Note: The article was updated
It’s amazing what will trend online these days, and here at Garden Culture, we have a few posts that gain more traction than others. One of the top searches on our website is the humble and wholesome tiger nut; people want to know what it is, what it does for you, and how to grow tiger nuts at home.
What are Tiger Nuts?
The tiger nuts we’re talking about here don’t belong to tigers (if you catch my drift), and they’re not nuts either. Harvested from the yellow nutsedge plant, they’re striped tubers similar to sweet potatoes (but smaller). They’re called nuts because they’re about the same size and taste like almonds, pecans, or hazelnuts.
Tiger nuts are high in antioxidants, fiber, and essential nutrients, making them an excellent addition to your diet. They’re believed to help regulate blood sugar and digestion. You can eat them boiled, roasted, or raw.
Some people like to bake with tiger nut flour or drink tiger nut milk, but you can also add them to smoothies, granola and yogurt or eat a handful as a snack.
Homegrown Tiger Nuts
People have been cultivating tiger nuts for centuries! According to Forbes, records point to this superfood being used as far back as Neolithic Egypt before spreading to other parts of the world.
Yellow nutsedge is a weed, which makes it reasonably easy to grow in most climates. Foraging in the wild is possible as long as you know what you’re looking for. Growing your own at home is easy!
You should yield a decent bumper crop of tiger nuts if you grow this crop in full sun and well-draining soil rich in compost. Yellow nutsedge likes to be watered regularly.
Sow seeds about a half inch deep in April or May and fertilize with compost tea about a month later. Tiger nuts should be ready to harvest in about three or four months, and while they’ll likely survive if protected throughout a mild winter, it’s best to consider them an annual crop.
Remember, yellow nutsedge is a weed and will spread like one, too. It can quickly overtake the garden, so consider growing in large containers, fabric pots, or planting in the ground with a root barrier. You harvest tiger nuts as you would potatoes, so growing in buckets isn’t out of the question!
After harvest, carefully clean the tiger nuts. Drying them will help them keep for several months, even up to a year! You can also grind the harvest into flour or use it to make ‘nut’ milk. Whatever you choose, you’ll be reaping a ton of health benefits from tiger nuts!
How do you plant it? Is it the tuber it the leave?
Where can I order tiger nuts seeds so I can grow them myself
I have these plants growing in my yard although I didn’t plant them, they were here when I moved here. It’s July now, and I’m wondering if it’s too soon to harvest. Probably, because I don’t see any tubers on the roots. They’re awfully hard to dig up. Should I wait until fall? I tried to dig them up last year but the roots were tough to dig up and never saw the tubers last year either. Does it take several years for this plant to form tubers?
This is so great
Can they be grown from commercially packed nuts (eg Macro)?
preetty far aparrtt
I would urge extreme caution in planting these seeds. This is an extremely aggressive and noxious weed that will take over everything in your yard and spread its seeds far and wide.
I found a source for live plants, but there is no “days to harvest’ information. What would be your estimate?
This doesn’t say how far apart to plant tiger nut seedlings.
Please could you let us know ?
Thank you.
You’ll want to plant them about 2 inches apart. Happy growing!
Funny how grass not a food is more excepted in the average American yard. Those days are over if you don’t have food. You won’t you will wish you let that tiger nut grow and killed your grass FJB
Where can I buy tigernuts?
They really don’t taste like a hazelnut. They are lightly sweet and taste of a delightful combination of vanilla and coconut. The only downside is they are so fibrous that they can be quite rough on the way out of the body.
This plant is VERY invasive. If you plant it once you will never ever get rid of it! It will take over everything. You can never kill it.
Where can I buy the seeds
Hi
I’m interested to buy Tiger Nuts Seeds
Quantity 25 for plantation at my home
Garden . I’m from India so send to me
Information to buy online.
Thank you
Please can I plant it in July.?
The ideal time to plant Tiger Nuts is in April but you can plant them later in the season if you must. I would hurry if you want to see a harvest!
Very interesting and informative article. Two questions: I have six acres of land I’d like to plant in tiger nuts. Since I’m a new farmer, what cheap hand-held machine could I employ to help in harvesting the crop.
What is the shelf life of tiger nuts?
Hi Gerald,
Glad you found the article useful. It’s an interesting crop, especially the superfood from weeds aspect. You would need more than a shovel for a six acre harvest, but I’m not sure what implement is perfect for this crop. Maybe some small walk-behind peanut digger? But it looks like peanuts stay closer to the surface than tiger nuts. If I were you I would start with a smaller planting than 6 acres to learn exactly how deep you need to dig to get most to all of the nuts. It would seem that hilled rows might keep the nuts from going so deep and make harvesting them easier… but that’s just a guess. There’s not a lot of farming info on this plant – most farmers are on a never ending battle to kill it. Which has all the ag university papers on it leaning toward getting rid of it and not harvesting it. Same thing with farm equipment… you’re on a pioneer adventure 🙂 Dig deep into the internet to learn as much as possible before spring planting time. This walk-behind peanut digger made in China looks close to what you’re looking for – but I have no idea where you could buy one.
Good luck with the crop! I hope it turns out well.