How to Grow Jicamas USA
On this page
In the US, jicama is ready to harvest 150–270 days after planting.
Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus) — Frost-tender perennial vine grown as an annual for its single large tuber.
Unlike an annual crop, the work here is front-loaded into establishment: get the planting and the site right and the same plants crop for several seasons.
The short answer
- Ready in
- 150–270 days
- Site
- soil pH 6.5–8
Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus)
Also known as: Yam Bean · 2 sources cited
Soil & Growing Conditions
Quick Facts
Harvest & Storage
Jicama through the season
Plan your Jicamas planting
When to sow and plant Jicamas depends on your own frost dates. Check the USA vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
What the research guides add
Jicama is a long-season crop, and the two sources below put numbers on how long.
- For optimal harvests the plant needs about nine continuous months of frost-free weather (FGCU); Missouri Botanical Garden says the plant normally needs nine months of growth for a good-sized root, so in the St. Louis area tubers may be small by harvest. (Florida Gulf Coast University, Missouri Botanical Garden)
- It is a perennial vine that can be grown as an annual: sow in spring and harvest tubers in autumn just before the first frost. Start seed indoors in flats or peat pots 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost, and plant out in full sun when all danger of frost has passed and the ground is at least 50°F. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
- Any temperature below 50°F can ruin the tuber, and FGCU suggests digging the tubers as late as possible before frost affects the vine. Without frost, harvest 150 days or more after transplanting. (Florida Gulf Coast University)
- Safety: the vine, leaves, flowers, pods and seeds contain rotenone and are toxic (Missouri Botanical Garden); FGCU says not to eat the leaves, flowers or seeds. Only the tuber is eaten. (Missouri Botanical Garden, Florida Gulf Coast University)
Jicama in the USA: climate data
The sources give 150–270 days from sowing to harvest (Florida Gulf Coast University, Missouri Botanical Garden). NOAA’s median freeze-free season runs from 136 days in Bismarck, ND to 365 days in Phoenix Sky Harbor, AZ; in 3 of the 27 cities it is shorter than the quickest time given, so those gardeners need to start under cover.
| City | USDA zone | Last spring freeze (32°F) | First fall freeze (32°F) | Freeze-free days | Against 270 days to harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bismarck, ND | 4a | 14 May | 27 Sep | 136 | short by 134 days: start under cover |
| Madison, WI | 5b | 1 May | 10 Oct | 160 | short by 110 days: start under cover |
| Milwaukee, WI | 6a | 19 Apr | 29 Oct | 192 | short by 78 days: start under cover |
| Atlanta, GA | 8a | 15 Mar | 20 Nov | 252 | short by 18 days: start under cover |
| Orlando, FL | 10a | 25 Jan | winter freezes only | 355 | +85 spare days |
| San Diego, CA | 11a | none in a median year | none in a median year | 365 | +95 spare days |
Dates are the median 32°F freeze dates and freeze-free days from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; zones come from the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map (ZIP code of each city centre). The last column is the freeze-free season minus the longest time to harvest the sources give; it is arithmetic, not a forecast, and the soil still has to warm before sowing, which uses up some of the spare days. These are medians, so a cold year can be shorter.
Sources for this section
- Florida Gulf Coast University (Food Forest plant database): Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus) Quick Facts
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Pachyrhizus erosus (Plant Finder)
Section researched and checked on 24 October 2026 by the SoilCommander Editorial Team. How we check facts: editorial policy.
Last verified 2026-10-24
Growing Jicama in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
The full list of 2 sources behind this guide (Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA), Useful Tropical Plants (tropical.theferns.info)) is in the references of our UK guide to jicama; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does jicama take to grow?
Typically 150–270 days, depending on cultivar and growing conditions.
What soil pH does jicama need?
A pH of about 6.5–8. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
Plan next season before the problems start
Almost everything on this page resolves to your own frost dates rather than the calendar — the last spring frost moves by roughly two months between zone 3 and zone 10. The USA Garden Planner works from your zone so the timing is already decided before the season starts.
Get the USA Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for US growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against USDA hardiness-zone and frost-date data, with Cooperative Extension sources cited directly where one exists for a crop. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Related guides
More from the same group (peas & beans):
Growing advice for your part of the USA
Timing and conditions change a lot inside one country. These guides cover frost dates and growing seasons region by region.
Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.