When t harvest yams?

possum · Post: # 87252Post **possum** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:29 am

The first time I have grown them, the tops are starting to die off now, are they likely to be ready (these are the little red large grub like yams you get in NZ)

eccentric_emma · Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:50 pm

sorry to sound dumb.......but what exactly are jams?? (i have a vision of a shrub covered in pots of jam!)

marshlander · Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:56 pm

I like the idea of a jam tree - reminds me of the April fools spagetti tree on the tv years ago!

Do you mean Yams (Kumara) or sweet potatoes?

possum · Post: # 87336Post **possum** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:36 pm

Sorry, good typo there, I meant yams, but the sort you buy in NZ, not kumara

marshlander · Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:07 pm

Confused here Possum! To me, yams are dirty great ugly rough carrot shaped things 1 - 2 feet long. Yours look more like sweet pots as they are smooth/smaller although mine are red rather than cream coloured

If they are SP they have vine like leaves/habit and mauve, morning glory like flowers- they're related latin ipomea - and they make a pretty plant. You should be able to harvest 4 to 5 months from planting the slips. But at any rate before any frosts as this damages the tubers. After harvesting, let them dry for 2 - 3 hours. Then store them in a warm room for 10 to 14 days to cure. Don't store in the fridge.

I think Americals/Canadians call SPs. yams?

marshlander · Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:55 am

cracked it!

Your yams are actually OCA

COMMON NAMES: New Zealand yam, truffette acide, papa roja, quiba, ibias, knollen-sauerklee

BOTANICAL NAME: Oxalis tuberosa

info on growing here ;- http://www.greenharvest.com.au/Plants/oca_info.html
aparently, when the tubers are mature, the foliage dies back.

possum · Post: # 87401Post **possum** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:13 am

oca? never heard of it (but then had never seen these so called yams till I moved here)
So from that article they are ready to harvest when the leaves start to die back. They have just started, so I guess another couple of weeks before digging them up. thanks

Growing Mama · Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:18 am

Hey mine are grown in tyres and I think they are starting to die off now and I have heard they are ready to harvest in May? I think I mgiht have read it in Lynda Hallinans new book, "homegrown". will let you know how I get on.