Author Topic: A little success with sweet potatoes!  (Read 8974 times)

goodlife

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,649
Re: A little success with sweet potatoes!
« Reply #20 on: January 05, 2015, 20:13:05 »
Well..I did buy some sweet spuds from SM yesterday...soaked them in water for several hours, with several water changes and they are now in propagator in small dish of water...just keeping their 'toes' wet.
We'll see what happens. I did have good forage in shop...trying to find some with some 'eyes'...but none were showing any signs of sprouting, I think they are all treated...hence the soak.
They had 2 different varieties in shop...can't remember the names...but one variety was very thin and long kind of tubers and other very short and round.
I went for the stubby and round sort... :icon_cheers:
I do hope they result something this year...if only to get few own grown starter tubers for next year, they would be then more acclimatized to local condition and hopefully sprouting more readily too. :happy7:

kGarden

  • Half Acre
  • ***
  • Posts: 223
    • kGarden Blog
Re: A little success with sweet potatoes!
« Reply #21 on: January 06, 2015, 09:06:19 »
I would like to save money by using SM ones but wonder if they are suited to our climate. Just dug some more up out of the greenhouse!

I started with Supermarket ones, but they took ages to sprout - apparently they are often treated with chemicals to stop them sprouting - so you might be better off using any from home-grown?

I put 3 toothpicks into the side of the tuber and then rested them on the edge of a glass of water so the bottom of the tuber was in the water and then took the shoots off as slips to root them.

Start early perhaps to be sure you get slips in good time for planting out?

pumkinlover

  • Guest
Re: A little success with sweet potatoes!
« Reply #22 on: January 09, 2015, 10:35:20 »
I would like to save money by using SM ones but wonder if they are suited to our climate. Just dug some more up out of the greenhouse!
 :wave: Hi Saddad nice to see you posting!
Note to self.
Do not leave in the ground this long. They look OK when dug up but blotchy inside and looked unappetising  Plan B to use to sprout slips not going to work either as going mouldy.

galina

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,456
  • Johanniskirchen
Re: A little success with sweet potatoes!
« Reply #23 on: January 27, 2015, 08:02:07 »
I would like to save money by using SM ones but wonder if they are suited to our climate. Just dug some more up out of the greenhouse!
 :wave: Hi Saddad nice to see you posting!
Note to self.
Do not leave in the ground this long. They look OK when dug up but blotchy inside and looked unappetising  Plan B to use to sprout slips not going to work either as going mouldy.

That is very disappointing.  I have used commercial sweet potatoes to make my own slips.  Quite often they are labelled with their variety name, especially the ones from the organic shelf in Asda.  In Lidl they come in boxes and the variety name is printed on the outside of the box.  It is then a matter of googling the variety and a bit of research will show which varieties are early and stand a chance in the UK. 

However I have never been as successful as you have, still marvel at your harvest.   

galina

  • Hectare
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,456
  • Johanniskirchen
Re: A little success with sweet potatoes!
« Reply #24 on: January 27, 2015, 08:26:49 »
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/growing-sweet-potatoes-zm0z11zsto.aspx?PageId=1#axzz3Q0YmvbRc

An article about growing Sweet Potatoes in the 'North'.  They do mention Canada too, which is about the same latitude as England, so what is mentioned is relevant to us.

They reckon that Sweet Potatoes must be stored much warmer than ordinary potatoes and they must be cured to develop their full flavour.  Two early varieties are recommended - Georgia Jet and Beauregard.  I have seen both in supermarkets for making cheapie slips.


 

anything
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal