Ullucus tuberosus

Ullucus tuberosus is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.3 m .
It is hardy to zone 9 and is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite .
Suitable for: light and medium soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Prefers a rich light soil with plenty of leaf mould. Produces reasonable yields in marginal soils. Established plants are moderately drought tolerant. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 to 6.5. Ulluco is often cultivated for its edible tubers in S. America, it has been tried, unsuccessfully, as a potato substitute in Britain. It is about as hardy as the potato plant in Britain, the foliage withstanding light frosts and the tubers tolerating colder conditions. One report says that plants are very frost-resistant but that has not been our experience. The tubers are not formed until late in the season so a mild autumn is required for good yields. The tubers are formed at the roots and also from shoots growing out of the leaf axils and into the soil. Earthing up the stems as tubers form in late summer can improve yields. Average yields are 5 - 9 tonnes per hectare but there is a lot of potential to increase this Slugs are very fond of this plant and will soon completely destroy it if given a chance. Plants do not usually produce fertile seed but researchers in Finland have obtained seed under controlled circumstances.