Sugar Cane Plant

Growing Sugar Cane

Cane sugar, molasses, and sugar cane syrup are all the sweet produce of the sugar cane plant. The tropical Asian grass known as sugar cane requires ample moisture to grow well. Commercial production is carried out mainly in Brazil and India*; but hobby growers are raising plants throughout the tropics and sub-tropics.

Sugar Cane Photo

The sugar cane plant is a heavy feeder and needs to be planted on rich soil. This is why it performs so well in the volcanic soil of Hawaii.

If you are growing your own patch of chewing cane, give it a high nitrogen fertilizer monthly throughout the growing season. Withhold food for the 6-8 week period just prior to harvest in order to sweeten the canes.

How Is Sugar Cane Planted ?

This is an antique sugar cane grabber on display at the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum on the island of Maui.

Sugar Cane Photo

Sometimes this operation is carried out by hand. More often by a mechanical harvester. Another machine opens and closes the soil around the cuttings.

Growing sugar cane at home:

1. Buy some stalks at a Latin market. You want the top portions of the stalks if you can get them. Cut them into 6 inch sections containing two rings (leaf scars) each. Use a butcher knife or a pruning saw.

2. Fill a wide container 2/3 full of potting mix. Place the stalks into the soil horizontally and cover them with a couple inches of soil.

3. Place the flat in a warm dark place and keep it moist. Check it often for sprouts. They should make their appearance in less than a month.

4. Once the canes sprout, move the flat into good light. When the shoots are 2-3 feet tall and well rooted, plant them out.

Where Is Sugar Cane Grown?

Sugar Cane, Malaysia
Taylor, Harold
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*Sugar cane is being produced commercially in the United States in South Florida near Lake Okeechobee where killing freezes seldom occur. The production area is so small that most visitors (and many Florida residents) are not aware that there are cane fields here.

Other U.S. states growing sugar cane commercially include Louisiana, Texas and Hawaii. Surprisingly, there is more sugar cane produced in Florida than in any of the other states.

Labor and shipping costs are very high in Hawaii. By the year 2000 there were only 3 farms (1 on Maui and 2 on Kauai) still in operation. As of 2009 less than 23,000 acres were still in production compared to 401,000 acres in Florida.

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