White Mountain Yam is anyone growing these?

[Gary350]

These look interesting, they are crisp & crunchy like oriental water chestnuts & slimy like okra. They claim to have the most starch of any plant. Also know by several other names.

Is anyone growing these?

I want some to grow in my garden?

Often cooked in oriental stir fry, mashed like potatoes, dries crunchy like potato chips.

Click this link.

https://teczcape.blogspot.com/2008/04/c ... n-yam.html

[applestar]

Oh! So interesting that you asked about this. My Dad used to grow them every year. When he first started, he contacted a farmer in Japan to get detailed instructions on how to grow them and asked me to translate a list of livestock meals that were to be used for fertilizer — soybean meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, bran, etc. Unfortunately I never found out how he grows them though... mostly because my garden isn’t suitable.

My parents moved into assisted living last year and we are selling their house. I’m at the point of last minute saving/salvaging before the house is put on market ... and even though my Dad’s garden has been neglected for the past couple of years, there may be some vestige of the wild mountain yam left in his garden.... and I have been trying to decide — try to save or not.

Knowing what you have described about your garden, I’m not sure that you will be successful — these grow deep and hardest part is harvesting them — you dig a deep trench alongside the row and excavate them like you are at an archeological dig. My dad always said if the soil in his garden wasn’t so sandy, it would be impossible to dig the trench this way or extricate the tubers without breaking them. He also grew them on a sunny slope for good drainage (despite the sand).

Even though I would love to continue his hobby in his stead, I’m pretty sure my own clay subsoil garden with hardly any area that provides good drainage is suitable.

I didn’t read the link you posted closely — maybe everything is explained? — but if I remember correctly, you can grow new plants from the roots like you do sweet potatoes. In this area, the vines will freeze and die and even the roots can be feeeze damaged and need to be dug up, though some of the missed roots survive.

Another thing — the vines produce small round, aboveground, marble-sized ... I don’t know what this is called .... You can use these to grow new plants next year. They develop tough skin and can be saved over the winter. But when freshly harvested, the skin is tender and my parents used to cook them in with rice or put them in soups and such. These readily fall off the vines and will also sometimes survive the winter and grow new volunteer plants in spring.

[Gary350]

Applestar, I think the marble size balls are called, potato seeds. I have occasionally seen potato seeds on other type potatoes but they seem to be rare. I can not find anyone selling Japanese white potatoes. None for sale in any of my plants & seed catalogs or Ebay. Online says Asian white potatoes can be found at oriental markets in large cities where there it a large population of Asian people. If I can find some to grow I will make a special place to grow them.

Closest thing I can find is this asian white sweet potato. https://www.ebay.com/itm/MURASAKI-Sweet ... 1438.l2649

[applestar]

I buy Naga.imo - Long (wild) potatoes — at Hmart. But many of their produce are conventionally grown and treated not to sprout in storage/shipping, so I’m not sure if they will grow. Best if you can get organically grown ones.

According to Japanese website there are THREE major types, the cultivated Nagaimo, Jinenjyo (which appears to be closer to the original wild species), and another type that grows paddle shaped or mouse-antler like roots. Actually, in Japan, it’s these moose antler shaped (or Ginkgo leaf shaped — i.e. Icho.imo) types that are called Yama.imo — Mountain (wild) potatoes.

The Japanese for those “seed potatoes” is “Mukago” ... I’m not sure if this will work for you, but try this google search link — some of the growing method images may be of interest

Here’s an example of one showing different ways to start them — B and C are recommended.
http://www.jinenjyo.net/saibainosusume.html

[applestar]

I found the list of Hmart locations in TN — https://www.hoursguide.com/h-mart/tennessee/

[thanrose]

That's a wild foraging plant that is a treasure to find. It's related to Dioscorea bulbifera, which Floridians call air potato. That also has a significant deep root that has been eaten in the past. It has a large amount of progesterone and other stuff that may have interfered with reproduction among humans who ate it in famines. Just saying.

Anyhow, this particular Dioscorea sp is very similar looking but the vine twists differently. When it grows in a place where you can dig it up, it's in deep sandy soil, growing up trees and shrubs, so not in full sun. And I've only ever dug it up in areas under development because they dig the deep holes that help get the roots out. Like backhoe excavation, three, four or five feet down, and we would dig them out from the edges of the higher ground. Haven't seen any in the wild for quite a few years, but also haven't looked.

[!potatoes!]

They're considered invasive here. I'd be surprised if there weren't any just growing around you in Tennessee, Gary.

I've grown them intentionally and foraged them. The 'air potatoes' are easy foraging, the tubers can be a challenge, especially in the wild - they can get upwards of foot long and seem to have the tendency to kink around subterranean rocks. Not a bad potato. Way slimy-er than okra before cooking.

[Gary350]

We went to Sprouts yesterday they have 7 different types of sweet potatoes. I read online that white sweet potatoes taste like Russet potatoes so we bought 2 white sweet potatoes to eat and see what they taste like. Sprouts did not have White Mountain Yams but they do have Jicama potatoes also called Mexican potatoes and a different name in Vietnam. I have eaten the Vietnam potatoes they are very good & being a hot weather potatoes this might be an excellent potato to grow in TN. Jicama potatoes are big 1.7 to 3 lbs each $1.29 per lb. Wal-Mart, Kroger & other grocery stores do not sell these potatoes. I have seen these at oriental markets but there are no oriental markets around here. I would love to have several white sweet potatoes & Jicama potatoes that I can grow?

I bought 50 Jicama potato Seeds on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jicama-Seeds-M ... wn1k6RSomg

also

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50-pcs-Sweet-P ... 0754.m4842

also

https://www.ebay.com/itm/50seeds-Sweet- ... 0642.m3226

also

https://www.ebay.com/itm/30pcs-BIG-HOT- ... Swz09as63s

also

https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-SEED-BRAZI ... SwOgdYrXe6

[Gary350]

Wife made mash potatoes & gravy for dinner. It is hard to tell it is not Russet mash potatoes. Make mash potatoes the regular way with butter & milk it even looks like russet mash potatoes. You can even make, fried potatoes, french fries, potato salad, baked potatoes. No carbohydrates so they are not fattening. I have 4 kinds of potatoes to plant this season we will learn what we like and what to grow next year.

[applestar]

This is great! Though these are not the “mountain” potatoes you started this thread for, these sweet potatoes will be much easier potatoes for you to grow based on all your reports.

[!potatoes!]

Jicama are not very potato-like at all. Guaranteed, you won't like it if you try to treat them like a potato in the kitchen. From what I remember, they're very long season, too. Start them as soon as possible if you haven't yet.

[Gary350]

Online says, white sweet potatoes have carbohydrates too but it does not say how much carbs compared to russet potatoes. The cooking show on TV claims they have no carbs. All sweet potatoes have a long growing season, last frost to first frost = 6 months for us.

I have eaten Jicama potatoes they taste like russet potatoes too and they grow like turnips. I bought 50 seeds.