Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Have tried some Andean crop plants that I could get here in Aus.

Plants were grown in cocopeat, with some blood & bone and dynamic lifter added to it and hand watered
with sometimes a diluted (homebrew) liquid fertilizer added.

Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus)
From seeds, pulled out beginning of June after the tops have died off.
Most of the roots were split and two, not shown started rotting.
It is a Legume, perennial vine, with a poisonous top.
Would have preferred to try a similar Ahipa (Pachyrhizus ahipa) if seeds were available.
Ahipa is not a vine.
The roots were similar in taste to yacon but fibrous and drier.
Will not persist.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/exte ... icama.html

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius)
Harwested end of July after the tops died off.
Roots varied considerably in size and some were split but not too deep.
The crowns were already sprouting so were replanted into a garden bed.
The roots, peeled and consumed fresh are refreshing.
May not store well but worth trying and find other uses.
Can be peeled, sliced and dried or otherwise processed.
Original plants were bought as rooted potted cuttings so next year I should expect
bigger roots and bigger yield.
Two small Yacon roots on the pic with the Jicama roots are from one of the stem
cuttings I planted in a AP cocopeat growbed in summer.
http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/newslett/ncnl1221.htm
http://www.cipotato.org/artc/cip_crops/ ... _Syrup.pdf
http://www.cipotato.org/artc/cip_crops/ ... _candy.pdf
http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/Perennialveg/yacon.htm
http://www.essentiallivingfoods.com/pro ... yacon.html

Oca / Oka (Oxalis tuberosa)
Totally disappointed with the yield but was my mistake.
Were expecting it to grow similar to that common garden pest, oxalis.
The little tubers grow rather along the stem, most of them were just bellow
or somewhat exposed above the ground.
May have to use the same method as for cultivating potatoes.
Heap the soil (growing medium) up as they grow.
Didn’t try any, replanted them all.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/tubers.html
http://www.greenharvest.com.au/Plants/oca_info.html
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/ ... berosa.php

Maca (Lepidium meyenii)
Planted it rather out of curiosity, just because I have found seeds.
It originates in the High Andes where no other food crop would grow
so it’s not particularly suitable for our condition.
Some sources refer to maca as biennial, some as perennial.
Will keep it till next year and after will se what next if it survives.
Caterpillars are very fond of it, stripped some plants completely bare overnight
before I could intervene but the plants still recovered.
The small seeds had a very poor germinating rate. Got only seven plants
from the packet. All of them surviving.
http://www.cipotato.org/artc/artc_hermann/Maca.pdf
http://www.rain-tree.com/maca.htm
http://www.macaroot.com/science/index.html
http://www.essentiallivingfoods.com/pro ... -maca.html


Resurces:
http://www.cipotato.org
http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/publications/pdf/472.pdf
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1398&page=R1
http://www.newcrops.uq.edu.au/original_index.htm
http://www.pfaf.org/index.php
http://www.peruprensa.org/yacon.htm

Ask Joel (EB) about his experience with Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) - he grew it successfully ... I believe it survives quite a while in the soil - should be able to store it in saw dust or similar??