Saccharum officinarum - Sugar Cane

Do you do anything with it or just use the canes to prop up other plants ?

I need to figure out what to do with them. You can chew on them...or I think boil the sugar out of them.

If you used them as stakes they would grow. lol! They grow very easily from these stems and these already have a lot of side growths. They will grow even with no soil. Actually, if you look closely at these stems you'll see shoots or eyes developing along the nodes.

Oh yes looking at them closely i can see them now.Best not use them for steaking other flowers..lol

Sugar cane grows a little too well here. I have to constantly cut the little shoots out. It's a tropical grass which can take over very quickly!

It's a very sweet problem! I boiled maple sap this spring. takes 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. Do you just peel the stems and cook the cambium and phloem? I'm going to google demarara and see what I come up with!

" It is made from soaking the sugar cane, filtering it and then evaporating the water until it crystalizes. No other processing takes place. It is the least processed of all the cane sugars. " I found this on a site which sells moscovado, turbinado and demerara..for crazy prices...maybe you could start a cottage industry? ;-)

Sugar cane is a grass...so it doesn't have a cambium layer. :>)

I've always chewed on the sugar cane when I was young; however, I have never processed it. Thanks for the information.

I need to do something with these stems soon or they'll start to grow. LOL! :>) They grow so easily form these stems. That's how I originally started the sugar cane I have.

That's what I meant by Cottage Industry, D1. replant these stems and make your own sugar/sweetener. I tapped only 4 maples this spring and made enough Maple Syrup to last us til next spring.

I don't have enough room for sugar cane. It takes a lot of spaces because it grows so tall (14') and spreads so quickly.

You're so lucky to harvest maple syrup! It's very expensive here...$5 - 10 for a very small container of real maple syrup (which I love).