Plant in a very well-draining gravelly soil with the caudex shaded from direct full day sun and the stems growing up into partial to full sun. Water occasionally and fertilize lightly when in active growth and expect dormancy in late spring and early summer (though it seems to occur somewhat randomly) and when dormant water should not be applied. The starching caudex can attract certain herbivores - notably we have found tree squirrels like to gnaw on the caudex, which disfigures it.

Dioscorea elephantipes grows naturally in arid inland regions of the Cape region of South Africa where it grows naturally on rocky slopes with its caudex in shade beneath thicket vegetation and its leafy tendrils reaching up into the sunlight. The genus is named after Pedianos Dioscorides, a Greek physician if the 1st century A.D and the specific epithet means "elephant foot" in reference to the large caudex, with thick hard, corky plates covering the interior that is rich in starch, which also gave it an alternative name Hottentot Bread. Another common name is Turtle Back. 

The information displayed on this page about Dioscorea elephantipes is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.