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Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: caz 406 on May 21, 2005, 19:47:40
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I'm expecting delivery of 20 sweet potato slips from T+M any day now. Have never grown them before. Have read they are best planted through black plastic. Has anyone else grown them? Any suggestions gratefully received please... :)
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i have never grown them but want to next year can you keep us updated with your progress
please ;D
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At last my 20 sweet potato slips have arrived from T&M today ;D There is a an instruction leaflet saying best to plant through black polythene. Can't get to lottie until Monday so any useful info or advice would be welcome please..... :)
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Mine from T&M haven't arrived yet, so I shall keep my fingers crossed that they arrive after the bank holiday. never grown them before either so can't give any advice. Good luck though. :)
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Well have just come back from putting them in. Have taken photo but can't find camera lead to upload it....
They look quite pathetic little things so fingers crossed they will be ok.
Ani - have to let me know how yours look when you get them, be good to compare notes :)
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Will do, when /if they ever arrive! Excuse my ignorance but I thought they would look just like a sweet potato, I obviously didn't do enough research before I ordered them ???
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Must admit I didn't know what they would look like either ::) ;D. They are just a stem with a few little roots and a couple of leaves. About 6-8 inches long altogether. They came on Friday in a cardboard box through the normal post. When I opened it they looked really sick - very limp. They were just wrapped in a plastic bag inside the box. We were going away for the weekend so I left them in water until today and they had perked up quite a bit.
I hadn't got any black polythene but had got a big roll of black anti-weed fabric so I've planted them through that....hope it will be sufficient :-\
Oh well, it's all a big experiment ;D
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still no sweet potatoes from T&M :'(
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I should chase them on Mon if you still haven't had them. Some of mine are looking a bit sick. The slugs are all over them and it looks like the pigeons have had a go at them too! Have been watering them like mad but they look quite pathetic still ???
Apparenly there is an article in the new Gardeners World magazine about them - will have a look when I visit the parents tomorrow.
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I enjoy 'pushing the envelope' about what I can grow in our zone 8 gardens up here, and am following your sagas about the sweet potatoes with interest. They're tropical plants, like taro and yams... and I'm really impressed that they're growing at ALL for you guys! You give me hope =)
I wonder if possibly they'd do better under black plastic in your greenhouses? I'm not surprised the slugs and pigeons are having a field day on them though.. they've probably never seen such a sumptuous banquet, the thieving little sods!! =(
Keep posting about it though please, I am very interested and you're all inspiring me to try things I've never thought of trying before. I developed a real taste for sweet potatoes when I lived in America...candied/caramelised with demerara sugar, they're a staple of American Thanksgiving dinner =) (yum yum yum).
Annie in Norway
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when and if mine arrive I think I will try some under black plastic and some under weed control fabric. Unfortunatley I don't have a greenhouse so thats not an option.
I'll keep posting on progress (or lack of it!) :(
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There is a great recipe in weightwatchers.co.uk for spinach and potato soup. I substitute sweet potato for the ordinary ones and it is gorgous. Popeye would love it. If you cant get into bthe site I can always try to put it on here. :)
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Thanks Glyn, I'll try that when I'm inundated with sweet potatoes. ;D (got to be positive)
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Still no sweet potatoes despite 3 phone calls >:(
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i have nice recipe for African sweet potatoe curry :)
thought about growing them myself but I reckon Fife is too cold
Mags
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I grew mine from a sweet potato from the supermarket - couldn't afford the prices of the slips.
Put it in a bag of wet vermiculite and kept it very moist.
I now have 8 "slips" which I have rooted in compost which are each about 20cm long and it has only cost me the price of a single sweet potato and they aren't droopy - they look quite happy.
I will let you know what the crop is like - I am planting them in barrels in a South facing garden rather than on the lottie.
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Hip hip hooray ;D ;D my S P slips arrived today.
Having no idea what they are meant to looK like, to me these appear ok with several leaves each and only a touch droopy. There again so would I be if I'd travelled in a cardboard box half way across Britain :)
Unfortunately having read the instructions I'm still in the dark as to where the potato grows from. Do I just get one SP per slip or do quite a few grow off each root?
Can I grow them in a builders sack? How many?
mitzzy, is your recipe on the recipe forum?
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I think I did post it there :)
It really yummy :)
mags
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You should get a few per root - but they will not be as large as the supermarket ones. Frost will kill plants off but they need a very long hot season to do well.
I am growing in barrels so I guess large rubble sacks will be OK. Don't forget the plants are like morning glory - they grow fast and will need supporting with canes or similar.
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caz 406, have you taken a piccy yet of your sweet potatoes? Mine have arrived but I'm not sure where to put them. ???
Looking on the web it looks as if they are grown in rows.
It was mentioned on here that they need support, but looking at pics there didn't seem to be any.
need to plant tomorrow so any suggestions would be welcomed :)
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Yes - if you are growing them in the greenhouse border or open ground then grow in rows - support as for runner beans as they twine around canes.
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Spent the morning planting my SP slips under black plastic. Some of them look as if they need a lot of TLC but I've got my fingers crossed that when I go down tomorrow they will look a bit perkier :)
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Ani, ooooh glad they have arrived at last! :D Be great to compare notes. I've just (half an hour ago) come back from a week in Spain 8) and apparently my SP's are looking bloomin dodgy according to my dad. :( He reckons they are still looking really sick, spindly and generally pretty hopeless! Can't wait to get down there to have a look for myself. It's been pretty warm and Dad has been watering them regularly for me so don't know what else I could do with them - any ideas? ??? Caz
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I grew up in Kenya, I remember that the local 'shambas' were always covered with sweet potatoes.
I know they like to be sun baked, they were never supported to grow vertically, just romped off across the plot. They put out a prodigeous amounts of foliage too.
I cannot remember if they were grown in rows, but it is easier I suppose when it comes to digging the harvest. ;D
It's far too late for me to grom them this year, sadly my newly accquired plot is STILL 3' under grass despite loads of promisses of a man with a strimmer. :'(
WHICH variety do you all grow? Pink or red?
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I grow an orange looking type - from the supermarket.
Plants now a metre tall.
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I still haven't been able to buy any. Can i use the organic ones from the supermarket? and am I too late to plant?
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Too late for this year now unless you can get some slips - they need a long growing season and should be in the ground by now.
My advice to you is this:
Buy about three sweet potatoes in late January and a big bag of vermiculite. Bury the potatoes in the vermiculite and keep it very moist in a warm light place (we have a boiler room with a window which is south facing and this is ideal).
Roots will appear. These will be followed by shoots (slips).
When these are 20-30cm high pick them off (as you pick them off - more will grow so you get a series to plant)where they meet the sweet potato and plant them into compost (I use a dustbin) and keep them hot and well watered (greenhouse is ideal). You can also grow them in greenhouse borders and depending where you are in the UK - even outside in a compost filled trench. They grow very tall and are twiny like runner beans. You will NOT get a huge crop and they will not be big like supermarket ones but they will be worthwhile.
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Checked mine today having planted them under black plastic at the week end. 8 of them seem to like their new home and I'm hoping the other two will settle in soon.
I've decided to coil the foliage round and round as I don't have enough canes for them to grow up.
Will take pics and now that my son has just sat his last GCSE he may have time to help me post them.
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Can't believe that the previous post worked as I've been trying to post on this topic for 4 days and it's come up with forbidden each time.
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I am sure they will be fine. They do grow roots quite fast once in compost and kept warm. They will love this weather.
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Ani - glad to hear yours are surviving. Mine are too. Some of them were chewed to bits but seem to have revived somehow - they must be pretty resilient. Will try to get photos on here in next few days.
WSL - I didn't realise they grew that tall. Mine are between about five and eight inches tall. A couple of them are quite bushy but some are still a bit puny with only a few leaves.
Caz :)
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Keep them well watered and feed them with a general purpose feed (seaweed based is good). Give them something to twine up and when they have a hot spell for a few days they will grow like crazy.
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mine arrived a couple of weeks ago, I've kept them well watered and most of them look okay but still very small. I wonder if there's going to be enough time for them to grow and produce anything worthwhile. I would have preferred to receive them earlier and plant out with cloche protection. Next year I'll be growing my own slips so that I can get an earlier start.
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All mine have taken, even the two that I thought wouldn't. They haven't been nibble by anything thank goodness.
They are still pretty slow growing at the moment but I'm hoping for great things over the next couple of weeks.
Miserable teen son won't help me post pics :'(
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Ani, I'd love to see your photos, mine look so small and piddly. If you email them to me I'll post them for you if you like. Let me know if you want me to and I'll pm you my email address. :)
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Thanks for offer, I'll get onto it tomorrow as I've got a day off :)
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Finally bribed my son with a litre of Mascpone ice cream to help me with pics :) Trouble is he was so fast that he'd finished while I blinked so don't know if I'll be able to do it on my own.
Could be expensive this picture posting ;D
(http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/5919/sweetpotato9jv.jpg)
(http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7862/sweetpotato27pu.jpg)
These were taken 6 days ago.
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Thats interesting. Mine are much taller - but the leaves are much smaller. Could easily be because mine are from a supermarket sweet potato - not purchased slips.
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Ani your plants are bigger than mine. Did they arrive around that size or have they grown since you planted them. Mine arrived quite small and haven't done much growing at all, but it's only been a couple of weeks.
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Ani - yours look a bit taller than mine but otherwise much the same. Mine have generated quite a lot of ineterest from other plot holders and one kind person left a photocopy of some info on growing them in Dad's greenhouse for me. It says in the UK you should twirl them around (as you had suggested) rather than letting them twine upwards because that would help with the yield apparently???
I'm also going to do my own slips - well that is if I get any SPs from these ::), and start them earlier next year. This info sheet said they could be harvested from about 12 weeks. Mine have been in for about four weeks and unless they grow like mad I can't see me harvesting much in another 8 weeks time! :)
I want to put photos on too but the other half is more interested in building his racing kit car than helping me out!
Caz :)
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A chap on our allotment site grew them a while back.
He tried some under black plastic, and the crop was zilch.
The ones he put in the soil (nice soft good soil) did really well. They do have leaves like Morning Glory, but I don't think they are meant to climb, as the sweet potatoes grow underground like ordinary spuds. His leaves spread over a wide area of the ground. He planted them about 1 metre apart and the ground was covered with leaves by the end of the season. The size of them was like large baking potato size.
I hope this helps.
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Jessevieve, when I got mine they were only twiggy things 5" long with a couple of leaves.
Caz, Thanks for the info. If I don't get a good crop then it will have been an expensive experiment, but that's what it's all about, trial and error.
Please Caz's OH, help her post some pics. Racing car Kits can be built any time whereas sweet potatoes are time specific. :)
I'll try and keep you updated on progress.
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This is really interesting stuff people. Please keep the postings going for I would love to find out your results and follow progress - especially if the self grown slips work. Iain
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Hi, just an update on my SPs - they are still alive! They haven't grown very much but are a little bushier and appear healthy - but small. There were a few that the slugs had attacked and I thought would die but covered them with cut-off water bottles and they have all recovered :D and are still growing - but very small.
How are everyone else's getting on?
Caz
p.s. still no pics - OH is keeping camera hostage in the garage so he can photograph progress of his "build"!! ::)
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Mine have started to sprawl a bit and although they've grown a fair bit they still look rather small, I don't hold much hope of them producing anything before the first frosts arrive. I'll try again next year but by producing my own slips and start them off much earlier under cloche protection. :-\
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mine are over 1 metre long or tall - some sprawl and some climb. They are not very "bushy". Too early to say if I will get a crop this year but they do need a lot of watering.
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How much leaf do they have? I'd be inclined to try them for that alone, given the way Namissa prizes potato leaf.
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Not a great deal of leaves but a lot of stems.
You could grow lots to get leaves and plant them closer together if you were using them for leaves rather than tubers.
You can get around 20 clips off of one shop bought sweet potato so it could be a worthwhile crop.
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Bushy v climbing
I think the wild ones scramble along the ground throwing out roots + therefore tubers where they root.
Because of the climate, growing up support, or over black plastic has been advised to stop the plant putting down too much root + trying to produce too many tubers (less tubers, but usable ones is the result).
As the TM ones appear to be bushier than the home produced slips, it's likely they've been bread to be more bushy + less sprawling + therefore more likely to produce a crop in the country/climate.
Hope that helps
D
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Ooooh - I've got about a foot of trailing foliage! ;D ;D ;D
They are looking a lot bushier and one plant is trailing. None of them are more than a foot tall though.
Progress........
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I guess it depends what you count as "usable".
The ones I got in previous years were quite small tubers but were delicious and no smaller than large new potatoes.
I think the secret is to give them lots of water to get them established and good heat levels.
I suspect the T & M slips are more productive - but personally I refuse to spend that much money on what we use as a non-essential crop.
Actually getting the tuber from the supermarket to produce slips is kind of magical - as they suddenly shoot up just as you think they aren't going to do anything at all!
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Mine is about two foot, I planted it in a big pot so its sprawling over the top and onto the tomatoes. I don't know when I should take a slip, and how will we know when there is a good size tuber. I would hate for the plant to die off without me taking some healthy slips.. Please help!! thanks guys.
AC
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Mine are sprawling along the pluck plastic, some about 3'.
Because they are under plastic I neglected to water them after the first 2 weeks! Hope this hasn't proved too detrimental.
I'm waiting for someone else to say they have harvested theirs before I look at mine ;D Will they be damaged by frost do you think?
I will try and grow my own slips next year as T&M were expensive.
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Ok Silly question, how do i take slips off?
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I dug up one sweet potato plant yesterday to check their size, here is a photo with a 2p coin for scale. They're still quite small, although useable. Most of the sizing in sweet potatoes takes place in the last 2 or 3 weeks so those of you in the south might get a reasonable crop before the first frosts. The leaves on my plants have been slightly scorched by frost, watch the weather and get them covered if necessary.
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They look lovely. Do you have to store them for a few weeks before eating them so thy develop their sweetness? not sure if I read this somewhere.
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I also read that somewhere ani. I'll be storing these for a few weeks before eating them and will report back with a taste verdict! ;D
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I know this sounds like a dumb question but when should you dig them up? Do you have to wait for the leaves to wither or do you just have a look or what??
Mine are trrailing really well now - at long last! :)