Post by MikeH on Jun 9, 2012 8:02:07 GMT -5
It could work, provided the pot is big enough, and that a steady amount of water is provided throughout the growing season. Meanwhile, I've learned to live with their natural spreading habitat, and harvest can be done at any time of the year, except when the ground is frozen solid. They're best harvest when they're three years old over here, I guess that some other climatological circumstances can speed up their growth. Older tubers sometimes rot away, and yes, these are usually the big ones, about 10 cm/4 inches in the round or more, and would make a wonderful dinner!
It's not so much their natural spreading habit which I want that is the problem but rather my growing conditions. Our soil is a fairly heavy though rich loam and was, about 40-50 years ago cultivated or at least pastured. When Nature reclaims, there's a lot of "unnatural" stuff that enters first. The big one for us is twitch or quack grass. Trying to grow anything in a naturalized way that you later want to harvest is a non-starter. First of all it has to survive, then you have to find it, then you have to get at it. Even native grasses and tough flowers like echinacea don't survive unless grown for a couple of years in pots in order to bulk up their roots.
The pictured apios tubers that I got in early April had been grown in a pot that was about 14" in diameter and about 9-10" deep. I'm planning to try some of them in 23.9" L x 15.9" W x 8.7" H Rubbermaid bin. The rest, I will naturalize.
Regards,
Mike
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