Have bag full of 'Air Potato' Dioscorea bulbifera which are 2-4" diameter. Trade for other vines, unsuall angel wing begonias, cannas, tropicals, perrenials--tempt me.
Have 'Air Potato' Dioscorea bulbifera
midwestsnowbird
Apr 14, 2002
I have alot of vine seeds I could trade but not sure what this air potato thing is? :)
Information Air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) is another non-native, invasive vine in Florida. Covered with large handsome leaves, it can quickly grow 60-70 feet in length, which is long enough to overtop (and shade-out) tall trees. A member of the yam family (Dioscoreaceae), air potato produces large numbers of aerial tubers, potato-like growths attached to the stems. These grow into new plants.
Dioscorea species are cultivated for their edible underground tubers in West Africa where they are important commodities. Uncultivated forms (as in Florida) however are reported to be bitter and even poisonous. Dioscorea varieties, containing the steroid diosgenin, are a principal material used in the manufacture of birth-control pills. Air potato is believed to have been introduced into Florida as an ornamental and a food plant in about 1905. By the early 1970s it was already recognized as a pest plant throughout the state.
How To Identify Air Potato
Air potato has a winter dormant period when the stems die back to the ground. After dormancy, the underground tubers give rise to stems which quickly grow, often reaching up to 70 feet long by the end of the growing season. The vine's stem is herbaceous (not woody). The stem is round, not winged, as in D. alata. The large leaves are up to 8 inches long and are heart-shaped (cordate). The leaf blade's basal lobes are rounded. Leaf veins radiate from a single point. The leaves have long stems (petioles), and are alternate on the stem. Air potato flowers are small, greenish and fragrant, hanging in relatively long clusters (panicles and spikes) up to 4 inches long. The fruit is a capsule of seeds. Air potato plants produce "aerial tubers" that are attached closely to the stems where leaves attach to the stem (axil). These air potatoes are greyish and somewhat irregular. Tubers also grow underground where they may be larger.
midwestsnowbird
Apr 15, 2002
Would it winter in zone 3-4? Would it be invasive here? Thanks for all the info HB
It won't winter in zone 5. I just pick a few of the potatoes and save them for next years vine. Only problem there is that our season is so short that the potatoes don't get very big. I had a great gal send me some last fall and I've got them growing in the greenhouse, hoping to get big potatoes this year.
Honibee, you seem to be very experienced with this plant. Can you tell us how we should plant the potatoes & when?
Honibee, I traded for some air pototoes , the instructions say to lay on the window sill and wait they will sprout when they are ready?????????????
Well it's April 27 and still no sprouts. What do I do?????????
Annabelle15
Mine started to sprout some time ago and I potted them in small 4" pots. Well, I've had to cut them back a couple of times as it is still too cold to put them outside. I'll plant them about three inches deep when I can get them outside, but right now, in the pots, they are only about one inch deep. My pots weren't big enough to get them any deeper. I would say that most of mine have already had 2-6 ft. of vine on them. Started way to soon for me this year.