Solanum juzepczukii
Rucki
a perennial member of the Solanum genus in the family Solanaceae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Solanaceae
- Genus
- Solanum
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
Uses
Toxicity
Toxicity warning. The historical record reports a hazard for this plant. Do not use it to decide which parts are safe to eat or use medicinally.
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Although no specific mention of toxicity has been seen for this species, it belongs to a genus where many if not all the members have poisonous leaves and sometimes also the unripe fruits.
Edible uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Root - cooked[3]. Rich in starch but with a bitter taste. This bitterness can be removed by freeze-drying the tubers to make a food called 'chuño'[4].
- Plant part
- Root
Environment
- Range
- S. America. Probably a hybrid involving a wild species and S. acaule[4].
- Habitat
- Not known in the wild.
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- moderate
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - sow early spring in a warm greenhouse. Prick out the seedlings into a fairly rich compost as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on fast. Plant them out after the last expected frosts. Division. Harvest the tubers in autumn after the top-growth has been cut back by frost. Store the tubers in a cool frost-free place overwinter and replant in April.
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Succeeds in most soils[1]. Dislikes wet or heavy clay soils[2][5]. Prefers a slightly acid soil, the tubers are subject to scab on limy soils or those deficient in humus. Yields best on a fertile soil rich in organic matter. This plant is one of the S. American species of potatoes. This is one of the most frost hardy of potato species and grows in areas that can experience frosts on 300 days of the year[4]. It can probably be grown in much the same way as potatoes are grown by planting out the tubers in spring and harvesting in the autumn[K]. It is sometimes cultivated for its edible tubers in the Andes, mainly as insurance against cold weather[4]. Yields are quite low[4].Plants might have strict daylength requirements and may yield poorly in temperate zones because they need short-days in order to induce tuber-formation[4]. A triploid species, it does not produce fertile seed[4].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin 1977-00-00 ISBN 0-14-046-050-0
Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169
Popenoe. H. et al Lost Crops of the Incas National Academy Press 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-309-04264-X
Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 1878-00-00