Patsy,
I see we are going to have a terminology issue here, as you and I are using "storage tuber" in different ways. What I was calling the storage tubers are used by the plant to store nutrients for next years plants, which then are what we use as the edible tuber. These tubers are also stored for later eating, as flavor and sweetness improve in storage.
The crown and tubers with "eyes" are what is used for creating additional plants.
I agree with you that potting up the propagative crown and tubers in an unfreezing garage will also work. They need cool temperatures and some moisture (most garages are somewhat damp, in my experience) to overwinter. Most of my storage losses came from mold before I packed them in peat.
The year before, I put in 3 plants. This year I planted a dozen which came from
divisions of the 3 crowns form the previous year.
John
--- On Sat, 10/11/08, Patsy King <pking888@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Patsy King <pking888@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] yacon discussion from/to Naomi, John, and Stephen
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008, 10:25 PM
I got yacon through the mail 1 1/2 years ago from Nichols Garden Nursery in Oregon. Healthy potted plants that grew REALLY quickly. I repotted at least a time or 2 before it was warm enough to plant them in the garden. Seems to me mine that year grew a lot taller than this year's, just like your experiences.
Being an experimentor, I decided to try repotting the storage tubers in the fall after I had dug the plants from the ground and separated off the edible tubers. I also at that time cut or broke the plant into 3 pieces, all with some storage tubers. I potted them into 1 or 2 gallon pots, put them in the garage (which seldom freezes but gets quite cold--i am in zone 7 or 8). My intention was to water them a small amount every couple of months. I really can't recall whether I remembered to water them at all or not. Anyway, this spring, i brought them out of the dark garage and into a somewhat protetected but cold room but with light. They all sprouted !!! I was so pleased!! Seems to me they were way later to sprout into life than I had expected, however. When warm, into the ground they went. Anyway the plants this year were smaller. i have not harvested them yet to see what they look like
underground. Now that you have pondered keeping them in the ground, Stephen, I think I will try that this year with one of the 2 plants I kept. I wonder if I ought to mulch it heavily. Probably. Also, I believe that it is the winter moisture that causes a lot of things to die, rather than the cold, and so I think I should also cover the area.
A note, which you already may have read or discovered: the edible tubers are incredibly brittle. I would assume if they break, that they would not store as well, so you have to be very careful in handling the plant and separating the tubers.
--Patsy Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Yacon???
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <796239.35660.qm@web39105.mail.mud.yahoo.com">796239.35660.qm@web39105.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Naomi,
I have never seen yacon bloom and mine only got to be about 3' this year as well.? I've had them get to 6' in previous years.? Minor frost is OK, but you want to harvest before a hard freeze.? When you do, you will see two kinds of tubers, storage and vegetative.? The storage tubers will not grow next year and have no "eye" or buds.? They are the edible roots of the plant and are typically much larger than vegetative tubers, which are closer to the crown and smaller.? (vegetative tubers are also edible, but typically preserved for planting next year)? After removing the storage tubers, clean the crown of the plant by rinsing in water.? Pack the crown in a clean medium such as sterile peat (normal peat will also work) and seal in a zip lock bag and place in a cool dark place for use in the spring.? I put mine in the produce area of the fridge.? Don't store them too wet (they will start to mold), but do not store them with dry storage (they need
to be in the plastic).? Once winter breaks, give the crowns more warmth and some light.? I typically remove the peat and place the crowns back in the zip bag and leave out in the house to get ambient light.? The crowns will start to develop plants at which point you can divide the crowns with a sharp knife (to separate shoots) and increase the number of plants for the spring.? I find it helps to divide the new plants and pot them up in preparation for spring planting out.
The edible tubers should be cleaned, and if weather permits, dried in the sun a few days.? Put them in dry storage (a net bag works) and eat as you want.? The edible tubers typically store a few months for me, but usually get eaten before we get to the end of their storage life.
John
From: "Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Yacon???
To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <002301c92c06$d0789880$7169c980$@org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Where did you get some to plant?
And, for those with experience - we can often just leave potatoes, carrots,
etc. in the ground here in zone 8-9. Does Yacon store all right that way?
~ Stephen
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