Sugar cane is a garden plant most suitable for the southern states, from California to Texas and the Gulf states. It can be grown further north, but does require a fairly long growing season to reach its full sweetness.
Sugar cane is suitable for growing in containers and does especially will in sub-irrigation planters, also known as self-watering containers. I also think it would do very well in large grow-bags.
Getting it started is simple. People often ask: can I grow sugar cane from seeds? The answer is yes, but that is not the preferred way. And I'm not sure where you'd find the seeds, except from a cane farmer, possibly. Cane grown from seeds would show considerable variability in sweetness, hardness, resistance to disease, and growing habits. This is why most gardeners propagate sugar cane vegetatively, like I'm showing here.
It's best to start with a freshly harvested cane. Cut the cane into two or three-foot lengths and stand the canes in a five gallon bucket about half-filled with water. Then wait. Depending on the weather you will see roots start to form within 3 to 7 days. Once a good mass of roots has formed, the cane can be planted in containers or directly into the garden. It must be kept moist and free from frost or freezing temperatures.
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| Sugar cane rooting in a bucket of water. |
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| Roots form around the joint between the sections of cane. You can see the bud swelling to grow a new cane. |
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| Some varieties of cane form roots more aggressively than others, like this green/yellow cane. |
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| This purple cane has started forming roots even before being harvested. This would make an excellent starter piece for rooting in water. Note the new canes growing from the ground. |
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