I love jicama, Arum. But why are you posting about it on the beans forum? I would consider vegetable gardening and any of the cookery forums as more appropriate.

They won't grow by me, unfortunately.

GL, they ARE a bean, I know, I've grown them. They DO turn into a big tuber however,-if you grow them right anywho. :)

Hey! It is a legume, Pachyrhizus erosus. If I ever knew that, I forgot.

Arum, did you grow them to maturity in your region? Did you start with seeds? Or what?

Jim

I started with BEANS. Yes, I grew em, but they just put out a little puny tuber, not even hardly enough to taste. You know, you can get them in one of those international stores. :)

Well sonofagun! I never thought of them as a legume. Just another root veggie.

Live and learn, I reckon.

I've tried, but it says on the packet they need 8 - 9 months to produce good-size tubers.

I get neat viny plants but nothing edible. I've still got some seeds though, so I'm trying once more. I planted them a couple days ago. Problem is, they start readily enough, but then want to clamber all over something and somehow I've got to keep them happy in that regard for four months until I can transplant them outdoors.

Chas, do you recall where you got the seed?

I purchased them via mail order from Pinetree Garden Seeds in New Gloucester, Maine.

I recommend this source for northern gardeners and/or gardeners who want to try out something new but don't want a packet of 100 seeds that costs $4. Many of their seed packets are under $1, and the seed counts are lower.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinetree Garden Seeds

Well, I got them from a guy named John on the GW, and he knows ALL about beans, unlike myself. Don't know what happened to him, but I lost touch. He sent me a few different kinds that I had never heared of before. Anyone know him? He grew beans of all sorts, and had so many listed on his trade page. :)

When I lived in San Diego, I grew jicama successfully. It was extremely long season... and since I was not happy with the quality of the roots that I grew & the space they tied up, I never grew it again. A shame, because I love the vegetable.

Tuber formation seems to begin when days shorten, which would be in line with the performance of other root crops from the tropical Americas... so just as with yacon, its successful cultivation may be restricted to those areas which are frost-free, or nearly so.

Yes,zeedman, I found that this bean aka tuber took a very long season which I could not supply. It would be so much fun to dig up a huge tuber, sadly, I don't think I will ever do so. :( arum

http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/pubs/brochures/Jicama.html

Apparently these cannot be successfully grown in N. America. This saddens me!