Tips growing Air Potato Vine?

a coworker gave me a bunch of her "potatoes' because I fell in love with her vine.
I've got 3 planted (2 in full sun, 1 in mostly shade), but no signs of anything... and it's been weeks.

what am I doing wrong?
should I have soaked them first?
do them like you do a sweet potato, etc?

Need help.... love this vine!

I picked up an air potatoe on the golf course in Texas and planted in a pot to climb and took weeks for it to show life. It did okay but left it outside for the winter so it is gone to plant heaven.
Our daughter who lives in Alabama has tons so i will get some.

Are this potatoes edible?

Thanks,

Belle

Belle, I read that they are, but have never tried them.
So was your potato fresh off the vine? Or had it been stored?
wondering if storage had anything to do with the long delay.

I was on the ground and i not sure how long it had fallen. It was the size of a tennis ball. It took a long time to sprout.

Belle

Belle, did you PLANT it undergound? or just leave it on top of the soil?
I'm just puzzled. it's been more than a month now....

I planted it in a pot and climbed on a trellis last summer. I never noticed a fruit though,


dig it out and see what is going on. I know that they require a lot of sun.

They grow all over the place in one one the golf course in Texas.

Belle

Dioscorea bulbifera or Dioscorea oppositifolia/batatas? Both are found in Texas, both grow "potatoes" (bulbils) (and people call both "air potato" although bulbifera bulbils are much more potato sized) and both are considered invasive so be careful where you plant them. I grow Dioscorea oppositifolia here in Ohio and they die back each year. The Dioscorea oppositifolia bulbils are edible (and quite tasty fried in a little honey and oil then lightly salted) as is the huge tuber. I grow them where they are surrounded by concrete walkways so they don't spread.

The bulbils seem to vary significantly in the length of time they take to sprout. But sprout they will....plan on having the vine or it's offspring in that location forever.

This message was edited May 11, 2013 7:01 PM

They should be sproutin by now..mine are coming up..I also have another kind of air potato but the bulb part looks funny..lol..not saying on here cuz it would seem that I am talking nasty language.lol...These have the long narrow dark green leaves instead of short fat wide leaves...

i went out and dug around where i'd planted the three potatoes. apparently something made off with two of them. and the 3rd actually had a sprout on it. still not growing above ground though ???

i decided to start two others in the kitchen, as an experiment, where i can watch them. one i stuck 3 toothpicks in and put it in a glass of water, like you do with sweet potatoes. it's been less than a week and it has some nice roots growing.

the other i put in a pot with my arrowhead plant with soil, and am watering it regularly. i tugged at it last night, and feel sure it has roots now too. we'll see which one sprouts growth out the top first.

They grow like weeds in my daughters back yard in Alabama. I dug few and are now in pots.

Belle

Mine are just showing signs of some roots not growth yet. Even last years are just breaking the surface in a pot.