Author Topic: Trimming casava branches  (Read 932 times)

JoshuaTilaranCR

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Trimming casava branches
« on: March 10, 2021, 11:12:23 AM »
I'm trying to make plans to plant a small area in my backyard this coming rainy season, it will include casava, corn, beans and sweet potatoes. Would trimming the stems of the casava to open them up a little have any adverse effects? I've never seen anyone here trim them but I don't see it bothering the plant much.

JoshuaTilaranCR

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Re: Trimming casava branches
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2021, 11:51:27 AM »
Looks like I should've searched with the word "prune" instead of "trim". Here's a link showing that you can indeed prune it, although it might set it back a couple months, and use the pruned pieces as biomass.

https://youtu.be/l-kmdQhbDjs

spencerw

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Re: Trimming casava branches
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2021, 03:11:22 PM »
i use cassava quite a bit. they can be topped and pruned at intervals, but the root harvest will be smaller. but you can still get some good gains. especially if you plant quite a few of them and harvest as you need. i have separate plants i use strictly for biomass and cut them every other month down to waist height just to feed the soils. but ive allowed them to grow more than a year so ill never get a non-woody harvest. but im fine with that.
but yes minor pruning and trimming is fine as cassava is so vigorous and carefree it will just keep on going

JoshuaTilaranCR

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Re: Trimming casava branches
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2021, 06:22:49 PM »
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate the advice knowing it's something you have done and know the results!

pineislander

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Re: Trimming casava branches
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2021, 06:29:10 PM »
I have grown pruned and unpruned. I tried pruning to avoid toppling which had happened before during storms.
I began pruning very early and tried to get the plants to branch and grow lower. They did branch a few times but eventually the pruned branches tended to just regrow single stalks again about the third tipping. So, I think there is a limit to how much bushiness you can induce in theis species. Perhaps if the plant were grown as an individual in intense sun it might work.
I think your interplanting should work well but the timing and original spacing would be important. Being the longest maturing species among your choices you'd have to spread out the cassava enough to give room for the others especially sweet potato or else they would be overcome. However, if the sweet potato could run outside the plot before a cassava canopy closed up the ipomoea tubers may be able to continue tuberization underneath with vines out in sun. In sweet potato the tuberization takes place fairly late in the plants life.