How to Grow Yacon in a Pot

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) produces potatolike tubers but have a flavor of their own. The flesh is slightly sweet and has a taste reminiscent of pears. This exotic perennial vegetable grows in nearly any climate as a container plant. Yacon requires three to four months of warm, frost-free weather. Planting in pots indoors in early to midspring and moving them outside after all frost danger is past lets you extend the growing season, even in areas with short summers.

15-gallon pot
Compost
Peat
Perlite
Fertilizer
Straw mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Fill a 15-gallon pot two-thirds full with a moist soil. Use equal parts peat, perlite and compost combined with 4 tablespoons of slow-release 14-14-14 fertilizer for the soil.
- 2
  Set the yacon tubers on top the soil in the pot. Plant two tubers per pot, setting them at an equal distance apart.
- 3
  Cover the tubers with 1 ½ inches of soil. Fill the remainder of the pot to within 2 inches of the rim with straw mulch.
- 4
  Provide the plants with full sunlight throughout the summer growing season. Set the container on a wheeled cart so you can move it to a sunnier location as the season progresses, if necessary.
- 5
  Water the yacon every one to two days, or often enough so that the soil remains moist and doesn't dry out. A container with bottom drainage holes allows excess moisture to drain away so the soil doesn't become soggy.
- 6
  Dig up the tubers after frost kills back the foliage. Use the large brown tubers for eating. Save the smaller, reddish tubers for replanting the next year. Store these in a paper bag filled with moistened peat moss in a cool area, such as an unheated garage or basement, until the following spring.

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