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Originally Posted by djmb74
Nice! I really want to grow Jicama just trying to find out the best place for me to get seeds from and when to plant them...
Wondering if Florida is too wet for them as from some of the things I read said warm dry climate is best.
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I've grown Pachyrhizus tuberosus, and yes, they definitely do best in a furrow hill with sandy soil. You want to make sure the raised bed is about 10 inches higher than standing ground water or soggy soil areas. It's even better if you can put them on a raised bed that has a base of a mixture of 50% Perlite and 50% pH balanced Play Sand (salt free). This will assure that their taproot won't rot either, since I've pulled them and the tap will extend down up to 2 feet below the bulb root. Go into it knowing they are nothing like growing carrots or radishes...lol They are quite finicky, and how disappointing it was when the first time I grew them I didn't know this, and half of them keeled over before they were harvested. Temperature wise, they don't tolerate cool air blasts either, so when you plant them, they need to be assured that winter won't approach when they are nearing harvest. My recommended time to plant them would be when it's time to plant tomatoes in your area. In SoCal, I've been most successful with them planted in early April, since they take about 4-5 months to completely develop. I recommend planting them in succession about 2 weeks apart, 3 times (6 weeks duration) and using 5-5-10 blends of fertilizer, or something close to that, because too much nitrogen will make them fibery and too much Potassium will make them flower and set fruit 'pea pods' and the tuber will end up pithy. You have to be diligent to make sure the flowers aren't allowed to bloom. I always keep ONE aside so that I have seeds for the following year's crop. You don't need more than that, unless you have plans to plant over 100 Jicamas, and eat those within about a 3 week period, because they are perishable and only last about 3 weeks after harvest time. This is why I recommend planting them early and in succession. Last bit of advice.. make sure you get really fresh seeds from a reputable seller, because they drop in germ rate quickly if they are old or not stored properly.
Good luck!