# Sweet potatoes



## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

Each year we grow sweet potatoes. I put some of the last year's sweet potatoes into mineral buckets and grow my own "starts." At the end of the season, I never know what treasures I will find. 

Last year we had that horrendous heat wave. I planted 800 starts. I let my buckets of starts keep giving, so I can share. A nearby Mennonite family, with 14 children didn't get a bountiful harvest of white potatoes and were growing tired of rice. I filled my trunk with "starts" and took them to this mom. It was August, and really too late for starting sweet potatoes...Generally. 

Right before our first frost, I dug my sweet potatoes. I decided to fill my trunk with sweet potatoes and take them to this mom. It was October. I asked her if the starts I had given her "gave." She grabbed a shovel and said "Lets go see." She had the most beautiful sweet potatoes. They were mature and full sized...In just 2 months time. 

This year was much cooler. We had only a few over 90 degree days, which we generally consider a blessing, since we don't have air. However, I do notice a difference in the sweet potatoes. I am still getting enough, but overall they seem much smaller. Still many more than we got when the rabbits ate every single plant! We aren't done digging, so will see what the final tally will be.....And one spot may do well and another hole may have none. 

I did read about sweet potatoes. It seems they need heat hours, more than just days of growth. That would explain the quick maturity of the plants I gave a friend last year and maybe explain the smaller size of this year's crop. My friends are reporting small sweet potatoes or even a poor crop. 

Has any body else noticed a difference in their sweet potatoes, depending on the temp.? Here we say the starts need to go in the ground in May and dug right before the first frost.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

We haven't dug ours up yet, but we'll let you know when we do! It's our first crop.


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

LincTex said:


> We haven't dug ours up yet, but we'll let you know when we do! It's our first crop.


Ours are almost in pure clay, but when the bunnies don't attack, they grow really well. One of the gardens is literally, inch around or bigger, clumps of hard red clay. It sounds like I am sticking the spade into big marbles, but the SWP's grow there wonderfully. In one of the other gardens the soil is icky wet clay...They grow well there, but are the dickens to get out. We'll take them any which way we can. We grew orange, with yellow pulp, orange with orange pulp, and purple with purple pulp..And purple with yellow pulp. It's like a big, icky treasure hunt!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I've never paid a lot of attention to the heat or cool effecting the size, we hardly ever have any cool days in the summer here!

My soil is mostly sandy clay and they grow and produce well. I dont have many "critter" problems either, I have lights and a "boom box" in the garden to scare off animals.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I didn't plant sweet potatoes this year but want to next year so this is an informative thread!


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

Grimm said:


> I didn't plant sweet potatoes this year but want to next year so this is an informative thread!


They are fun to grow. Do you know how to grow your own starts? I just take some of the SWP's from the previous year, and put them in mineral buckets. My neighbors just put them in a little flower pot and they do fine. I even use mostly old peat and then just throw some new organic potting soil on top. Just lay them out on top of your soil and cover lightly with more soil. I water them as needed. Every once in a while I give them a bit of fertilizer. You will soon see little sprouts come out of your last years sweet potatoes. When I am ready to plant my sweet potato starts, I just gently pull each little sprout from the sweet potato it is growing out of. You can get MANY from one SWP. The sweet potato will keep giving you starts as long as you keep it watered, even after you have pulled many off. I just let them go incase I want to fill empty spots or someone else needs some.

I plant mine in black plastic, since it keeps the ground around the little shoot moist and holds back the weeds. They are very delicate for the first few days after planting and need to be kept watered. They will sometimes look as though they have died, but they often will shoot back out. Once those few days pass, they hold their own as long as bunnies and deer eat them. They will wipe them out!

One tip...If you want to try different kinds of sweet potatoes, go to an Asian store and buy the purple ones. They may also have other kinds.

Good luck!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

roselle said:


> They are fun to grow. Do you know how to grow your own starts? I just take some of the SWP's from the previous year, and put them in mineral buckets. My neighbors just put them in a little flower pot and they do fine. I even use mostly old peat and then just throw some new organic potting soil on top. Just lay them out on top of your soil and cover lightly with more soil. I water them as needed. Every once in a while I give them a bit of fertilizer. You will soon see little sprouts come out of your last years sweet potatoes. When I am ready to plant my sweet potato starts, I just gently pull each little sprout from the sweet potato it is growing out of. You can get MANY from one SWP. The sweet potato will keep giving you starts as long as you keep it watered, even after you have pulled many off. I just let them go incase I want to fill empty spots or someone else needs some.
> 
> I plant mine in black plastic, since it keeps the ground around the little shoot moist and holds back the weeds. They are very delicate for the first few days after planting and need to be kept watered. They will sometimes look as though they have died, but they often will shoot back out. Once those few days pass, they hold their own as long as bunnies and deer eat them. They will wipe them out!
> 
> ...


Thanks! I'll give them a try next year. I'll try getting some starts in January when I start my seeds.


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## tharlock (Apr 30, 2013)

I grew my first harvest of sweet potatoes this year. We sprouted them the old middle school science project way. We cut them in half and put the potato suspended with toothpicks in water. When they sprouted, we plucked the sprouts and put them into shallow dish of water until the sprouted roots. I managed to get around 60 sprouts from the potato before my cat ate it. Plants looked like the died as you said for about 2 days until they just suddenly jumped back and have taken over half my remaining garden. It's amazing how much you can reproduce from a single pot.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

tharlock said:


> I grew my first harvest of sweet potatoes this year. We sprouted them the old middle school science project way. We cut them in half and put the potato suspended with toothpicks in water. When they sprouted, we plucked the sprouts and put them into shallow dish of water until the sprouted roots. I managed to get around 60 sprouts from the potato before my cat ate it. Plants looked like the died as you said for about 2 days until they just suddenly jumped back and have taken over half my remaining garden. It's amazing how much you can reproduce from a single pot.


There is a book on growing a garden from kitchen scraps.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/181232165052?lpid=82


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Another + for sweet potatoes is that they have few insect pests that bother them, at least here in Texas. 

Grasshoppers seldom touch them and thats a big advantage here.


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## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

Davarm said:


> Another + for sweet potatoes is that they have few insect pests that bother them, at least here in Texas. Grasshoppers seldom touch them and thats a big advantage here.


Here in PA the deer love them, well at least I think that was what ate all of mine. I only tried to plant them once.
Will have to try again. I love sweet potatoes.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

lilmissy0740 said:


> Here in PA the deer love them, well at least I think that was what ate all of mine. I only tried to plant them once.
> Will have to try again. I love sweet potatoes.


I fixed that by putting lights with motion sensors and a boom box plugged into one of the outlets.

The critters come in, they get the lights turned on and racket from the radio and they take off running, I dont even have have rabbit problems any more.


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

Davarm said:


> Another + for sweet potatoes is that they have few insect pests that bother them, at least here in Texas.
> 
> Grasshoppers seldom touch them and thats a big advantage here.


Every now and then I find a few little holes, but nothing like any other insect damage on our other crops. It's the deer and rabbits that destroy them and I have to cover with grow/plant cloth. That gets into some $$, but it is worth it in the end.

And another + is they are the #1 most complete food. They are great for prep storage since they are so good for us and they keep very well and my children just love them!


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

Davarm said:


> I fixed that by putting lights with motion sensors and a boom box plugged into one of the outlets.
> 
> The critters come in, they get the lights turned on and racket from the radio and they take off running, I dont even have have rabbit problems any more.


Do you suppose the lights only would work? We live on a little farm, but down the hill in front of us is a subdivision. I don't know if they would hear a "boom" box go off. We'd be fine with it.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

roselle said:


> Do you suppose the lights only would work? We live on a little farm, but down the hill in front of us is a subdivision. I don't know if they would hear a "boom" box go off. We'd be fine with it.


Lights only would probably work unless you had some pretty tame or extremely hungry animals in your area.

The first few years I used the boom box all the time but only needed it a few times since then. The volume doesn't need to be high, just loud enough for the critters to think a human is there.


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## SouthCentralUS (Nov 11, 2012)

I dug some of my sweet potatoes today. Do I need to let them dry before I put some in the dirt for starters for next year? Do I need to wait a while before I start making them?


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

SouthCentralUS said:


> I dug some of my sweet potatoes today. Do I need to let them dry before I put some in the dirt for starters for next year? Do I need to wait a while before I start making them?


I let mine "cure" upstairs for several weeks. It is warmer there. Then I just throw them in the basement. Don't wash them...Just brush the dirt off.

Some will even begin to sprout in the basement. I just use some of the potatoes that we didn't eat. However I don't put them in to start sprouting until late March early April.


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## SouthCentralUS (Nov 11, 2012)

Thanks Roselle.


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## roselle (Oct 20, 2013)

SouthCentralUS said:


> Thanks Roselle.


You're surely welcome!


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## tharlock (Apr 30, 2013)

Grimm said:


> There is a book on growing a garden from kitchen scraps.
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/181232165052?lpid=82


Sounds like a book right up my alley thank you always interested in hard back book information to add to the library. Thank you


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

tharlock said:


> Sounds like a book right up my alley thank you always interested in hard back book information to add to the library. Thank you


I'm going to use that book in one of my home school unit studies with Roo.


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