Plant · P-276

Jicama

Pachyrhizus erosus

Jicama is a tropical vine grown here as an annual for its crisp, apple-flavored root rather than the multi-year tuber it forms in frost-free climates. It needs the days to shorten before it bulks its root, so a single hot summer only produces a small tuber in the ten or twelve weeks before frost. Only the root is edible - the seeds, pods and leaves carry a toxic compound and must stay out of every harvest basket. Pinching off the flower buds as they form is the one trick that pushes more growth into the root instead of the vine.