I have one plant which I planted earlier in the year, it got badly nibbled by slugs but picked up, however it has not made a bg plant although it is healthy.
Should I just leave it there.
XX Jeannine
Lift them before the frost. We had very early frosts last year and I lost the lot.
I'd leave it in-situ for as long as you think safe. Frost will kill the foliage but if you earth up around the crown this should provide protection from light frosts, watch put out for slugs though. Chances are your Yacon may not make any sizeable tubers this year, but hopefully you should have a number of the smaller growing tips. These you can divide in the spring for new plants.
As long as no hard frost are forcast growth should continue for a while yet with the plant putting efforts into its survival next year. Once you are ready to harvest, cut back the stems to a few inches and lift the whole rootball/tubers in one lot. I've had good success storing them in boxes covering with just damp compost, keep them in a frost free location. garage would be fine. The growing tips/tubers are situated at the top end around where the stems would be.
I just break off a storage tuber as I need, once uncovered they start to lose moisture and shrivel.
Thanks Jay, how tall do they normally grow ?
XX Jeannine
Mine usually get to about 5' maybe nearer 6' a bit later on. They tend to be bushy thugs though ;D
Growing in a pot will subdue them somewhat, understandably the harvest is also smaller.
Thanks Jay this is justb a foot tall XX Jeannine
Mine are also only a foot tall. Last year they were maybe 3 feet, and had ~1kg of storage tubers per plant. Some of the growing tips died over winter, so I wondered whether frost free was not quite warm enough. I couldn't find information on that, but my ginger root, which apparently needs temperatures above 8 C, also died.
Are the short plants due to the drought?
Yes, they need plenty of water. Warm weather suits them, and it can be quite late in the year before they really take off. Flowers are a sure sign that tubers are forming.
I've got a few plants form a late planting which are still small too. I'm hopeful with a bit of protection from early frosty weather they will put on enough growth to carry on next year.
Martinburo, I've always kept mine in an outside shed which is fairly sheltered although it does freeze inside when it is really cold. I just chuck a few layers of fleece over them and so far it has not been a problem. I've had a bit of damage on tubers in storage, mainly due to the compost/soil they are stored in either being too damp or dry. This year I found a tub of stored yacon I'd forgotten about for a whole season so they can keep for a considrable time. Not all the tubers were edible but I was able to take several cuttings for new plants.