New Zealand Yams

[piglet]

I am looking for any advice or tips on New Zealand Yams.

Last year I was given about a dozen very small tubers which I planted and got at the end of the season ended up with about 20-30 to replant this season, but again mostly very small....a large one was probably only about 3-4 cm long
I would have got more but the Woodies discovered them before I realised they were interested.

I was growing mine in large pots with fresh compost, and I fed occasionally. The plants were supported with wire mesh as they grew.

Should I have fed more?
Given more sunlight? … difficult in my garden
Certainly protected better !

I know that the plants do-not crop until right at the end of the season..... But what is the average crop and how big do they normally grow? ....most of mine were not a lot bigger than 1cm.

[featherstick]

I guess you're talking about Oca (Oxalis Tuberosa)?

They are a hungry plant. If you cultivate like a potato you should get a decent crop. You don't say whether you used shop compost or kitchen compost but if the former, it's unlikely to be rich enough.

Did you wait long enough before harvesting? You need to wait until a week or so after a frost hits them, this then causes the tuber to draw down the carbs in the stalks, and the tubers swell. They don't get huge, in any event.

I'm surprised the pigeons were interested. Never seen that when I've grown them. They were nearly the perfect plant to grow - no pest, good ground cover, no disease.

Have you tried them? I didn't mind them but my lot wouldn't eat them so I don't bother growing them now.

[piglet]

Did you wait long enough before harvesting? You need to wait until a week or so after a frost hits them, this then causes the tuber to draw down the carbs in the stalks, and the tubers swell. They don't get huge, in any event.

hello there featherstick.

I guess this is where I went wrong...kinda

I did wait until the plant was completely withered and dead...frost...not so much where I live right down on the south coast near the sea.
But....
I assumed they were like Jerusalem artichokes, of which I have done very well with in large pots.
But these did not produce a single tuber, in the sense that they were underground.
These all came high on the stems of the plants ...hence the Woodies getting them.
That's wrong then? …… maybe I need to space them out a lot more...they were a very dense foliage plant and I am limited in space being right in the town centre with a pocket handkerchief garden.

I have a red crab apple tree in the garden and the Woodies love those, so I suppose they thought they were the same thing.

I did try a couple...and yes would probably not eat a lot.....but made an interesting addition to the garden in the sense that they do not normally suffer blight etc

Thank you

[featherstick]

I wonder whether you pulled the tubers out of the ground in supporting the growth? They are a very ground-hugging plant and spread out wide. We had a few tubers poking out of the soil but most under the ground. If you are limited in space I think there are better things to grow, to be honest. Dwarf french beans work well in pots and are very productive. Anyway, good luck if you try again.