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Sugarcane

Saccharum officinarum

Sugarcane is a giant tropical grass grown in Southern yards for its sweet, juicy stalks. Chewing types are soft and easy to bite; syrup types are grown for boiling down into cane syrup. One planting keeps coming back for years.

Growing facts

Scientific name
Saccharum officinarum
Origin
New Guinea and Southeast Asia
Plant size
Tall clumps of stalks; some types fall over (lodge) when mature
Growth rate
Fast
Sun
Full sun
Soil
Well-drained, well-worked soil kept moist; mature plants tolerate some flooding. Stop fertilizing after mid-July, because late feeding delays ripening and lowers sugar.
Soil pH
No reliable figure in the sources used
Pollination
Not needed; grown from stalk pieces, not seed
Cold hardiness
Leaves and new shoots are killed by frost; buds underground usually survive and regrow
USDA zones
9–11; the Gulf Coast with stalks harvested before a hard freeze
Harvest
About a year from planting stalk pieces
When to plant (zones 9–11)
Sep–Feb
Water
About every 7 days once established, without rain; more in heat, in pots and while young
Feeding
About every 60 days, Mar–Jul
Taste
Sweet, watery juice with a fresh, grassy note
Nutrition
Mostly sugar and water

Is sugarcane safe to eat? Edible and toxic parts

What you can eat

  • Peeled stalk, chewed for its juice
  • Pressed juice
  • Juice boiled down to syrup

Toxic parts and cautions

  • Take care: The leaf edges are sharp enough to cut skin. Wear gloves and long sleeves, and keep cane away from walkways.
  • Good to know: Tall clumps can fall over when mature and block paths.

Pets: No reliable data on toxicity for dogs, cats or other pets.

How to eat and enjoy sugarcane

  • Chewed fresh in short peeled pieces
  • Fresh-pressed cane juice
  • Homemade cane syrup
  • A tall summer windbreak or screen

When it's ripe

Harvest about a year after planting, usually by early November and always before a killing freeze. Cut stalks at the soil line, trim off the green top (it has little sugar), then peel and cut into chewing pieces. Replant every 5–10 years.

Storing it

Uncut stalks keep about two weeks somewhere cool and damp; dipping the cut ends in melted paraffin slows drying.

Pests and diseases to watch for

  • Scale insects

    Small bumps, waxy or shell-like, on stems and leaf veins; sticky honeydew and black sooty mold below.

    What to do: Scrub small colonies off with a soft brush.

  • Mealybugs

    White cottony clusters in leaf joints, under leaves and on fruit stems; honeydew and sooty mold.

    What to do: Blast off with a strong spray of water.

  • Aphids

    Clusters of tiny soft insects on new shoots; leaves curl and get sticky.

    What to do: Spray off with water.

  • Sooty mold

    Black, papery film on leaves and fruit that wipes off; it grows on honeydew.

    What to do: Control the insects making honeydew; the mold then weathers away.

  • Spider mites

    Fine pale speckling on leaves, dusty undersides and fine webbing; leaves bronze and drop.

    What to do: Hose the undersides of leaves.

Growing sugarcanes? Let Yardkin keep track.

Yardkin tells you when your sugarcane needs water based on your local weather, reminds you to feed and prune in season, and keeps every harvest and photo.

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General guidance, not medical or veterinary advice. Poison Control (US): 1-800-222-1222. ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435.