Sweet Potato

[momofdrew]

Where do you live DBJAY... I ordered slips from Johnny's and they will be shipped when they are supposed to go into the ground...I have never tried sweet potatoes before...but as they are originialy from Africa I would think they need hot weather to grow but being in the north they would be an annual here...

 

[seedcorn]

I've spent the last year trying to kill a massive patch of sweet potatoes. It was taking up way too much space. I admire the suckers persistance, so after the 4th assassination attempt, and before the final death blow, i transplanted a few sprouts to a different area of the yard. A patch of hard inhospitable soil with lots of rocks from an hold house that was once there. I'm hoping that even if the fruit arent that great, they will enrich that piece of terrain a little.

What kind are these? I've only seen annuals that will eventually die. When happens when you dig up the tubers? What you miss resprout?

yup, if you miss even the tiniest underdeveloped tuber new leaf growth will sprout right up.

I dunno what kind they are, but they have been here longer than i have as the patch was massive when i moved here in Nov of 07. the woman we rented to before we moved here, said that they had been there so long the plant was no longer preforming as it should, and that her son in law used to pass the lawn mower over it. to try to kill it.

Where do you live? When it gets cold, it kills them up here. U must be in an area that doesn't have winter.

 

[kellygirrl]

yup, if you miss even the tiniest underdeveloped tuber new leaf growth will sprout right up.

I dunno what kind they are, but they have been here longer than i have as the patch was massive when i moved here in Nov of 07. the woman we rented to before we moved here, said that they had been there so long the plant was no longer preforming as it should, and that her son in law used to pass the lawn mower over it. to try to kill it.

Okay, I have to know, where are you, which mythically warm zone?
(At least we're warming up right now in zone 5.)

 

[dbjay417]

LoL

dat be da missin link mon!

I live in da Caribbean you see.

in this climate relatively few plants see fit to die a natural death. They may stop giving viable fruit, but they wont die unless you destroy them. the only notable exception being plants like bananas, who grow from corm, flower, fruit, then die within the course of 14-16 months.

If any of you in the southern states are interested, there are people who grow bananas out doors successfully in states like Texas Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida. I will say that it takes some doing though. poor guys have to uproot and store their banana plants in the winter to protect them from the elements, and replant them and nurture them back to life every spring.

Its hard to engage in some conversations here because of where i live. I don't face challenges that you guys know well, like frost. I've never had to start anything indoors. My challenge comes from all of the exotics that I grow. things that thrive in Africa and Asia and South America, that there are not always many English language resources about, and most mainlanders dont have experience with them outside perhaps the supermarket, because they just don't grow well too far north of the equator. And even with the things that do grow on the mainland, we have very different sets of problems, this thread for instance. people are having issues getting sweet potatoes started and I'm having trouble getting them to stop! LoL

In terms of climate and growing the exotics, Australia has been a great source of help in providing English language instruction.

 

[momofdrew]

well dbjay the puzzle has been solved...you are in paradise...where you can plant to your hearts content...You must have many chalenges that we do not... like insects the size of aircraft carriers but to be able to plant a tomato seed in the ground and have it grow and grow and grow WOW...
:bouquet

 

[dbjay417]

bugs aren't that bad. in terms of my crops except leaf miners. and something thats burrowing under and eating roots. It only does it in freshly turned earth though. once the rains or regular watering compacts the earth after a couple of days the critter doesn't strike anymore. My biggest issue is plant dehydration. a few sunny days will dry my soil out until it flakes and cracks. On hot hot days i water first thing in the morning and right before supper to keep everything vital. My cucumbers, i have to turn their plot into a big mud puddle so that they dont wilt in the midday sun.