dioscorea

[Aad]

I received this Dioscorea discolor early this year from a PBS EU exchange. After staking the the main shoot aborted it took awhile but now some side branches do even better To my surprise the big leaves on the main shoot are much bigger but also have a different color. Guess that is just young versus old growth. Given this success I want to grow other Dioscorea species besides the ones I started from tubers I found in Asian food stores. Anyone growing these as well (in the EU) and want to share a tuber (possible when plants go dormant)?

[CG100]

Seeds of a few Disoscorea species appear regularly, but unpredictably, with S African seed suppliers, also Elephantorhiza, and some other similar genera.

They are easy from seed, or the 2-3 species that I have tried in the past have been. They have been moderately slow-growing.

Some Asian species, mostly seeds, are listed on EBay UK, so presumably are within NL?

[Martin Bohnet]

Dioscorea polystachia will be on the eu exchange, either in October or in spring, though I have reason to believe it's a weed, as the aerial bulbils are plenty. I may try eating some. maybe they are somewhat usefull/tasty.

[Uli]

Hello Aad,

This is how Dioscorea discolor typically looks like. The difference in leaf size and colour is typical. At this stage the plants do visibly benefit from potassium rich fertilizer. I have always found that the growth rhythm of this species is somewhat awkward as it starts relatively late in spring and has a long growing season well into winter before it goes fully dormant. As it likes warmth it needs a warm well lit place when the outdoor temperature drops. Wet and cold conditions outdoors in autumn might be fatal.

[Aad]

Uli: My Dioscorea discolor plant was the whole time indoors but that was more coincidental than planned. I liked the leaves so much I placed it next to the door to backyard and just forgot to move it outdoors in summer. At first it was staked about 60 cm but since the new shoots are rapidly growing I put in new stakes that are 1.8 m tall. Long term osmocote granulate fertilzer was added to the soil.  And I added 2 weeks ago potassium through the use of dried pulverized banana peel. The top two leaves with each one node of the main shoot are now in a aquaponics propagator. Hopefully they will root.

GC100. There are indeed a lot of shops that shell Dioscorea seeds like D. elephantipes and D. mexicana. Easy to grow but it takes a lifetime to get big tubers. So I'm more interested in fast growing Dioscorea like D. sansibarensis, D.  bulbifera and D. floribunda that can be grow outside in summer my Dutch climate or even species that can only grow inside with temperature and/or humidity. Some Dioscorea make bulbils or airpotatos that are smaller and easier to ship than tubers.

Martin. I think the tuber that I bought this weekend as Iron Stick is one of various cultivated forms of D. polystachia. But it is always good to compare with other ones especially if they will come available in a future EU exchange.