Sweet potatoes........................ GRRRRRR

[Kassaundra]

I had them in mid May I was excited to get them in a little early, it was good and wet and I thought a good time to transition between slips in water and plants in dirt. They took off right away like they didn't even notice they had been moved. They were in pretty full sun, they may have had some dappling in late afternoon but not much and late.

 

[Just-Moxie]

We had never planted them before, neither my new husband nor myself. And we definitely had never tried them in SC. We just didn't have any idea what to expect. Compared to the white and red potatoes, the SP did excellent! SP are a major crop for some though, here in SC.

 

[so lucky]

Does anyone eat the SP leaves? I use them in smoothies, but never have used them steamed or "boiled." But I read they are good and also nutritious. This would be a good way of controlling the rampant over-growth of greens.

Interesting about dry weather being preferable during actual tuber growth. Does anyone know how/if the bloom time corresponds with tuber growth time?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Supposedly when they bloom is when the tubers start to thicken.

I've heard about eating them but never tried. I don't know why not. Green leafies are kind of hard in the height of summer. New Zealand spinach is the main possibility for me and I haven't grown that recently either.

 

[Just-Moxie]

I didn't try them for food...the leaves..but I tossed it all to the chickens. They love them of course.

 

[so lucky]

The leaves are certainly plentiful in summer, and the new ones on about the last 18" of vine are always tender. Certain fresh markets sell them by the pound, vines gathered up like kale or collards.

 

[Kassaundra]

I knew they are edible and nutritious, but usually feed them to my rabbits, then eat them second hand I guess???? lol

 

[Devonviolet]

I know I'm joining the party a bit late. But, we are gearing up to get our first garden in, this year, since we moved to TX (zone 9a) & moved to our little farm in January of 2015.

We grew a small plot of sweet potatoes, in PA with great success. We had very rocky soil, so dug 12" deep trenches, which we put a layer of sand, a layer of hay, compost mixed with peat, screened soil & organic dry fertilizer & kind of mixed it up before planting our slips. We didn't know how to do our own slips, and could only get 25 slips at the local garden center.

We didn't have a lot of room, since we were using two 20X20' Community garden plots. So we just did three 15' rows 2' apart. Three of our slips died, so we had 22 plants that did well. Since this was our first attempt, we were pleased with the outcome - about 75 pounds.

Here in NE Texas we have 6-8" of sandy loam on top of clay. With all the rain we have been getting, the clay seems to be continually soggy. We dug a 10X12' garden for winter vegetables, with a digging fork. The clay was too wet & heavy to turn. So we just mixed some of our compost, which we started last summer, into the top 6 inches of dirt.

I saw something online, that looks interesting, and we thought we would try it this year & I'm wondering if anyone has ever grown sweet potatoes this way?

Start with 4 6' posts in the ground. Build a raised bed that is 4'X4'X6" with dirt in it. Plant your slips. When the runners grow add a layer of boards to the posts using screws. Fill straw around the runners, leaving leaves exposed. Let them grow. Add boards, straw & repeat. When ready to harvest, remove the boards & reach in to the straw to get the potatoes. So, essentially you end up with a tower of potatoes.

I would think watering would be from the top & you could remove a side board to check for moisture level.

From what I read, potatoes form on the stems when they are covered with straw.

 

[so lucky]

I have seen that method and similar methods for Irish potatoes, but not for sweet potatoes. I don't know if the way SP tubers grow would be benefitted by covering up the growing vines like it does with Irish. SP tubers sprawl out from the main root with secondary roots. Might be interesting to try that with a few, and see what happens.

 

[catjac1975]

I don't think my chickens like my sp leaves. If you have along growing season covering the vines to root should give you more sweets. In the north our season is too short for them to develop.