sure, as Arrowroot usually comes with the arrowroot to be planted if they would even survive in water.

Both the sprigged Arrowroot and the water-growing greens we doing well. So far, Arrowroot has been a very easy plant to grow and needs very little tending.

The arrow root pieces that broke off and were put in water and growing exceptunally well. They are growing a very robust root system. These arrow root plants are not growing as much top green but great roots.

The arrow root that was put straight into dirt is also doing well. However, the plants that are in dirt seem to be growing more top greens than the plants that are in water.

As we are sure you noticed, some of these pics are off color.  The color is due to the fact that the plants are all in the greenhouse for the winter and the grow lights give them an off color.  The white stuff on and around the plants is bug  dust.  We seem to have a real ant issue in the winter, must be the warmest spot they can find.

Arrowroot does not seem to multiply very quickly so it may take several years before we have enough Arrowroot plants to start harvesting. But as we have said so many times before, when it comes to growing a sustainable garden, patience is required. Plants take time, there is no rushing a growing plant.

Once, you have a good, healthy supply of Arrowroot plants you can harvest some to use. You pick out some to use and leave the rest planted to make more Arrowroot plants.

Arrowroot is a very versatile plant used in cooking and DIY recipes. Once you pick out the arrowroot plants you are going to harvest, carefully dig them up. Be sure not to disturb the other plants in the pot. You want to be sure to leave the others undamaged so they can multiply again.

Even if you do not plan to dig up, dry, and use your arrowroot, these plants are beautiful. You may just want to have them sitting around your house to give it some color and a tropical vibe.

As with many of our talks, we like to point out that if you can not or do not want to grow your own arrowroot plants, you can still buy them in bulk. Buying in bulk lets you make your DIY recipes and cooking substitutes without actually growing the plant. There is less work and a quick turnaround time when buying in bulk.

For those that prefer to know exactly what you have and what is in your recipes, growing your own arrowroot plants is the way to go.

We hope you will try your hand at growing arrowroot. It is a beautiful plant. With DIY projects arrowroot is invaluable. Arrowroot also seems to be very easy to grow so it is a good first plant for kids.

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.