When is the best time to plant Buddha’s hand yam?

Buddha's hand yam , as the name suggests, is a kind of yam that looks very much like Buddha's hand. It is mainly produced in Wuxue City, Hubei Province. Compared with ordinary yams, Buddha's hand yam has better nutrition and higher medicinal value, and is known as the "holy food and medicine". So when is the best time to plant Buddha’s hand yam? Let’s learn more about it below.

When is the best time to plant Buddha’s hand yam?

Buddha's hand yam is generally best planted in February or March in spring. After sowing, it needs to go through three seasons of cultivation in spring, summer and autumn, and can usually be harvested in September or October in autumn.

How to grow Buddha’s hand yam?

1. Site selection and land preparation

Choose sandy loam or loam with no pollution, good drainage, deep soil, loose soil and rich in organic matter for planting, and Buddha's hand yam must be rotated with other crops within 3 years. Before sowing, the soil should be deeply plowed and harrowed, with the tillage depth not less than 30 cm. Make high ridges 1 meter wide and the furrows more than 30 cm deep in preparation for sowing.

2. Apply enough basal fertilizer

Apply sufficient base fertilizer in conjunction with land preparation, and add appropriate amounts of potassium humate, etc. to ensure soil activity and root absorption of nutrients.

3. Key points for sowing

Choose freshly dug Buddha's hand yam seeds, let them dry naturally for about 2-3 days, then cut them into pieces and dip them in some wood ash before starting to sow. After the soil in the field is loosened, dig some small holes and put the lumps of yam into them one by one. When sowing, pay attention to the spacing between rows and plants to avoid too dense or too sparse planting.

4. Field management

(1) Pruning: Leave 1 to 2 main vines on each plant.

(2) Frame construction: Build a “human” frame with the ground portion not less than 1.2 meters.

(3) Weeding: Manual weeding is performed and the use of herbicides is strictly prohibited.

(4) Fertilization: Apply 5,000 to 8,000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer and 500 kg of triple compound fertilizer (with a total N:P:K content of more than 45% and chlorine-free) per hectare.

5. Harvesting points

Before harvesting, the supports should be removed and the vines cut off. In order to ensure the integrity of the yam and reduce problems such as breakage, you can dig a deep ditch along the row at one end of the bed and harvest the yam from the side. After harvesting, pay attention to proper storage to maintain the quality and taste of the yam.



In general, Buddha's hand yam is a local specialty variety in the Wuxue area. Although its appearance is relatively strange, Buddha's hand yam is indeed a herb that can be used as both medicine and food, and its economic value is extremely high. The cultivation technology of Buddha's hand yam is not difficult, and is basically the same as that of ordinary yam.