How Does Our Sugar Cane Grow?

Of the 120 aces currently growing our organic sugar cane, some 20 acres have been dedicated to operating as a nursery where we grow new sugar cane plants. What is interesting is that the new plants are grown not from seed as you might think – but from mature sugar cane stems.

During October and November, we started with mature stems of black and red sugar cane, which have been grown in the region for generations. The stalks are typically about 4-feet in length and were laid horizontally in furrows, covered with soil and fertilized with chicken manure – all by hand. The stems have joints or nodes, which are several inches apart.

It is the nods which sprout buds and ultimately new shoots of sugar cane within 10-days to 2 weeks. Those will grow into new cane stalks which will be cut and replanted in the cane fields next Spring. It takes a full year to mature into a cane that will produce Copalli Rum. So, these new shoots will be harvested in the Spring of 2023.