I see Hawaii 2 there, or as I’m calling it now, Steve’s Hawaii (the original Hawaii, which I’ve now obtained, is Jim’s Hawaii).
Is the other one from the Polish eBay vendor? Lupinaster? I managed to place an order when he re-listed it. I’m calling it Pínczów, from the vendor’s locality.
I now have 10 varieties, and am waiting for several more in the mail. Next year will be a bulbifera bonanza! No travel plans, so I don’t expect any mid-season failures like this year. I’ll keep them hydrated, and well fertilized. I can’t wait to compare them all, to really figure out the elite types. As far as I can tell, all are edible, with the possible exception of the purple one, which is mostly untested so far (it’s been eaten, so it’s not lethal, but I’m not sure if it’s been eaten in quantity, so it may yet be moderately toxic; I’ll be testing it myself). I’ll be reporting on flavor & texture differences with every variety I taste. So far, I’ve only eaten CV-1. CV-2 is said to be superior, and I think the African types have tender skin. We’re collecting a broader range of varieties than have ever been seen in one place before… We’re in uncharted territory now. So exciting!
I need to send you the rest, for a duplicate collection between the Americas and Europe!
If you get enough out of the crops, remember to pass some forward, whether sold, traded or gifted (with the names, to track their spread). You’re the Grand Duke of Yam now, you must feed the people!
That’s a purple African type, very rare. I wonder if we have a Brazilian contact we could ask in one of the forums… Maybe then we might track it down. We could also consider contacting the email of the writer of the blog you sent me. My Portuguese is rusty though.
I’ll see if I can give it a try later on, but I’m not sure I expect much to happen.
I’m about to check the blog again now, to see what I find out.
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I bought another one, from eBay vendor kero-ppi, who had this to say when asked about edibility: “Can be made as food, but is not popular to eat this type. Most will be used to make medicine more”. Good enough for me. If it’s yellow, as I suspect, I’ll call it “Chiang-Saen Yellow”. Link here:
I just registered for the waiting list. I’ll receive an email when it gets back in stock.
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In other news, I lost “Steve’s Hawaii”. I checked the containers, no tubers left anywhere, and no further bulbils were produced this season. I’m trying to send for some new bulbils from the original source. It had a really bad year, dying back and re-sprouting mid-season, sharing space with some vigorous winged beans… It didn’t make it. I’ll be removing the beans prior to planting the new ones, and I’ll make sure all the vines are adequately fertilized.
Not pictured: Pínczow (which, I’ve been told, was originally sourced from Florida or Texas).
Sena popped out 3 little bulbils, and I’m hoping that by planting them, I’ll get some actually productive vines, unlike their parents. I hope the fact that they were produced here might play a part in their productivity.
I harvested my cinnamon vine (Dioscorea batatas) for the first time and would like your input.
I’ve read that I can take the tips off the tubers and plant them as a way of propagation. What about the other parts of the tuber, will they not grow vegetation?
@Hillbillyhort That’s great to hear! That answers my question.
@IL847 Thank you! So I had them growing in the ground. Interestingly, some some of the tubers grew vertically, some horizontally. Perhaps that’s a reflection of the compacted soil in that spot about a foot into the ground.
I am really curious about growing them in bags. Are they grown in bags for an easier harvest?
Sorry, didn’t see your question. Grow in a bag is for easy harvest. Using large and tall dog food bags. I had both white and purple Chinese yam grow in larger horizontal tubes so I don’t have to dig them up . The purple yam didn’t set bublils. But the white yam did, a lot of small seeds/bublils.years after, I still have white yam plants show up every spring grown from one of the bublils.
Of course, it will be great! I love to share seeds and plants with my friends!
