sweet potatoes

[seedling]

Well I harvested my sweet potatoe crop this afternoon. Which one do you want Chantal?
The amount was absolutely awful and they had all split. They look like 7 little pink cat poos
Anybody had any sucess with these before or should I save my money next year?
Seedling

[Chantal]

Right, before you get loads of answers on this one, we'd better set people straight.

Firstly, they were purchased a GW Live and in my humble opinion it was very late to plant them out.

Secondly, you may recall sticking them in your handbag and then sitting on them when we parked up on thre grass. I admit if I'd sat on them they'd have suffered more, but it couldn't have helped.

Thirdly, GW Live was during the heatwave and being without water, in your handbag when it's 95F can't be good for anything.

Fourthly, you then gave them to me to grow on (as recommended by the T&M guy). When I grew them last year I put them straight in the ground and they romped away. Because we listened to him it it was another month before they had enough roots to plant out. I just don't think they had enought time to really get going.

Personally I think it's a miracle you got small pink cat poos out of them! I suspect they split because of the sudden growth spurt that would have been caused with all that torrential rain.

I would have another go next year. Order them early from T&M and then get them in sooner. Follow their cultural instructions to the letter and you should get a reasonable crop.

I harvested loads last year; big ones too, but made the mistake of leaving them in too late and a light frost partly took the tops out. This meant a lot of the tubers started to rot. My fault, but the crop would have been good otherwise.

Oh, and thanks for the offer, but I'll pass on my share of these.

[seedling]

Thanks Chantal - let everyone know I sat on them
All of the things you say are true . they were late going in etc. But its still a disappointing crop.
Cant imagine why you dont want your share
Anyone else got any tips for me to try next year?
Seedling

[Chantal]

I'm sure there was big article in KG within the last year on how to grow them. I'll have a look when I get home.

You didn't expect me NOT to tell people you sat on them did you?

[seedling]

yes. discretion I think its called
Seedling

[Jenny Green]

Hi Seedling

I'm sure your bottom isn't to blame (for that at least! )Sweet potatoes thrive in heat, so cover them in clear plastic if you can, and don't let them root into the ground as this diverts the energy from the main tubers. You could put black plastic down.
I've grown them in my greenhouse and trained the plants up canes.
I agree with Chantal that uneven moisture levels will make them split.
I would grow them again but I'm the only one here who'll eat them.

[seedling]

Thanks Jenny
what do you mean by not planting them in the ground?How do they get nutrients. Sorry I`m probably being thick - its been a long day. I would like to grow them again. I love them but no-one else in the house does.
Seedling

[Chantal]

I think she means plant the slips in the ground but through black plastic (as you did) to stop the training stems throwing down roots. Alternatively grow them up canes. Is that right Jenny?

[Jenny Green]

Yes, well done!
They have a habit of rooting wherever their stems touch the ground.
If only I could breed a plant that didn't need planting! I'd be able to adopt babies from Malawi and everything.

[seedling]

Thanks Jenny
Seedling

[arthur cookney]

My family and grandchildren just love sweet pototoes so I decided to have a go and bought ten slips from T&M. When they arrived I potted them up until they were well established and planted them out through black weed repressant fabric. The runners grew all over the place (I fed them with comfrey liquid) until I cut them off at the weekend just after the frosts of recent nights. I then dug them up and was quite surprised (I don't know why!) that there had been quite a bit of slug damage. The results from ten slips were:- 53 tubers measuring anything from golf ball size to a large banana and weighing eight and a half pounds. 27 had slug damage of which 15 were unusable and 12 which had up to 50% that could be salvaged (hopefully). The 26 unmarked tubers weighed just over 4lbs and the possibly useable slug damaged ones weighed just over 2lbs and assuming 50% will be edible that makes 5 lbs in total for cooking. I have not checked the supermarket price for this product so at the moment I do not know the cost effectiveness, if any, of growing my own but there must be a organic premium limit. I may well give them another go next year but I will grow them up canes and use organic slug pellets/nemoslug. Unsure Arthur.