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Sweet potato - a treat for the palate, a treat for the eye

For all those looking for a little known, exotic plant that combines culinary (edible bulbs) and decorative (attractive foliage) values, Dioscorea batatus (common names: Chinese yam, Cinnamon vine) may be a good choice.

 


Dioscorea batatus - leaves - photo Sz. Marczyński
ph art0504 batatas bulwyDioscorea batatus - bulbils - photo Sz. Marczyński

 

Tubers should be dug out at the end of the second year of cultivation, when the plant has already spread and the bulbs are big enough. They can be kept in a cool place (but sheltered from frost) even for several months. During this time they should be protected from drying.

Dioscorea batatus can be propagated from seed (you need to have both female and male specimens, as the plant is bisexual), aerial bulbils (gathered in autumn after ripening, but before they fall) or from the cut upper parts of the ground tubers (with dormant buds). In spring they can be planted into plant pots indoors and when the danger of ground frosts is over directly into the ground. The simplest way, however, is to buy a plant in a container from a garden centre or a nursery.


ph roslina dioscorea batatus bulwa wykopanaDioscorea batatus - bulbils - photo Sz. Marczyński ph art0504 batatas owoce1Dioscorea batatus - aerial bulbils - photo Sz. Marczyński



 

 

ph roslina dioscorea batatus variegata lliscie
Dioscorea batatus 'Variegata' - leaves - photo Sz. Marczyński
ph roslina dioscorea batatus liscie kwiaty bulwy
Dioscorea batatus - leaves, flowers and bulbils - photo Sz. Marczyński
ph roslina dioscorea batatus cala
Dioscorea batatus - photo Sz. Marczyński