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.
@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!
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.
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.
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!
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?
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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.
Thanks! I am in zone five and have had them in the ground long enough to have just about 5 foot tall plants. I will wait for them to die back before I harvest them I guess? Then do I put the crowns in a container with soil and keep them in a basement through the winter? The crowns were very expensive to buy for my first year, but I figured that I can continue to propagate them after that. What do you think?
Yes, you want to save the crowns in soil or wood chips. Soil is probably better. It is ok if they grow, you can cut back in the spring and plant. I start crowns as early as December because it is such a slow grower. Do not use grow lights because it will give you a lot of weak growth. You want the plants to grow slow at first, specially if you are not able to plant outside.
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.
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.
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
The key is to harvest them before frost because that seems to make them prone to rot. I sometimes store mine in soil to avoid air contact, but last year they did well without soil, just in a box in a cool and dry place.
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!
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.
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.
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.
I am at UK, accidentally finde it about this tube, and ordered no. Still expecting and will try
@@ritaalaga1 Best of luck! Ask any questions you might have.
Thank you soooo much....just the information I was looking for....and so well delivered. Thank you from Co. Kerry Ireland!
Awww! You are most welcome!!! Wonderful plant! I am still eating tubers from last year!
Hi I'm growing these in a poly tunnel in Dublin. What time of year is best for planting and harvesting yacon in ireland?
@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!
I grew these one year and fell in love with them!
They are the best!! Keep better than a potato.
I just bought my first plant and this video helped a lot, thanks for sharing with us.
You are so welcome!! Great plant!
Thanks for sharing. Planning of raising this in Philippines
Great crop!!!
Thanks for this interesting video. Two years ago i had a yacon plant (rose). This one gave me 9 kilo's of fantastic tubers. Greetings from Belgium.
Hello! You are most welcome!!
I AM BERRY GRATEFULL FOR YOUR INFORMATION OVER THE YACON.
Con mucho gusto!! You are welcome!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge ❤
Thank you for this video. I am growing yacon in Toowoomba Australia. It is my first season so am hoping for a good harvest.
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.
very helpful, Ive just harvested mine and wondered what to do with the crowns. Thanks.
Save them to plant next year!!
Thank you, most helpful. First one going in this year. Waikato, New Zealand.
Amazing crop! I am still eating from last season!!
Really useful, many thanks
Glad it was helpful!
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.
Yeah! It is quite wonderful!!! Thank you for sharing!
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!
Glad it was helpful!! Happy to help in any other way I can.
@@GardensofNewEngland 💕
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?
Susan,
Thank you for checking out my channel! I only have this variety right now. I am hoping to find more in the near future. It is hard to find!
Wonderful video
Thank you!!
Just got a start. Excited to try this.
Good luck! It is a great crop!!
Thank you for this content!! Very excited to grow this!
You are welcome!! Great crop!
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.
I've been growing yacon in Washington DC for years and this is a really great video.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the comment!
I want it's seed, anybody help me ?
@@Happylife7675 Just google, "Yacon plants for sale"
Thanks so much for explaining simply all the critical information. I didn’t separate my rosettes and got the small tubers that were disappointing.
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 for a great video. I have some to plant and now I will know what I’m doing😊
you are most welcome!!! Wonderful plant!
Nice video 👍👍
Done watching because i wanna try to grow yacon in my backyard 🥰 thanks for sharing these video 🤗🥰
It’s really easy! Like a sunflower.
Awesome. I need to get some of that yacon to plant in my garden.
November is the time to get good crowns!
@@GardensofNewEngland Thank you.
Thank you for this video. I’m planning on growing yacon next growing season. Your video was very informative.
Awesome! We'll have crowns for sale late fall if you are interested.
well explained
Thank you Colin! Glad you found it easy to grasp.
Thank you for this video! Nice to have an idea on how to propagate to have a good harvest.
You are most welcome!!! Great crop!!!!!!
Very interesting. First time that I am hearing about this . Thank you.
It is a fun crop! Like a sunflower plant that gives you asian pears as roots.
Thanks for the tips, much appreciated
You are most welcome! Thank you for the comment!
Informative. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it was helpful!
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!
@@GardensofNewEngland HI, is there a difference between Yacon and sweet Potato, or they are same?
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Good Explanation watching from Kenya
Thank you! Great plant!
Thank you. this helped a lot.
Glad it helped! ask any questions you might have!
This is really informative. Thank you
You are most welcome! I am glad you found it helpful!!
This was very helpful. How much do you have to loosen the soil for them?
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!
This was very helpful, thanks
you are most welcome Kathleen!
Great info 👍
Thank you David!!!
Very good video ,good luck always ,greetings from Indonesia
Thank you very much!!! Glad you liked it!
Please explain how you hold over the plants (or rhizomes?) for propagation the following year in a cold climate. Nicely done video, as usual ;)
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!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Great information.
You are welcome!!
Thank you for the information. Do you have a video/information on storing yacon crowns from fall harvest until the following spring planting season???
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.
Thank you for your video.
Very informative. Zimbabwe
You are most welcome!
Thanks! I am in zone five and have had them in the ground long enough to have just about 5 foot tall plants. I will wait for them to die back before I harvest them I guess? Then do I put the crowns in a container with soil and keep them in a basement through the winter? The crowns were very expensive to buy for my first year, but I figured that I can continue to propagate them after that. What do you think?
Yes, you want to save the crowns in soil or wood chips. Soil is probably better. It is ok if they grow, you can cut back in the spring and plant. I start crowns as early as December because it is such a slow grower. Do not use grow lights because it will give you a lot of weak growth. You want the plants to grow slow at first, specially if you are not able to plant outside.
Great info thank you 👍 Going to buy some of your tubers off eBay.
Awesome thank you! Let me know if you do order via ebay or etsy. Put a note we chatted on TH-cam and I will add an extra crown for you.
great video content! Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
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.
@@GardensofNewEngland thanks
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.
How do you store rhizones through the winter for spring?
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.
Great stuff - thank you
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing
very helpful!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the comment!
Thank you great video -- am growing yacon for first time in Ireland -- what best time to plant out into polytunnel
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!
Thanks
Crowns coming soon!
Do you sell the crowns, and can you ship the to California?
Thank you
This is interesting. I unfamiliar with this type of plant. Are the tubers cooked like potatoes or are they consumed raw?
You eat them raw, like a jicama or an asian pear!
Both. It can eat in raw, cook with any meat, salad, and make it jam. Also a wine.
@@c.lallawmzualizualbawhi7690 wine!!! how cool!!
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
@@deloresbennett4102 Thank you for the tips!!!
Watching from Kenya.what is the growth period
Depends on your climate. It’s a subtropical plant. Cannot take too harsh of heat or freezing temperatures.
How to store The tubers for next year ?
The key is to harvest them before frost because that seems to make them prone to rot. I sometimes store mine in soil to avoid air contact, but last year they did well without soil, just in a box in a cool and dry place.
I'm in New Zealand. How should I store the rhizomes over winter? Thanks
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!
Belum pernah melihat yakon
It is a wonderful plant!
😊
Thank you!!
hi am from phil. how to order seedling ?
I usually have crowns available late October. Check etsy store. If you send me a message there, I can let you know when I have them available.
can you pls mention altitude for planting yacon
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!
@@GardensofNewEngland Thank you
What's the taste of yacon? I know only topinambur, taro, cinese yam...
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.
Its different from Taro.
Its like a pear and apple. It is crunchy and juicy, and sweet. But, not much flovour. A little bit smell like a sand.
Can yacon be grown in containers?
You will likely get smaller tubers because it is a very large plant. But, you can grow it in containers.
What is the longest time you can keep the Yacon Seeds before planting them if you can't do it straight away??
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.
@@GardensofNewEngland in UK but taking it with me home with me to Africa
@@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.
Price of plant
Depends where you buy.
Where can I get the plant..
You can try etsy. I sold out for the season. I will have new crowns hopefully in the fall.
@@GardensofNewEngland thank you
@@sorikanebith5236 you are welcome! I wish I could help more!
HI, is there a difference between Yacon and sweet Potato, or they are same?
BIG difference! They are not at all like each other despite the similar look. Yacon does not have starch and it is more like an asian pear or jicama.
Thank you😊
You're welcome 😊