Smallanthus sonchifolius
Yacon
Common names: Inka root, Andean sweet potato
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 60 cm, rows 80 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Planting
- Mar–Apr
- Harvest
- Oct–Nov
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 0 °C
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Yacon originates from the Andes and forms large, juicy-sweet storage tubers that taste pleasantly crisp like a pear when eaten raw. The plant grows to human height and yields an astonishing harvest per stalk, but like the sweet potato it is frost-sensitive.
Care instructions
Propagate the previous year's rhizomes in the house from March and transplant the seedlings into the garden only after the last frost, around mid-May (week 20). Provide space, sun, and even watering, and harvest the tubers in October to November once the foliage has received the first frost; the storage tubers become noticeably sweeter after a few days of storage.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
PlantingMar–Apr
HarvestOct–Nov
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, sandy, humus-rich, well-drained
Yacon wants a deeply loosened, humus-rich and well-drained soil. Sandy-loam mixes are ideal; loosen heavy soils before planting. The tuber tolerates no waterlogging at all, which quickly leads to rot, so make sure of good drainage.
Lettuce and other members of the daisy family are light to moderate feeders. A break of about 3 years is enough, and they are well suited as gap fillers between the main crops.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Apr–Jul
In spring before planting out (after the Ice Saints, mid-May), work ripe compost shallowly into the soil; this usually already covers the low nitrogen requirement completely. Deliberately go easy on nitrogen, because too much of it only promotes foliage and costs you tubers. In summer (June to July) you can top up with diluted nettle liquid feed, rich in potassium, to support tuber formation.
Overwintering
Yacon is not hardy: after the first frost, dig up the whole rootstock, separate the edible storage tubers and bed the rhizome crown with its buds in slightly moist (not wet) sand. Store it dark, cool and frost-free at about 4 to 10 °C in the cellar and moisten the sand occasionally; from February/March, divide the sprouting crown and plant it out again after the Ice Saints.
Propagation
Methods
- Division
- Cuttings
In the home garden, yacon is propagated almost exclusively via the rhizome crown (propagation buds/eyes). This is the purple-brownish, tuber-like base directly above the edible storage tubers. The storage tubers themselves aren't suitable for propagation.
Rhizome division (main method): After the harvest in autumn, carefully separate the rhizome crown from the storage tubers. Best store the crown whole (don't cut it up) until spring, cool at about 4 to 5 °C in slightly moist, rather dry sand or soil, never below zero degrees and never wet, otherwise rot threatens. From February/March, divide the crown with a sharp, clean knife into pieces, each carrying at least two strong eyes (buds). Plant the pieces a few centimetres deep in small pots (cut surface down, eyes up) and start them bright and warm (about 18 to 20 °C) on the windowsill or in the greenhouse. After the Ice Saints (mid-May · week 20), the young plants go outdoors, at a spacing of 80 to 100 cm in all directions. From one crown you often get 20 or more pieces.
Cuttings (alternative method): You can also root shoot cuttings. Before flower buds form, cut shoot pieces with three nodes and insert them in moist seed substrate or pure sand so that the lowest node lies below the substrate surface. Cover with film and ventilate daily. Rooting takes about 4 to 5 weeks; it is quickest in pure sand. Single-eye cuttings also work and save plant material.
Sowing: Practically unheard of in home gardens in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Yacon is self-sterile: you need at least two different clones and usually hand pollination, and the germination rate is only around 10 to 12 %. Sowing is therefore not a reliable method for hobby gardeners; go for rhizome division.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Yacon yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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