purple yam

[broody rooster]

i would like to know if anyone here has ever grown purple yams (Dioscorea alata) not referring to the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)

 

[NewGuineaChooks]

I certainly ate a fair number of them when living in Papua New Guinea, but I only saw them in gardens and bought them at market rather than growing them myself. Local lore over there says your can't sing or play music during planting season or they won't grow!

They don't need a lot of water, but they need water at just the right time in the growing cycle. They like well aerated loam and can grow on hillsides or flat lands, as long as you give the vine a trellis grow up. According to the USDA they are grown in Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. I'd be interested in hearing if you grow some.

 

[broody rooster]

so far the hardest part is sprouting the actual yam, ive tried the sweet potato in a jar method and only thing that grew was a colorful assortment of mold XD