Yam Plant Info Tips For Growing Chinese Yams

How do Chinese yams grow?
What is the best month to plant yam?
How many months does it take for Yam to grow?
Is Chinese yam poisonous?
Can you grow yams from a yam?
What part of yam is used for planting?
How can I increase my yam yield?
How deep do you plant yams?
Where do yams grow best?
What is the life cycle of yam?
How often do you water yams?

How do Chinese yams grow?

The yam is a climbing plant that supports itself by twining around the branches of other plants. It can be grown successfully into small bushes or, perhaps simpler when being grown as a root crop, it can be grown up a frame in a similar manner to growing runner beans.

What is the best month to plant yam?

Yam is best planted between February and March in mounds or ridges by planting seed yams (pieces of tubers or completely small ones) preserved for the new planting season. However, in some localities especially in riverine areas, land preparation, clearing and burning of grasses, heaping and ridging are done earlier.

How many months does it take for Yam to grow?

Depending on the variety, yams are harvested 6 to 12 months after planting. Lift the tubers when the leaves and stems turn yellow and dry. Do not leave the ripe tubers too long in the ground, otherwise they become bitter and may rot.

Is Chinese yam poisonous?

Both the tubers and the bulbils (the tuber-like growths in the leaf axils) are edible if cooked. However, the Poisonous Plants of North Carolina database lists the uncooked tuber as toxic. ... Note of caution: Get a positive identification of your plant before you eat it!

Can you grow yams from a yam?

Cut your yam root into chunks about the size of a peach, dip them in ashes, then plant them. Not all of your yam minisetts will grow; however, most will root and give you some yields.

What part of yam is used for planting?

With this practice, yam planting material is often a combination of cut tubers and whole tubers, and the cut portions are made up of setts from the head, middle and tail sections of the tuber.

How can I increase my yam yield?

Some approaches to producing quality seed of yam are as follows: farmers select small whole tubers from a ware crop harvest; stimulate the production of seed tubers by 'milking' ware tubers while the leaves of the plant are still green (double harvest system); cut ware tubers into setts about the same sizes as regular ...

How deep do you plant yams?

Growing Yam/Oka, also Oca

Plant tubers about 5cm (1.5") deep covered with soil. Best planted at soil temperatures between 63°F and 95°F. (
Space plants: 12 - 18 inches apart.
Harvest in 15-20 weeks. ...
Compatible with (can grow beside): Best in separate bed.

Where do yams grow best?

There are over 600 different varieties of yams and 95% of the food crop grows in Africa. These perennial, herbaceous vines that are cultivated for consumption are not grown in the United States, but in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

What is the life cycle of yam?

Yam growing cycle

Yam is a perennial plant, although it is treated as an annual one. Growth takes place in three distinct phases, which develop over 12 months and repeat indefinitely during the life of the plant. For this reason, it is said that the yam is a perennial grown as an annual.

How often do you water yams?

It's best to keep it evenly moist with 1 inch of water given once a week. Don't water your sweet potatoes during the final three to four weeks prior to harvest to prevent the mature tubers from splitting.