Anyone growing Jicama?
 

I used to be able to buy it in the grocery stores around here back in the 90's and I loved eating it as a snack, I remember it being sweet and tasty. But have not seen it around in forever and would love start growing it myself...

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

No, I'm not growing them, but several people in my region do. Never tasted one.

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Have 24 Jicama seeds for next summer :) ! After the great harvest we got on peppers etc, just seemed like a great idea.... Luv salsa (& Chinese food)! Will be building a nice loamy bed for them this fall (to use early next summer). Wanted to plant them in late May but with all the monsoons we got for the past week, they probably would have rotted, anyway :(. Glad now that I saved them for later :) !
Would really like to get hold of Misrikand seeds from Bihar, India, though. They say that cultivar produces roughly 1 pound tubers that're smaller & sweeter than the Mexican type! May try to contact the University of Agriculture there, to find out more about getting seeds :) !
Anyway, will definitely have a great bed of Jicama (& hopefully Misrikand) started early next summer!
BTW, Think grocers in Minnesota still stock them!

Hey Jack! Ya really should try them out! They're super in salsas & Chinese foods (great replacement for water chestnuts)! Great way to get extra Vitamin-C, too :) ! Dont get any that have soft spots or are bigger than your fist, the smaller they are, the better they taste!

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

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.

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

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!

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Thanks that's a lot of good advice and I appreciate it!

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Definitely need a dry climate but I'll look up the seed company I got them from and add it to this post, just in case ya wanna give them a try. Best time to plant, for great tasting tubers, is early summer, around late May or early June. Also, tubers larger than 2-fists tend to taste really bad. The smaller the sweeter :) !

Thanx for the extra info, Planetrj!

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

I actually tried a Jicama for the first time this Aug. I'd never even SEEN one and the people I was with decided I needed to try it. I thought it was pretty tasty. So what does the plant look like?

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Hi Bryan :), This is a photo of a young plant being grown from the tuber. As it grows, the vines start snaking along the ground & dig in to make more tubers!



Hope this helps :).

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

So it's a vine then?? Never woulda expected that! Thanks for the pic, E!

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

No prob, Bryan :) ! Btw, looked up the seeds in my seed basket & here's what they look like.
Oh, almost forgot, that's a U.S. dime I'm using for size-ref.

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

where did you order them from?

I will refrain on commenting on the fact that most people could of guessed it was a dime! lol

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Got them from Trade Winds Fruit in Windsor, California. Dad ordered them on-line with a bunch of other seeds a while back. It was something like $2 for 8 seeds and they got here pretty quick.
As for the dime, I was really hoping for something like "Thanks, I thought it was a carrot!" but that'll do :ha: ! Sorry. Just a little comic relief :).

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

LMFAO....nice! *marks up a point on the board for djmb74*

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Thanx Bryan :o. Btw, it is now 10-24-09 (I know, they can tell by the date on my post) and I now have a 5 1/2" x 3" Jicama :) !! Jeeps those things grow fast, super harvest!!
Okay, okay... got it from Wal Mart today :) !! Here it is:



And the underside:


Looks like Wal Mart might be a place to find some... Already grown... Just hope they carry smaller ones since they taste better :) !!

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

One of my colleagues at the farmers markets lives in Fresno, CA. He buys jicama from a farmer in that area who has among other things, 500 acres of jicama. Apparently his field is in the middle of other row crops which by design are gopher-free.

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

thanks eric let me know how they taste. I had some a few weeks ago that just weren't as sweet as the ones I used to get many years ago...

Oh ya and this is my thread! I own it and don't you forget about... but anyone feel free to post on it! HAHAHAHA (sorry the thread in tiki hut confuses me hopefully I am being funny if not refer to the post in the other thread that I own with the picture of how many people in the room think I am funny! http://www.bananas.org/f9/so-10097.html)

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

:ha:

Re: Anyone growing Jicama?
 

Wow!! Thanx!! :) I was afraid ya might charge rent :ha: :ha: !!
Ya have a great sense of humor!! I'll definitely let ya know how it tastes!
Thanx for the Fresno info, Richard :) !! Got a friend who lives in Fresno!!