Red Yacón Crowns - ENDED

[FruitFly]

-ENDED-

I am selling Red Smallanthus sonchifolius - yacón crowns/divisions.
$10 for a piece or pieces roughly measuring 4”x4” plus USPS $16.10 priority mail shipping.


Yacón is a sunflower relative from the Andes from Columbia to Northern Argentina. It is grown as a perennial in subtropical to tropical climates and as an annual in temperate climates.

The crowns themselves are red and white and look like sunchokes and are used as the propagative material. The part you eat is actually a starchy white fleshed storage tuber that grows below the crowns. They are eaten raw and the flavor reminds one of watermelon and the texture is somewhere between firm melon and tender jicama.

The Spanish term yacón, derived from the Quéchua word “Yaku” which means “watery”, is the most used worldwide. Interestingly, Yacón roots’ water content usually exceeds 70% of the fresh weight. So juicy!

They are sweet enough that they are being used to make a healthy sugar substitute in the form of a beautiful emerald green syrup. We freeze them to help thicken & sweeten up smoothies. You can also dehydrate or juice them.

Yacón’s best features are not only that it is a beautiful ornamental plant with large triangular shaped leaves it is also a prebiotic, high in fiber and high in fructooligosacharides and may be effective in treating colon cancer, diabetes, and obesity.

See this article for scientific research on Yacón:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4963912/

Please PM if interested.

[Rex Begonias]

Does anyone know if they grow well in FL?

Would be interested, sounds cool.

[FruitFly]

Does anyone know if they grow well in FL?

Would be interested, sounds cool.

This is supposed to be a tropical to subtropical plant so I would imagine it should do well in Florida.
In the article I attached it says:

“that the yacon plant adapts to different climatic regions, altitudes and soils explains its expansion outside the Andean region. Yacon is currently cultivated in Argentina, Bolívia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Peru and the United States.”

Also I grow mine in a large stock tank. So it does well in containers.

[Bush2Beach]

Thanks for the info Evan. I just ate the more watery and delicious part of the Yacon and like it alot. Though the cooked main tuber is pretty good also.

How deep is the soil in your stock tank ?
I grew mine in a 65 gallon black pot with maybe 2 feet of soil , but I feel like I could use less.

[FruitFly]

Thanks for the info Evan. I just ate the more watery and delicious part of the Yacon and like it alot. Though the cooked main tuber is pretty good also.

How deep is the soil in your stock tank ?
I grew mine in a 65 gallon black pot with maybe 2 feet of soil , but I feel like I could use less.

I had mine in a 6’Lx3’wx2’deep stock tank in about 1.5 feet of soil. I felt it could have been deeper but still got great results. The tubers didn’t travel that far down anyway. The crowns sit right at the surface.  I haven’t tried to eat the crowns but I really don’t want to sacrifice the crowns when they produce the yummy tubers. Maybe next harvest I’ll try them. Thanks for the tip!

[Jamesther]

PM sent

[FruitFly]

Sending out a batch this afternoon.

[FruitFly]

Update.

[Pokeweed]

Really happy with the yacon material Evan! I'll have a bunch of tubers in a few years. Thanks much. Dan

[FruitFly]

Really happy with the yacon material Evan! I'll have a bunch of tubers in a few years. Thanks much. Dan

I’m glad you liked them Dan. I’m sure you’ll get a decent batch this winter!

Later down the road when you have a lot more crowns. You can harvest as you need them. I usually cut the 4’ tops to about a foot long once they dry up in fall or winter.  Leaving the stalks a little long helps me spot them faster when harvesting. Here in the Bay Area or places with an occasional light frost we can leave the tubers and crowns in the ground to store them. Once out of the ground you can refrigerate the tubers for about two weeks. The crowns can be replanted right away in light frost or warm winter areas or stored safely in a cool dark place for quite some time but it’s best not to let them dry out too much before replanting. Maybe store in damp pine shavings? I cut the remaining stalks off when I replant the crowns.