Happy Independence Day to my American readers.

I am a direct descendant of John Howland, crew member on the Mayflower. I’m still not sure we should have left the British Empire, honestly, but any holiday that consists of barbecues and blowing things up is okay by me. I also think the Constitution was a bad idea and that the War of Northern Aggression was won by the wrong side, so I know my views are in the minority… and I’d better get to today’s post before one of you reports me to the SJW firing squad or something.

On to the yams. Curtiss shared a video with me on a novel method for propagating yams, from aeroponics to cuttings to the field:

In the video he states that cuttings from yams not grown in aeroponics systems don’t behave the same, implying that cuttings don’t take as easily.

I’m not sure why that would be the case. I am wondering if you could skip the expensive aeroponics setup altogether.

Sure, it looks cool – but I hate plumbing.

I like this part, though:

Also, this part:

I have actually started Dioscorea alata via cuttings. I didn’t realize you could get them to work so well from just a single node, though.

My common method of yam propagation is this:

But what if you don’t have roots? Or what if you want a LOT more yams? The method in the video Curtiss shared is tantalizing in its abundance – you can make a LOT of yam plants via cuttings.

My experiment with growing yams from cuttings was like this: I just took a few little cuttings with a couple of nodes each, then put them in pots and stuck them in a mist house that a friend with a nursery owned. A month or so later, I had rooted yams ready for planting.

No aeroponics required. However, it did have the benefit of regular misting. I’m not sure how yams would root if I just stuck them in pots.

Worth continuing to research, for sure. And I’m sure Curtiss will be experimenting and sharing results. He’s definitely better at building complicated systems than I am.