Kumara/Sweet potato

[Kea]

I lifted one of my kumara plants to see what was underneath. The result will be useful at halloween to hang up as witches fingers  :-[

How is everyone else doing?

[Kea]

[manicscousers]

leaving ours 'til Saddad pulls his  ;D

[Tora]

I'm resisting the temptation of digging them up... :D The plants have very healthy growth so I'm being hopeful... :)

[Kea]

I can't see which is bind weed and which is kumara at the moment. I might be lucky it might not be bindweed!

[Rosyred]

When do you plant sweet potato? Sorting out the garage I found three starting to shoot as I will plant next year. I hear they take about 3 months to grow.

[Kea]

I planted them at the end of May/early June about the same time as my squash. It has been a really bad year for squash so I'm not expecting much from the sweet potato either they both like lots of sunshine.

I wondered what would happen if i planted my 'fingers' next year assuming I managed to overwinter them without them rotting.

[Tora]

I removed a bit of soil around the roots today and found no tuber at all. :-\

Kea, I think you are better off overwintering rooted shoots indoors rather than tubers. I would eat your fingers if I were you, better than nothing! :D

[Kea]

I was going to try some for an experiment. i mean growing the fingers!

[louise stella]

leaving ours 'til Saddad pulls his  ;D

LOL

Louise

[Svea]

i have lots of growth on mine and will be lifting them as late as poss - before the first frosts.

i had over 10kg from two plants last year - even if this year's crop is slightly less prolific, i have 5 plants so we'll see. they certainly look happy enough to trail into the sqaushes and across the paths...

[Tora]

i had over 10kg from two plants last year

That's amazing! Is it normal to get that much? Ohh, you've made me all excited, Svea! :D I will be gutted if I get none...  :(

[bedrockdave]

thought of getting some to try next year . if they yield that good I'm definitely trying them . do they need any special treatment other than a sunny spot?

[Svea]

they did very well because of the hot summer last year.

they are very easy maintenance - once they have rooted (which might mean an occaional watering) they need no attention at all - even when it was very hot and dry last summer they just got on with it. they do grow in african countries so i guess they dont need molly-coddeling