Yam Plant Info Tips For Growing Chinese Yams

When planting yams, whole small tubers or portions of larger tubers are used for seed pieces weighing 4-5 ounces (113-142 grams). Yams should be planted in temperate zones in March-April and harvest will take place 10-11 months later. Make 42-inch (107 cm.) rows with plants spaced 18 inches (46 cm.)

1. How do Chinese yams grow?
2. What is the best month to plant yam?
3. How many months does it take for Yam to grow?
4. How do you take care of a yam plant?
5. Where do yams grow best?
6. What does Chinese yam look like?
7. What is the best fertilizer for yam?
8. What part of yam is used for planting?
9. How deep do you plant yams?
10. How do you plant a sprouted yam?
11. Are yams and sweet potatoes the same?
12. What climate do yams require?
13. How do you increase the yield of a yam?
14. Are yams hard to grow?
15. What is yam seed?

How do Chinese yams grow?

They should be potted up immediately in individual pots in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, covering them with about 10mm (0.5”) of soil. Protect them from mice etc and keep the soil moist but not wet. They should come into growth in the spring, plant them out in early summer when in active growth. Chinese Yam.

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.

How do you take care of a yam plant?

Water the plants generously.

Be generous in hydrating them but pay careful attention to the crop to avoid waterlogging. Yams thrive in sunlight, so if the soil gets dry, adjust the watering schedule accordingly.

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 does Chinese yam look like?

Pointed, heart-shaped leaves that are often indented on the sides, opposite or alternate. Slender vines that spiral counter-clockwise. Bulbils or air tubers present from June to September, resemble very small potatoes. Small white or greenish-yellow spikes of flowers that smell similar to cinnamon.

What is the best fertilizer for yam?

Yams respond well to Organic Fertilizers like compost – a mixture of decayed organic matter composed of plant parts and animal manures.

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 deep do you plant yams?

Growing Yam/Oka, also Oca

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

How do you plant a sprouted yam?

Put your slips into a glass or bowl of water with the roots submerged and leaves kept above the glass edge. New roots will emerge from each slip within a few days. When the roots are about an inch long, they are ready to plant!

Are yams and sweet potatoes the same?

The skin of a yam (left) looks kind of like tree bark, while a sweet potato (right) is more reddish-brown. Real yams are entirely different root vegetables that are more like yucca in texture and flavor. They have bumpy, tough brown skin (that looks almost tree trunk-like) with starchy, not sweet flesh.

What climate do yams require?

For maximum yield, the yams require a humid tropical environment, with an annual rainfall over 1500 mm distributed uniformly throughout the growing season. White, yellow, and water yams typically produce a single large tuber per year, generally weighing 5 to 10 kg (11 to 22 lb).

How do you increase the yield of a yam?

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 ...

Are yams hard to grow?

Yams are more difficult to grow and take much longer to be ready for harvest. They have rough skin, which is more difficult to peel than the skin of sweet potatoes. Yams are a vigorous herbaceous vine that will climb on anything – some vines grow up to 8 inches in a day!

What is yam seed?

Seed yams are being mass produced by scientists in a rapid and affordable process, which avoids using soil and transferring disease. A project in Ghana and Nigeria is using aeroponics to address the inefficiency of traditional seed yam production and increase yields of the staple crop.