@jasonweldon3706 hi, I'm in Mayo and will be harvesting my second crop this winter. Last year I let the first frost get to it then let the foliage die down. You may need to mulch the crop if you want to leave it in the ground for a bit longer with a very thick layer if woodchips, straw, lambs wool to protect the crowns and tubers from freezing. They store very well in a cool place in slightly damp sand/compost for many months. Let them cure for a few days so the skin hardens. The longer you leave it the sweeter they become. I grow all of mine outdoors. Enjoy!
just harvested my first ever plant 😅. actually left it all winter i am ashamed to say but at least you know they remain healthy on a NO DIG plot throughout winter and just into spring. Just roasted some...we are all hooked. will check later if the rhizones are ok but accept that end of march is too late in UK to expect a harvest.
Andrew, if the tubers do not freeze they will stay good in the garden. I am in USDA Zone 6 so if I leave them outside they will freeze solid and rot soon after. Well done!! How was it roasted??? I juice mine.
Yeah!!! Give it lots of good! It's a heavy feeder for larger tubers. Great plant! Store the tubers in soil too for longer storage. They tend to rot more easily if exposed to oxygen.
Glad it was helpful! Separating them is important. You also want to give them plenty of nutrients, specially the P - K - not so much nitrogen. Compost is great!
Thank you so much for this info. I live in Oregon, but grew up in SC. Oregon has a drought season like California and I have had to greatly adjust my gardening habits! The tip about mold was especially appreciated! Cheers!
My first yacon (last year 2022) died about 18",wery unhappy. Trying 3 this year, 2 in huge fabric pots. Yours is the best video showing how to start the rhizomes! - Florida great-gramma
Thank you Dolores! What happened? Did the heat get it? It is a big plant so give it as much room as you can! Best to grow on the ground if you can. Maybe it got too hot and the bags overheated. It is an Andean plant so it likes cool yet tropical climate.
Here Mizoram, North East India, one of the village farmers plant it in the middle of March. They grew tall and have many tubers. It is so big and sweet also.
Excellent video! Clearly you are passionate about yacon and so knowledgeable. Great tips here. I have grown yacon over the past year in containers and was very impressed by everything about the plant. I learned about the Bogachial variety from your Etsy shop and ordered some. Any other yacon varieties that you have or prefer?
Thank you Paula!! It is a labor of love and constant monitoring for mold. I put the crowns in a container with wood chips and leaves and hope for the best! You got to check periodically and every time you see something molding, I plant it! I already planted some stuff that was going bad. Once they start growing, you are good! Yacon takes a long time to grow so you can literally plant in January if you have the indoor space to keep the small plants. They wont grow big until summer. So, it is very doable!
@@GardensofNewEngland Thank you for your reply. I have one plant I just dug up and hope to overwinter here in Reno, NV. I will keep it in the greenhouse and hope for the best :). I also love your worm videos too by the way. Well done.
@@Paula_T Thank you!!! It should be fine in the green house. Also, if you have crowns, you can plant those. They are slow to grow so the timing might work well for you. Good luck! and thank you for watching my videos. I love making them!
Hello, Thank you for this. I intend to start growing my own Yacon. Now I have an idea of how to do so. Seems pretty easy and basic, you just have to take care of it and nurture it like anything else that you want to grow or build properly, a stool, desk, house, plants, animals, kids... Anyway thank you for the video.
Great! yes, it is as easy to grow as sunflowers! You plant into rich soil and you let it do its thing! Depending on where you are, you want to start indoors to give it plenty of time to grow. It takes up to 9-10 months to mature. We are in zone 6, so we start indoors in January for a robust fall harvest. Thank you for watching the video and leaving a comment!
Robert, I have been thinking about making one. Yacon can be tricky to store because sometimes it just rots. Short answer, store in soil. I keep mine in boxes of soil with as little exposure to oxygen as possible. I would not leave outside if there is chance of soil freezing. Tubers keep better than potatoes! I have tubers last literally a whole year.
If the soil is compacted, you want to loosen it a bit. Think planting potatoes. The more air circulation you have in the soil the easier it is going to be for your tubers to grow. I do not loosen the soil, but the soil is also not compacted. I pretty much grow in a thick layer of compost and leaves. I hope the helps!
I store them in wood chips and keep a close eye on them. You want to plant asap to prevent rot. I start mine in December if they start to go bad, for late April planting.
How do you know when they are ready for harvest? Can your take them out of the ground in late autumn, pot them up and them plant them back out over spring? I live in zone 10a
I harvest right before the first killing frost. They could stay in longer by the cold weather will cause them to rot--if they freeze. I am in zone 6. If you are in zone 10 you can probable harvest them much later. If you pull them out and potted them, you will have tremendous amounts of new shoots and very small tubers. You need to break the crowns apart.
Great video, thanks. I'm in zone 7b and bought yacon crown. I have it coir waiting to plant but now you scared me about the mold so will put in a container in the morning. I'm not able to grow in the ground due to tree roots. Any advice on the best size container to use? Thanks.
You definitively want to plant asap! I start mine in December. I am in zone 6. They are slow growers and take 8-9 months to mature. If you want to grow in containers, I would get the biggest container you can get. Something wide, like one of those barrel-like pots. It is a big plant! Think sunflower. But, it should do well in a container with lots of good nutrients. It is a heavy feeder.
Yacon comes from the Andes so it can tolerate quite a bit of cold, but not hard frost. Think similar climate as potatoes; maybe a bit warmer given that you will be putting actual plants out vs. tubers. You can also start with one plant and see how it does. But, under poly I would imagine you can plant quite soon. I usually plant mine in April in USDA zone 6 but I start taking the small plants outside for a few hours as early January when we have days above 37 F. I hope that helps!
Yes to both! Or if you have a lot, make syrup. French or American (sliced) fries. Little cubes/slices in salads. Sautéed. Hope mine grow this year - above is all from reading, not (yet) personal experience! I'm only 80 so I've plenty of time to experiment LOL
It is like jicama or asian pear, but a bit more tender. It is pretty tasteless as far as fruits go, but the sugars are a great pre-biotic to feed the good bacteria in your digestive track.
I keep them in moist wood chips, lean on the dryer side vs wet. They rot very easily so monitor for rot and plant as soon as possible if they start to get moldy. I start planting mine practically a month after I pull them out of the ground. I am in the US northeast so cannot plant outdoors until late April. Very slow grower at first, so that helps!
I have not come across altitude in the literature. In South America , growing conditions are determined by altitude because being closer to the equator, temperature is highly influenced by altitude. In North America, growing conditions (and temperature) are primarily driven by seasons. I do not think altitude would be a big factor for yacon --unless it is extreme--as long as you have reasonable temperatures. I hope that helps!
Yacon crowns do not store well. I suggest keeping them on the stem for as long as you can and monitor regularly for rot. If they start to rot, plant right away and keep indoors. I notice that if you let the plants freeze the crowns last less than if you harvest and store right before the first killing frost. What is your situation?
@@GardensofNewEngland The place I can buy them from is rapidly running out of the stock and I will need to order them this week. I intend to travel with them in 3 weeks time and need them to survive till then
@@bombazintahdegree6582 where are you? Are they going to be indoors? if you plant them in soil that is fully hydrated, they should survive. Damp wood chips will also work. Depending on the size of the crowns, sometimes folk just sell you the growth point and that can rot easily. Yacon is pretty sturdy once it is growing.
@@bombazintahdegree6582 gotcha! You should be able to store them in wood shavings or bark for a bit. Just make sure you keep an eye on them. Also, if they start to rot, you can add powder cinnamon. It slows down rot.
