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GardenRN
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Yacon update....with pics

It's been 9 days short of a month since last time I posted a pic of the Yacon plants I got from "!potatoes!". They're doing great! They really seem to like it under the fluorescent lights and eating up the worm castings I added to the pot. I think I'll have to separate the two soon though. I was only expecting on plant from this crown, but clearly there are two growing. I'm guessing they are going to be too tall to keep on my planting shelf for long and I'm going to have to rig up a light for them to have all to themselves. It'll be worth it! :) I can't wait to try those tubers in the fall!

If my hand is a reference, it is 8.5" from middle fingertip to bottom of palm. So you can see the leaves are getting to be a very decent size!!
[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/grnpez/yacon2.jpg[/img]

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Tilde
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Envious! Mine is pretty small still but I just threw it in a pot & ignored it ...

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jal_ut
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Nice. That is certainly a healthy looking plant. I hope it works out well for you.

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!potatoes!
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aw, geez, I think they're pretty.

way ahead of mine, jeff - they're all still in the basement under cover. just sold a half-bushel of the tubers to a very 'local-vore' restaurant last week, though. well-cured for a bit more per lb. :wink:

DoubleDogFarm
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Tail between my legs and I called !potatoes a P. Sorry. :wink:


slink slink slink Eric

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GardenRN
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I'm excited too to see how many plants I get from these for next year. I have one more crown in the fridge that is looking good. So that's at least 3 plants, if that one only gives me one. The following year should be quite yaconized! :lol: If I get at least 5 plants off of each of those 3, maybe next year I can think about selling some. Can I ask how much you get a bushel? Not sure if that's a "no-no" question...if so, just tell me nunya! :wink:

Jal...it does seem to be a very hardy plant. I started it on a window sill and left it there a little longer than I should have, and then moved to the basement. I probably deserved to have a leggy plant, but it has stayed bushy and robust. I'm very happy with how it handles itself!

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!potatoes!
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quitcher slinkin', eric, ain't no hard feelings. I've thought worse of myself.

jeff, I swear I've gotten an average of ten new plants worth of rhizome from each plant each year (this year will be the first time I'll have WAY too much for my own needs...haven't resorted to eating them yet, but that may be the way of the excess...or if I can find the space, I'll grow a hundred plants, what the heck.)...as long as you've got the space for enough plants to sell from, you'll have plenty (you may want to make sure you've got a market for them ahead of time).

to answer the question you actually asked, I've really only sold by the pound, doing about $2/lb for uncured tubers and $3 for cured. that half-bushel was just shy of 20 lbs, cured, but was probably quite a bit more before curing (too complicated to find out - they may have weighed 25 or 30 lbs, but wouldn't fit in the box yet...). there's only one other place around here that grows yacon, but they don't seem to market 'the right' way (in my view) - with more competition I might not just get to choose my own price.

DoubleDogFarm
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One little root is all I ask. :D

Eric

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GardenRN
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I hope I didn't start too early. It'd be a shame to have jumped the gun and have transplanting mess with the tubers. :?

I guess time will tell.

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GardenRN
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um....I was just reading...and saw something that said Yacon was ready to harvest the 2nd year after planting. Is that so? I thought I was treating it like an annual. Or does the 2 year deal only apply if you're growing from seed?

Don't want to dig it up too soon!

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!potatoes!
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the initial transplant into the ground may be tricky, but I bet it'll be fine.

I absolutely treat them mostly as annuals (except that I'm not planting new seed each year, so more accurately, I treat them as plant/replant perennials)...but there's a crop of tubers every year, for sure. maybe they are talking about from seed (though my understanding is that they seldom set seed)...maybe they just like huge harvests, and it doesn't freeze down in the winter for them? dunno.



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