A FANTASTIC HEALTHY ROOT VEGETABLE! GROWN ONLY FROM SEED, APHRODISIAC PROPERTIES! HUNDREDS OF VITAMINS AND MORE PACKED IN TO THE ONE TUBER!

Lepidium meyenii or Maca is native to the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru. With over 60 phytochemicals and an array of vitamins, minerals and enzymes the beneficial properties are gigantic. It is described as a tonic, diuretic, stimulant, laxative and expectorant. However, a side effect is the increase in libido and Maca is considered a potent aphrodisiac. Maca is now known as Lepidium peruvianum.

From Wikipedia:

Lepidium meyenii, known as maca or Peruvian ginseng, is an edible herbaceous biennial plant of the family Brassicaceae that is native to South America in the high Andes mountains of Peru. It was found exclusively at the Meseta de Bombón plateau close to Lake Junin in the late 1980s.[1] It is grown for its fleshy hypocotyl that is fused with a taproot, which is typically dried, but may also be freshly cooked as a root vegetable. If it is dried, it may be further processed into a flour for baking or as a dietary supplement. It also has uses in traditional medicine. As a cash crop, it is primarily exported as a powder that may be raw, or processed further by the supplement industry: gelatinized or made into an extract.

Its Spanish and Quechua names include maca-maca, maino, ayak chichira, and ayak willku.

Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa gave a description of the plant following his visit to Peru circa 1598 and Bernabé Cobo gave a description of this plant in the early 17th century.[2] Gerhard Walpers named the species Lepidium meyenii in 1843. In the 1990s, Gloria Chacon made a further distinction of a different species. She considered the widely cultivated natural maca of today to be a newer domesticated species, L. peruvianum.[3]

Maca is mainly grown for consumption of its root. The majority of harvested maca is dried. In this form, the hypocotyls can be stored for several years.[1][16] In Peru, maca is prepared and consumed in various ways, although traditionally it is always cooked. The freshly harvested hypocotyl may be roasted in a pit (called huatia), and is considered a delicacy. Fresh roots usually are available only in the vicinity of the growers. The root can also be mashed and boiled to produce a sweet, thick liquid, then dried and mixed with milk to form a porridge, mazamorra.[8] The cooked roots are also used with other vegetables in empanadas, jams, or soups. The root may be ground to produce a flour for bread, cakes, or pancakes. If fermented, a weak beer called chicha de maca may be produced. In 2010, a U.S.-based brewery, called Andean Brewing Company, became the first company to produce and commercialize beer made from maca under the brand KUKA Beer.[17] From the black morphotype, a liquor is produced. Also, the leaves are edible or may serve as animal fodder.

Grow Notes
Full sun with poor, sandy or well-draining soils are fine for these plants.

Frost and drought resistant.

Sow
Maca seeds should be grown as seedlings, sow seed in Autumn or Winter, just under the surface of a well-drained potting mix.

Once the seedlings emerge they can either be thinned out, left in the container until larger, or directly sown into the garden to avoid transplant shock later.

Germination
7-14 days at 18-22°C

Maturity
Biennial, harvest roots in 2nd year.

Image by Vahe Martirosyan, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons