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Thread: question about Yellow Nutsedge look-alikes

  1. #1

    Default question about Yellow Nutsedge look-alikes

    Update*
    I just wanted to update this post for anyone who was curious about yellow Nutsedge. I was able to find a good patch of Yellow Nutsedge with some healthy growth and was able to taste the tubers for the first time. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Though all the tubers I've found on wild Yellow Nutsedge have been twice as small as the cultivated ones, they don't hold back on flavor and texture! They tasted just as good as the store bought Chufa nuts used in Horchata and other Spanish dishes. And for those who haven't tried Chufa or TigerNuts before, these wild Yellow Nutsedge tubers tasted a bit like almond mixed with coconut and have a nice firm crunch to them. The aftertaste lingers but is pleasant and nutty.

    51rJ7sT.jpg

    If you have Yellow Nutsedge in your yard (god forbid) and are a fan of nutty things, I would recommend trying them out and see if you like them.

    Origional post (answered):
    Hello, I've been searching for Yellow Nutsedge which literally grows everywhere in the world and is one of the oldest recorded cultivated plants in history as they were farmed for their "Tiger Nuts" or Chufa Nuts which are tubers that grow on the roots. Dried Tiger Nuts were found still in jars in Egyptian tombs and there were even written hieroglyphic records of Tiger Nut recipes. Tiger Nuts are also used as the main ingredient in traditional Spanish Horchata which is still made today but now more often with rice milk instead of Chufa milk (which is sad imo).

    First of all, i know it grows in my region as it literally grows EVERYWHERE.

    And second, I have found what I believe is Yellow Nutsedge however what Appears to be the tubers of the plant or "nuts" are very small: not nearly the size that they are in all the images I've seen online (which could be due to the fact that it was growing in clay). So I am not 100% sure that it is in fact yellow nutsedge. It looks like this:

    (image in reply)

    Now i went out to find more of these plants in hopes to find bigger tubers and i came across some very similar look alikes to the plant I found earlier. It is indeed a sedge and it has very similar seed heads to the Yellow Nutsedge and in fact sources online often post images of this plant as "yellow Nutsedge". however when i dug them up, there was not a single tuber in the roots and i was very careful pulling them out with a spade and I even double checked the dirt around the hole after extraction. Here is images of what they look like(Notice they are almost identical to yellow nutsedge at first glance but the seed heads are a bit more "bushy" and more "full"):

    (image in reply)

    This makes me wonder if most sources identifying and classifying Yellow Nutsedge just considers all Sedge plants as "weeds" for the sake of lawn control and thus just calls all of them "yellow Nutsedge" like idiots. OR if this plant is in fact Yellow Nutsedge and I'm the idiot. If so, why am I unable to find any tubers? What am I doing wrong? Also, if the first plant i found was yellow Nutsedge, why are the tubers so few and small? Is there an ideal season to pick them when the tubers are full grown or is it just a "bad specimen" i harvested?
    Last edited by TrueNord; 09-20-2014 at 04:27 AM.


  2. #2

    Default

    Here are the images.
    Sedge #1:
    cpG0L7L.jpg

    Sedge #2:
    yellow_nutsedge.JPG

  3. #3

    Default

    Have you done any reading on Nutsedge?
    It's an incredibly invasive weed. One plant will produce a dozen or more plants by runners and they multiply incredibly quickly. If you plan on putting this in your yard, well... don't say you weren't warned.
    If it already grows in your yard, I'm sorry to hear that.

    Here's about all you need to know about growing and harvesting yellow nutsedge:
    http://threeissues.sdsu.edu/three_is...lofacts02.html

    As to lookalikes, yellow nutsedge is pretty variable. It is a very adaptable weed. There aren't too many sedges that look like it when it forms it's seed head.

    Purple nutsedge is similar, but the tuber isn't as tasty, described on some website as tasting like Vicks Vaporub.

    Tuber size might depend on what variable growing conditions you have. The intertoobs say they can be as small as 3/8" to over 1" in size. The plants don't tolerate shade and love having their feet wet. Other conditions might not be so great for tuber formation.

    Harvest seems to be after the tops die down. That would depend on when they were planted or started growing.
    Last edited by LowKey; 09-17-2014 at 09:08 PM.
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  4. #4

    Default

    Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your help and yes I've been reading and researching the plant for about a week now and I would never plant it in my yard as I am aware of it's invasive properties. I did some more reading beyond this post on both plants I came across today and neither are Purple Nutsedge, however many sources talking about Yellow Nutsedge seems to be leaving a big part out of the identification. True Yellow Nutsedge has no "Keel" on the bottom of it's blades where as Purple Nutsedge and... wait for it, False Nutsedge do. The second plant I found was indeed a Sedge known as False Nutsege or Cyperus strigosus. The differences between Cyperus strigosus and Cyperus esculentus (Yellow Nutsedge) are often confused and assumed as the same species as they look alike and are treated the same way in lawn care. As nobody seems to value the History and cultivation of the Tiger Nut anymore, people could care less about identifying which species carries the illusive and delicious Tiger Nut; That species is in fact, Cyperus esculentus and not Cyperus strigosus.

    It really is sad how much flack Yellow Nutsedge gets these days considering it's fantastic cultivation history and the amazing heath benefits they provide. Not to mention they are delicious; like an extra sweet almond.

    Thanks for the source, I did come across it when I was initially doing research but I may have skimmed through it to fast. I'll try to harvest them a little later in fall and see if that changes the yield at all
    Last edited by TrueNord; 09-18-2014 at 02:14 AM.

  5. #5
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    forum spam paranoia? If you only knew. It's not paranoia if it's real. Just sayin'.....

  6. #6

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    Actually I do have more experience with forum spam than you may be giving me credit for; I have created and administrated several forums in the past and have been an active member of many others since 2005. Forums are practically where I live when it comes to the internet and I can say with confidence that forum spam (minus occasional member trolling or leatist remarks which I don't think will be a problem here) is rarely an issue on small communities such as this one. All you really need is a spam filter like Captcha or Anti-Spam ACP to keep out the bots and you are good.

    Back in 2006 spam bots were a real problem on forums but now days, anti spam filters and Captcha software has gotten so good that it's no longer a problem and there is no need to put so many restrictions on link and image posting if all your members are legitimate humans (determined through a Captcha of course when registering). If your still worried that humans would go out of their way to register just to post spam, you can monitor their first posts or put restrictions on the first post but after that test. Having a time limit that brings back the same restrictions after a few weeks is really quite unnecessary because if someone passes the first test, you can be safe to assure that an individual has no malicious intent that they may unleash in the future.

    I guess consider this a quality assurance suggestion from a customer who likes your product. Your product being this nice forum and community which has a lot of potential, but the current restrictions can be unnecessarily ruthless and often scare away newcomers or returning members who legitimately want to explore wilderness hobbies.
    Last edited by TrueNord; 09-18-2014 at 04:06 PM.

  7. #7
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Thanks for enlightening me. Input always helps. There are no time limits. The limit is 10 posts. Once you've achieved that then there are no further restrictions.

  8. #8

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    No problem, I appreciate you listening to what members have to say; admins like that are few and far between.

    Ah I see, I must have read the disclaimer wrong then. You probably don't even need it to be 10 posts just 1-3 monitored posts suffices for me and most other forums I've been to, but that's just my opinion.

  9. #9

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    I just wanted to update this post for anyone who was curious about yellow Nutsedge. I was able to find a good patch of Yellow Nutsedge with some healthy growth and was able to taste the tubers for the first time. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Though all the tubers I've found on wild Yellow Nutsedge have been twice as small as the cultivated ones, they don't hold back on flavor and texture! They tasted just as good as the store bought Chufa nuts used in Horchata and other Spanish dishes. And for those who haven't tried Chufa or TigerNuts before, these wild Yellow Nutsedge tubers tasted a bit like almond mixed with coconut and have a nice firm crunch to them. The aftertaste lingers but is pleasant and nutty.

    If you have Yellow Nutsedge in your yard (God forbid) and are a fan of nutty things, I would recommend trying them out and see if you like them.
    Last edited by TrueNord; 09-20-2014 at 02:14 AM.
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  10. #10
    Super Moderater RangerXanatos's Avatar
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    Don't think I've ever heard of it but it sounds very intriguing and tasty.
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