Chinese yam seeds

Chinese yam (batatas) / Dioscorea opposita

Fast-growing climbing perennial, shoots die off to the ground every year. At home, it reaches 6 m. Its shoots curl around from left to right (as opposed to Dioscorea sativa, a sweet potato commonly grown in tropical countries).

The flowers are small, white-green-yellow with a pleasant cinnamon smell, in June-August, bisexual. The leaves are beautiful, dark green, shiny, heart-shaped or oval, with 7-9 veins and slightly marked lobes. 'Variegata' has variegated green leaves with white spots, while young shoots, leaf petioles and veins of young leaves are purple.

The lower parts of the shoots, both in species and varieties, are often without leaves. In late summer or autumn, small, brown air nodules, the size of a pea or a hazelnut kernel, are tied in the corners of the leaves. They can be used for propagation or for eating - very tasty and with a nutty flavor.

Requirements for growing Yams

Chinese yam needs a sunny location and permeable, fertile, well-drained soils. Withstands frosts down to minus 20C. If the soil around the plant is mulched with bark or sawdust, it can endure significantly harsh winters.

Uses of Yams

It can be grown on various types of supports, e.g. nets or trellises, can be planted on the south side of the grove, allowing it to climb bushes or trees (unless they are very valuable specimens). When grown in the garden for consumer purposes, the plants can be planted densely, (even every 25 cm), when the tubers form in the ground vertically above the plant, at a great depth. When searching for tubers, it is necessary to dig deep holes, so Chinese yam should not be planted near valuable plants, so as not to expose their roots to damage and destruction.

Under the ground, large tubers are formed, called sweet potatoes, 50 cm long (in very good conditions even 1 m) and weighing up to 1 kg (max. 2 kg). They have a pleasant smell and nutty flavor - much tastier than potatoes. They are used in food both raw and boiled, baked or fried. It is better to bake in the oven or boil unpeeled ones (like potatoes "in their skins"), piercing the skin with a sharp object.

It can be added to various dishes, also soups and salads. Chinese yam tubers contain 20% starch, 75% water, 0.1% vitamin B1 and 10-15 mg% vitamin C, tonic substances that strengthen the body and alkaloids that help heal wounds. These tubers, in addition to consumer purposes, are used in Japanese and Chinese medicine, in the treatment of gastric disorders, to improve appetite and as a sedative for arrhythmias, lung diseases, asthma, dry coughs and treatment of the kidneys, spleen, and bladder.

It is used externally in the treatment of burns. The sap and leaves are used to cover places after being bitten by poisonous snakes.

It is better to dig tubers at the end of the second year of cultivation, when they grow and reach a significant size. Dug up tubers can be stored in cool places (without frost) even for several months. During storage, they must be protected from drying out.

Chinese yam can be propagated from seeds, air nodules (harvested in autumn after ripening, before they fall) or cut off upper parts (with a dormant bud), root tubers. In the spring, you can plant them in containers or pots indoors, and when the danger of frost has passed, they can be planted outdoors.