Topic: Sweet Potato the results

[Digeroo]

In the dance off were Stokes Purple from Waitrose which I chitted and then potted on and Beauregard which I bought as plugs.

So with frost looming I got out my spade on Saturday.  The Purples did the best in terms of foliage and there was a good mass of leaves.  I was getting excited.

Queue music....
Going home is...  more music.

Well it was a total failure.  I got one potato purple about the size of my pinky.  And three small pieces of the Beau total size about half a golf ball.  And I managed to slice off a piece of purple but never found the other half of it.

They were fed, and watered, they were covered in a plastic cloche.  And nothing.  Not even one decent sized one.   A big waste of space.

So if I want sweet potatoes I shall buy them from the supermarket.

[pumkinlover]

I think I reached that conclusion too !

[squeezyjohn]

I haven't picked my (probably tiny) harvest yet.  But I did discover very recently that the leaves are a tasty spinach substitute or addition to a salad ... so I might well try again with that in mind.

[BarriedaleNick]

Mine were pretty bad but they got off to a bad start with awful plugs from two well know companies.
However given the time they were in and the late start they got I was mildly happy  - a couple of meals worth.  I think they like a nice open soil structure so I am going to prep a bed for next year with sand and compost to see if I can get a better result.

[Plot22]

I tried Sweet potatoes 2 years running. First year slips from T&M and the second year my own slips . Terrible results the ones from T&M provided a couple of meals but at a silly cost but my own were a complete disaster . One they take up too much room, two the cost and three we just have not got the warm climate that they need throughout their growing life. Nice to try something new but after a couple of tries which were unsuccessful give up and move on to something else.

[hartshay]

I tried Beauregard from slips a few years ago.  They took up half a 10x20 polytunnel up all summer and did produce a good few tubers...however the taste was very poor and yield really not worth it for the cost of the slips plus the area of a productive tunnel used up....

[saddad]

I have two in the poly I'm going to dig out soon... not holding my breath though!

[Digeroo]

If its leaves you want, then I can recommend chitting the Waitrose purple ones, I got loads.  The vines were several feet long, half of one potatos yielded quite a few plants.
Especially now I have worked out how to do it.  I could not work out which end was which, so in the end cut a potato in half and put them end down in water, one chitted and I ate the other one.   They did very well with 8 litre plastic bottles really produced leaves fast.  I think I would try that if I was after leaves, does not take up much room.
I read that you are supposed to cure sweet potatoes in a warm damp environment to bring out the sweet taste.

[squeezyjohn]

Hmmm ... it does begin to sound like more trouble than it's worth!

Do any of you know what's the best time to encourage sweet potatoes to sprout and get the slips to take?  Is it a spring thing, or should you start earlier?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Has anyone produced good-tasting leaves? I'd be more interested in these than the roots, which are cheap enough in the market.

[Digeroo]

Sorry no idea I did not eat the leaves.  I do not eat much raw green stuff.

I started mine off in about Feb on a sunnywindowsill, it was some time before they sprouted.   I had one end in water but not sure it was the right one did not get much action until I cut one in half.  They were quite slow growing to start with.  Then I put the root into the top of some compost and it grew roots quite fast.