teonanacatl Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I need help, some of my purple yams this year grew lots of shooting stems but not many tubers, and the bulbils and tubers produced are not purple. I'm wondering if they need two years from bulbils to produce tubers? Or if some suffered bug damage to the roots? Or perhaps some are not purple yams?I did some keying whilst they were growing and they all keyed out to be Dioscorea alata, so I'm perplexed as to why the different growth. Pics attached.Purple yam with good tuber development Not purple yam, note the many shoots forming but limited tuber (there are multiple plants in this picture) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfamiller Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 yams dont like alot of fertilizer or water ... m ine grow best untouched 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfamiller Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 yes they dont get purple till they are either big or old(1 or 2 years) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Yeh prob too much nitrogen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teonanacatl Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 Ive grew yams in this bed last year and they were all normal purple yams. I dont fertilise, but I planted pigeon peas around the edge of the garden this year but doubt that has increased the nitrogen that much. The "purple" yams are growing intermixed with the other ones, so I guess it might be age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starling Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I've grown a few different types of yams, they're a great crop and a must-have for those into self sufficiency. The best I tried was a chinese white variety bought from gumtree, creamy and sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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