How to Grow Chinese Water Chestnuts

Chinese Water Chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) is different from the invasive water caltrop (Trapa natans). It is permitted for grow in Florida.

The Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), more often called simply the water chestnut, is a grass-like sedge native to Asia (China, Japan, India, Philippines, etc.), Australia, tropical Africa, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is widely grown in many countries for its edible corms.

The water chestnut is actually not a nut at all, but an aquatic vegetable that grows in marshes, underwater in the mud. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to about 1.5 metres.

The small, rounded corms have a crisp white flesh and can be eaten raw, slightly boiled, or grilled, and are often pickled or tinned. They are unusual among vegetables for remaining crisp even after being cooked or canned, because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds.

The corms are rich in carbohydrates (about 90 percent by dry weight) and are also a good source of dietary fiber, riboflavin, vitamin B6, potassium, copper, and manganese.

Warning: If eaten uncooked, the surface of the plants can transmit Fasciolopsiasis.

How to grow

Plant water chestnut corms by inserting the corm in the underwater soil, heaping soil around it. Make sure the corm is covered by a minimum of 4 inches of dirt and 1 inch of water.

References:

Eleocharis dulcis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://buff.ly/1BfiZZB
Hawaii http://www.raingarden.us/waterchestnut.pdf
Florida Survival Gardening: Survival Plant Profile: Water Chestnuts http://buff.ly/1BfkjM8
Water Chestnuts http://buff.ly/1EU04q6
Chinese Water Chestnuts http://buff.ly/1EU09dw
How to Grow Water Chestnuts at Home - Easy Tropical Plants http://buff.ly/1EU0z3z
Grow Buckets Of Calories in a Kiddie Pool or Tub http://buff.ly/1BfjXoX
Chinese water chestnuts in Western Australia | Department of Agriculture and Food http://buff.ly/1EU0kW3
Water Chestnut Information http://buff.ly/1EU0rkx
Garden Adventures: Water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) http://buff.ly/1SvNUKo

YouTube:

How to grow Organic Water Chestnuts http://youtu.be/dcLtmIFv0Yw
Water chestnut update, Feb 2014. http://buff.ly/1EvAqaO

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