Growing sweet potaotes

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Growing sweet potaotes
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judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22790
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 07 9:30 am Post subject:

NannyP wrote:

I asked my neighbour what he does with his excess potatoes, as he has tons. He said to put them in the cellar and cover them. The cellar, in my opinion, is not completely dry, as it has a partial earth floor. Is this good or bad?

It sounds perfect for root vegetables - they want a slightly damp, but frost-free environment to store well. Not so good for, say, squashes, which need warmer, drier conditions.

NannyP

Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 118
Location: Vienne, France

Posted: Wed Jun 20, 07 12:04 pm Post subject:
Great, thanks for that.....now I know where to keep my potatoes and sweet potatoes.

starmoonlilly

Joined: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 218
Location: Northampton

Posted: Wed Jun 27, 07 9:04 pm Post subject:
How are everyones sweet potatoes doing with all this rain? I still havent got mine out, the cool nights and inclement weather is putting me off (I think Im going to kill 'em) Probably kill 'em anyway by keepimg them in pots Sigh......

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 07 7:28 am Post subject:
Mine don't seem to be growing as fast as I would expect, either in the greenhouse or outside. At least they haven't died off in all the rain, yet.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 07 7:39 am Post subject:

starmoonlilly wrote:

How are everyones sweet potatoes doing with all this rain? I still havent got mine out, the cool nights and inclement weather is putting me off (I think Im going to kill 'em) Probably kill 'em anyway by keepimg them in pots

Mine look happy enough. A row of them, with net to trail up so they don't root everywhere, they're not growing fast but then they didn't grow fast this time last year either.

starmoonlilly

Joined: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 218
Location: Northampton

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 07 9:53 pm Post subject:
Well I did get them out yesterday finally, nothing ventured. They have perked up, but not surprisingly are smaller than the ones in the pics posted here Thankyou for the words of encouragement I must get a grip next year and just do it!!

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sun Jul 01, 07 8:40 am Post subject:

starmoonlilly wrote:

Well I did get them out yesterday finally, nothing ventured. They have perked up, but not surprisingly are smaller than the ones in the pics posted here

It's not a competition and this year we all might be lucky to get anything. What with blight affecting the potatoes we've been lucky with our decision to try a selection of tubers to see how they do. A few pot grown potatoes, a couple of types of sweet potato, Oca and our reliable Jerusalem artichokes. With this years strange weather it'll be interesting to see what does best. Good luck!

starmoonlilly

Joined: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 218
Location: Northampton

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 07 8:54 pm Post subject:
Yes its seems we all need a lot of luck this year, it will certainly be interesting to see which varieties do best. The carrots and parsnips seem to love it though.

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 07 10:40 pm Post subject:
So did anybody get ANY sweet potatoes???? I got .... well about 2 in total from about a dozen plants! 2 the size of AA batteries that is!

Andrea

Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 2260
Location: Portugal

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 07 4:59 am Post subject:
Mine are still in, though they really ought to come out now. I've got a bit of a temperature advantage here, but I'm probably pushing my luck now.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Nov 27, 07 9:23 am Post subject:

Sally wrote:

So did anybody get ANY sweet potatoes????

It did seem to be a poor year round here, being cooler and wet. We grew two types in three different locations. The ones in the ground outside and inside a greenhouse didn't do well and produce much. The ones in a large pot did much better and produced a reasonable crop, some a similar size to the shop ones. I'm quite pleased with them as it's our first attempt.

Here's a pic of the best type, the right half shows the tubers from a single plant.

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 07 8:14 pm Post subject:
Haruummmph! I'm jealous! I tried various different spots, including a pot, a grow bag, in the greenhouse, outside etc.... & NOTHING worth eating!!!!! Well done you... I guess we are just to far north after all.

Azura Skye

Joined: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 2199
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 07 8:33 pm Post subject:
wow they look strange in a certain supermarket today they were selling some type of exotic sweet potatos, but really - they just looked like normal ones with a heftier price tag

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 07 12:17 am Post subject:
Did well in the end. Planted a row of plants, I dunno, maybe a dozen, got a good bucket full of sweet potatoes.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6670
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 08 5:17 pm Post subject:

If you don't want to go to the hassle of slips, planting, weeding, growing them, etc. you can always do what I did this year. Look around ornamental plantings after the first good killing frost and just scoops out their tubers. Most "normal" folks love the foliage they get from ipomoeas, but don't quite get the association between the name "sweet potato vine" and the fact that of course they actually produce sweet potatoes....

I'd be careful though, as you never know what folks dump on their ornamentals. Also the ipomoeacea (sp?) have some nasty compounds in the wild, you never know if that will re-emerge in a plant that's been bred purely for the foliage... The ones that I dug up out of a garden in front of a university building were HUGE! Some over a foot long and most at least 4 inches in diameter. quite bland though (once again, bred for foliage) so I just used them as filler in a big pot of mashed root veggies.

Oh dear, I'm making this look unattractive, even to myself. Maybe just better to try and convince folks to plant tasty varieties and enjoy their inherent ornamental qualities?

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