Pollinating the Arrowroot Plant: A Complete Guide to Maximizing Your Yield

Arrowroot is an easy-to-grow tropical plant that produces edible tubers, though they require some processing to remove fibrous material before consumption. Properly pollinating your arrowroot plants is crucial for ensuring a robust yield year after year. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about pollinating arrowroot and boosting your harvest.

Arrowroot Plant Basics

The arrowroot plant (Maranta arundinacea) is a hardy herbaceous perennial that thrives in the tropics and subtropics. The arrowroot tubers contain a starch that can be extracted and used as a gluten-free flour, thickener for sauces and stews, and even mixed into biscuits and cakes.

Arrowroot foliage dies back each winter in colder climates, returning again each spring. Mature plants can reach up to 5 feet tall and have broad, ornamental leaves up to 12 inches long. They produce small white flowers in summer followed by berry-like fruit.

Why Pollination Matters

Like most flowering plants, arrowroot relies on pollination to produce fruit and viable seeds. Pollination occurs when pollen grains are transferred from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma. This fertilizes the plant’s ovaries and allows fruit and seeds to develop.

For arrowroot, successful pollination also directly impacts tuber formation and development The more seeds and fruit a plant produces, the more energy gets directed to the roots to form starchy tubers. Without proper pollination, your yield can be severely reduced

Arrowroot Pollination Process

Arrowroot has perfect flowers, meaning each flower contains both male and female reproductive parts. But arrowroot cannot self-pollinate efficiently and requires cross-pollination between different plants for best results.

Pollen is transferred from plant to plant by insects and wind. The primary pollinators of arrowroot are small native bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and beetles. Wind can also play a role, though insect pollination is far more effective.

To attract plenty of pollinators, arrowroot should be grown in clusters rather than solitary plants.planted in groups of at least 3 to 5 plants. Planting arrowroot together in beds, rows, or clumps maximizes pollinator visits and cross-pollination between the plants.

How to Maximize Pollination

Follow these tips to ensure your arrowroot receives adequate pollination for a bountiful harvest:

• Plant in groups – Cluster arrowroot plants together in beds, rows, or clumps of at least 3-5 plants.

• Encourage native pollinators – Avoid pesticide use and provide diverse nectar sources through companion planting. Native flowering herbs like basil, oregano, and sage are great pollinator-friendly companions.

• Hand pollinate – Use a small brush to manually transfer pollen between flowers to supplement insect pollination.

• Stagger planting – Ensure there are plants flowering at all times by planting rows or clusters of arrowroot a few weeks apart.

• Prune old flower stems – Clip off spent flower spikes to encourage new growth and continuous flowering.

• Water adequately – Drought-stressed plants produce fewer flowers. Maintain moist soil during growing season.

• Fertilize lightly – Excess nitrogen can inhibit flowering. Use a balanced organic fertilizer according to package directions.

What Happens Without Pollination

If your arrowroot plants fail to receive adequate pollination, you’ll notice a significant reduction in flowers, fruit, seeds, and most importantly, tuber formation. Plants may only form a few tiny tubers or none at all.

Without the energy expenditure required for seed production, the plant won’t channel as many resources down to the roots. Unpollinated plants will also lack the hormonal cues triggered by pollination and fertilization that boost tuber growth.

When and How Often to Pollinate

Arrowroot blooms through the summer months in tropical and subtropical climates. Plants can flower for up to 5 months with staggered planting.

Pollination should occur each time flower clusters emerge, generally every 4-6 weeks. Monitor your plants closely during the flowering period and hand pollinate whenever insect activity seems low.

It only takes one successful pollination event per flower to fertilize the plant and stimulate tuber production. But repeating pollination throughout the season ensures optimal fruit and seed set which directly translates into higher yields.

Troubleshooting Arrowroot Pollination Issues

If your arrowroot plants display poor flowering, fruit set, and reduced yields, there are a few key things to troubleshoot:

• Lack of pollinators – Increase native bee habitat around plants by providing flowering herbs, shrubs, etc. Hand pollinate to supplement.

• Poor growing conditions – Improve light exposure, watering, and soil nutrition to support flowering.

• Excess nitrogen fertilizer – Cut back on nitrogen which can inhibit blooming.

• Pest or disease issues – Inspect for problems and treat accordingly to maintain plant health.

• Insufficient cross-pollination – Ensure multiple arrowroot plants are clustered together for better pollen transfer.

Harvesting and Processing Arrowroot

Arrowroot tubers are harvested when the foliage dies back after the first light frost in fall or winter. Carefully dig up the clumps, keeping tubers intact. Gently wash off soil and trim away shoots and roots.

Unlike potatoes, arrowroot tubers are not edible fresh. The starchy pulp needs to be extracted from the fibrous material. Tubers can be grated then washed in water to separate out the starch, which is dried and ground into flour.

With the proper growing conditions and adequate pollination, each arrowroot plant can produce up to 6-12 or more tubers per year. Providing pollination assistance maximizes the yield potential for this useful tropical crop.