Sweet potatoes

Gardening to 'grow your own food' from square foot to half an acre !!
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Mallard
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Sweet potatoes

Post by Mallard »

My friends on Facebook tell me I Should have started this two months ago, but I'll try anyway. I put them in water on the 10th February, and they'd sprouted shoots within four days. The roots are now growing fast.
I have a space for them prepared on the polytunnel floor!

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Funky chicken
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by Funky chicken »

Is that how you start off sweet potatoes?
Do tell us more!
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Sara
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by Sara »

Im intrigued too Mallard )grin2(
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Mallard
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by Mallard »

I'm informed they should have been started at the end of November, There's more than one way. You can cut them in half length ways and use compost, but I had some success with avocado, so I put them point down in water as you see. Roots will appear (I was warned that supermarket varieties are sprayed to stop them rooting, but these seem OK) hopefully green shoots come out of the top, at a suitable size you pull them off and put a bunch in water to grow roots. Then you plant them individually in pots of compost until they're big enough to plant in the ground. The shoots are called slips.

Supermarket sweet potatoes are from warmer climes, so they need glass or polythene. You can buy slips that will grow outdoors, at around £14 a bunch. Blow that, it would be cheaper to buy them in a shop!
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tosca100
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by tosca100 »

I'm going to give it a go this year and hope we get a proper Bulgarian summer, not a wet one like last year. For the price of a couple of sweet potatoes worth a go. There is masses on youtube but mostly from the States. (spend a lot of time on youtube due to lack of telly)
Because my memory is not brilliant......http://debrazzaman.blogspot.com/
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Mallard
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by Mallard »

Just taken a pic of my sweets so far. I've managed thirteen plants from two sweet potatoes; perhaps I might have had more with more patience!
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tosca100
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by tosca100 »

Well done you. Mine failed miserably. Plenty of root but no shoots. In a normal BG summer we will have at least six months of hot weather so our summers are long enough and there is still a chance. I have a feeling the last cold spell upset them.
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manda
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by manda »

I've been watching this with interest Mallard....going to be interesting to see how they fair ...I might do this come our Spring ... love them - they're called Kumara over here in NZ and we can get them in red (as your pic) or gold )t'
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lancashire lass
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by lancashire lass »

)t' well done Mallard - they look really good.
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albertajune
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by albertajune »

I'm looking forward to seeing how well they do. )t'
When I lived in Australia, I always admired a friends house plant . Turned out to be grown from a sweet potato.
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Re: Sweet potatoes

Post by ldc »

Living in the southern US, sweet potatoes are a big deal here. Most home gardeners start their own "slips" in water as shown above. It does take a long time to get the spuds, and our climate is much warmer than where most of you live. However, home gardeners are now growing them as far north as Ontario, and the far northern states with success, by starting the slips early and keeping them in the ground as long as possible before frost. Good luck to all!
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