yacon

habitat_gardener · November 29, 2009

I started answering a question about yacon, Bolivian sunroot, in another thread and got so long-winded that I decided I'd better move the discussion to its own thread.

To recap, I've been growing this sweet, crunchy edible tuber for several years. I harvest it around January most years. I get huge tubers as well as lots of propagules. I like to eat them raw, but I've read you can also cook them. (I've read the leaves are edible, but I tried them once and found them very bitter.)

The question was, when did I plant and when do I harvest.

Usually I plant around April or May, when the tubers start sprouting, if I've stored them correctly. I've found the propagules can be kept indefinitely in small pots, but of course they won't produce much if the roots don't have room to spread. I recently found my extra propagules that I'd stored in sand almost a year ago, which I harvested with the January 2009 crop.

For this year's crop, in early 2008 I planted the propagules in 6-inch pots, gave away the ones that had sprouted leaves by the time of the late-April plant exchange, and in summer or fall 2008 planted the leftovers around the garden because I'd read they're good for the soil. They didn't get a foot high by the time cold weather hit, so I left them in place. The big one has been in the ground since probably late spring 2008, but it didn't start producing new foliage this year until April or May. (We have cold snaps as late as mid-April that could freeze exposed foliage.) It has only started flowering in the past month. I have a few others that survived -- a couple in part shade that are only 3 ft. high (where I used to grow the ones that reached 6-7 ft. each year -- maybe not enough water this year?), and one in poorer soil that's been neglected and is under a foot high.

I start harvesting sometime after the flowers have faded and the leaves have turned black from the cold, and when I don't have a lot of other things going on in the garden. I've read that yacon can be harvested one tuber at a time, but I found when I start digging, pieces break off and it's easier to do the whole excavation at once. I also read that curing them in the sun for a few days makes them sweeter -- haven't tried that, will have to try it this year if it's not freezing cold.

November 29, 2009	#1
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	yacon I started answering a question about yacon, Bolivian sunroot, in another thread and got so long-winded that I decided I'd better move the discussion to its own thread. To recap, I've been growing this sweet, crunchy edible tuber for several years. I harvest it around January most years. I get huge tubers as well as lots of propagules. I like to eat them raw, but I've read you can also cook them. (I've read the leaves are edible, but I tried them once and found them very bitter.) The question was, when did I plant and when do I harvest. Usually I plant around April or May, when the tubers start sprouting, if I've stored them correctly. I've found the propagules can be kept indefinitely in small pots, but of course they won't produce much if the roots don't have room to spread. I recently found my extra propagules that I'd stored in sand almost a year ago, which I harvested with the January 2009 crop. For this year's crop, in early 2008 I planted the propagules in 6-inch pots, gave away the ones that had sprouted leaves by the time of the late-April plant exchange, and in summer or fall 2008 planted the leftovers around the garden because I'd read they're good for the soil. They didn't get a foot high by the time cold weather hit, so I left them in place. The big one has been in the ground since probably late spring 2008, but it didn't start producing new foliage this year until April or May. (We have cold snaps as late as mid-April that could freeze exposed foliage.) It has only started flowering in the past month. I have a few others that survived -- a couple in part shade that are only 3 ft. high (where I used to grow the ones that reached 6-7 ft. each year -- maybe not enough water this year?), and one in poorer soil that's been neglected and is under a foot high. I start harvesting sometime after the flowers have faded and the leaves have turned black from the cold, and when I don't have a lot of other things going on in the garden. I've read that yacon can be harvested one tuber at a time, but I found when I start digging, pieces break off and it's easier to do the whole excavation at once. I also read that curing them in the sun for a few days makes them sweeter -- haven't tried that, will have to try it this year if it's not freezing cold.