Last edited by shiny on November 10, 2026. View history
Yam
Yam
How to sow yam: Direct seed tuber pieces
Sun requirement for yam: Plant in Full Sun
Yams are a genus of over 870 species of perennial, herbaceous vines that form edible starchy tubers. Yams are native to Asia and Africa. They are often confused with sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batata), which are in a separate, unrelated family. Yams are a monocot related to lilies and grasses; sweet potatoes are a dicot related to Morning glories. Yams are starchier and drier than sweet potatoes and often have rougher, hairier skin. Yams can be the size of a regular potato or up 150 cm long. Their flesh can be white, purple, or reddish. They are native to subtropical and tropical regions and prefer warm, humid climates.
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Yam facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
15cm × 1500cmRow Spacing
75cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For yam, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 15°C and a shortest growing cycle of 200 days at its best temperature, about 2500 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your yam will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 200 to 365 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Dioscorea floribunda C. Martius & Galeotti
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Liliidae Dioscoreales Dioscoreaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: 9 °C, rest: 9 °C |
| Life form | vine |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | climber/scrambler/scadent |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours) |
Learn more about yams
Resources outside Growstuff.
