Your vines are looking great Luis! Remember to save pieces from the non-bulbil-bearers after harvest, to multiply the vines.
An update on my vines and my situation in general:
I'm now bouncing back from a period of neglect, and things are going decently well. I stopped taking care of the garden (beyond the basics) in the couple of months leading into july, working on some projects with the family. I got sick prior to a trip to the States with my family, so I didn't get to set up my plants as well as I had hoped. When I got back, there were some casualties (including some yams that died back), and weeds in obscene quantities. It's been a few months, and I've gotten back to work, and back to the forum.
I've managed to weed the potted specimens and organize them, taking full stock of my losses. It seems my new highly bumpy bulbifera (CV-2) won't be bearing a crop of bulbils any time soon; nevertheless, it does seem to have tuberized, so I expect to see it growing again. Sena's growth is now in full swing, together with CV-1, and Hawaii has not only resprouted, it already has a large-ish bulbil putting on size. I got a couple of people I've promised bulbils to, but depending on this season's production, I may be able to supply more people with them on a first-come basis.
D. dodecaneura/discolor is alive and though I haven't checked, I think it may have several small tubers; a few more seasons of growth should help those tubers put on some size. D. pentaphylla is alive, one growing, one died back. D. cayennensis has a rather small and mistreated vine, but otherwise hasn't stopped growing since last year. I got some Floridos and a Guinea Yam that I expect to have bulked up in the last few months (I'll take pics around harvest time). The Florida White, and Purple alatas are still growing, and Dark Night St. Vincent is in the shade with the Florida Purples, to see if the cooler temperatures increase pigment production. The D. japonica didn't re-sprout, but they did tuberize, so they should resprout with the polystachya in the coming months. Finally, the D. esculenta I got from Chandramohan (possibly the tastiest Yam in my collection, I'm eager to try it!) is somewhat small, but is arguably the bushiest yam in my collection, second only to bulbifera in vigor (though definitely not in size). I have to check on the D. trifida in my mom's flower garden; if it's not scabby, I'm propagating it this year.
The one remaining Hopniss Bean is still dormant, but the Day-neutral Winged Beans have resprouted from the roots and are already putting out another small crop. The Elephant-foor Yam and Enset periodically go dormant and resprout (currently active), and the Australian Bush Potato (Ipomoea costata) has one remaining survivor, currently resprouting. I'm getting a vigorous crop of Potato Mint at my grandmothers house (where the Conophor vines still survive), and I'm still on the lookout for
Plectranthus esculentus (if anyone has any leads
please let me know).
All my Andean Roots (Oca, Ulluco, Mashua, Mauka) have died off without tuberizing, save for a single specimen of Mauka, which I hope to be able to grow well this next year, once I get it in the ground. The Tuberous Vetch is gone, completely dug up and eaten by rats, no survivors. The Hog Peanut is gone. The true Peanuts are still there, sprouting again from my unharvested seeds. The Chute/Chuta/Florida Pistachio (edible Jatropha curcas) hasn't branched much at all, but the in-ground specimen is almost as tall as me now, and the smaller of the two potted specimens is flowering. The Chaya survived in the small pots, I gotta get at least one of them into the ground. The Cerrado Cashew died before I could graft it, so I'll be trying again as soon as I'm able to get more. A few Sapodilla seedlings managed to survive (as did one Passionfruit, this one's yours Luis), and now I have some Mammee Apple sprouting. The Jarilla chocola has proven remarkably resilient, resprouting every time without fail; I deeply regret having lost some clones of it, but if there's still a male and a female among my plants, there's hope yet. The Taro, Yautía and Turmeric are all doing well, the Myrciaria coronata survived my crude transplantation efforts, and my Mocambo (Theobroma bicolor) is growing its first fruit, all by itself, no pollinator. The brambles are still alive, and I still intend to breed them with strawberry when both get to flowering. The Goji Berry is still alive, and has borne some fruit for me.
Lastly, I'm trying to breed tropical-adapted potatoes again from in-Vitro germplasm and TPS, from Solanum tuberosum, S. phureja, S. cardiophyllum and several other wild species. I may have success yet, if God is willing.
I think I've covered the most important bases. It feels more like a name-dropping session, but the point was to update y'all on how my plants are doing, so there it is. I hope stay active on the forum again, 'cause I'm hopeless without y'all.
