starting sweet potato

[Leecy]

Tullymoor wrote:

You revive a thread from 2005 to ask that?? :lol::clap::lol:

I was having trouble cos I lived in Port Fairy at the time. No probs sprouting and growing here :tup:

Well why start a whole new thread when there is already one there!! I was going back through all the old ones to brush up on some info and that reminded me cos I’ve been meaning to ask for a while. :shy:

I really dont see why you can’t just put the whole thing in the ground like a potato… seems a more natural way to me. But if thats how it is then I guess i’ll try that :geek:

[gardenaholic]

That is what I did but I told to make sure it was an organic one as they spray them with something to stop them sprouting so I was told. Anyway it is working and is still growing despite the cold. Dont know whether I will get any tubers though

[bushy]

I told you in 2005 how to grow sweet potatoes successfully, what part of that was too hard to follow ??

I think my sweet potatoes, all 5 varieties, are SUCCESSFUL as I sell them at the markets every week.

[Leecy]

bushy wrote:

I told you in 2005 how to grow sweet potatoes successfully, what part of that was too hard to follow ??

I think my sweet potatoes, all 5 varieties, are SUCCESSFUL as I sell them at the markets every week.

Lol… I was just asking if thats how everyone else does it, or if there was a less fiddly way. Seems there isn’t!

[stark2]

some people hey bushy,you try to help but seems they just dont wanna listen:rip:

[Leecy]

**looks around for ‘the bird’ emoticon….**

[Leecy]

how long until my sweet potato shoots? all the ones i left in the cupboard to shoot just went all soft and rotten, i have one cut in half, on some damp paper towel on the window sill, hopefully this will work. Cant see anything yet tho.

Really want to get these going so I can stop buying them. Alternately is there anyone local who wants to swap some cuttings for something else?

[smiffy]

Bushy ..6 months ago I followed your instruction , Had 2 sweet potato that were shooting I cut the end off the one that was shooting and planted it ….then thought what the hell I will plant the other half too even though it wasn’t shooting . I also get light frosts

so I had 4 bits in the ground 2 with shoots and 2 without . They all grew and I have been harvesting sweet potatos as I need them . The vines did get shrivelled with the frost I just cut them back and they don’t seem to mind . I have left smaller tubers in the ground so they will shoot up when it gets warmer.

I have found they are easy just plant , water and forget .

[Leecy]

THink I might do that smiffy, I’ve been trying to get them to shoot for months and they just end up going squidgy :rip: might be too humid to do that here.

They are going in the ground this arvo!!

[bushy]

smiffy, you’re right ,they will all grow, however if you bought them you can eat the part not shooting. As for leaving small ones in the ground, you will get quicker results from rooted runners, which you will have plenty of as you have been harvesting them

Elice, the reason why they are not shooting now is its winter and not their growing season, if you lived in the tropics be OK. Still wont hurt to plant now as they will sit there till spring, I dont harvest mine until I need them, as they keep better in the ground than in your pantry.

[bplum]

I just put pieces of sprouted tubers (orange ones) into the ground & they have spread every which way . . . . but, some questions . . . are the leaves edible? How do i know when / where a tuber might be? Are they heavy feeders? I rather like the ground cover effect, but will i be sorry that I have let them loose, as a couple of people have told me (they are spreading thru the ornamental garden bed, not in the vege patch. . . . and under a lime tree).

[bplum]

Reid_alderbooks – that story really touched me. We travelled the remains of the railway to the Burma border last year, as DH & a friend’s uncle were in the same camp at Songkurai. I will never forget that trip. Its stories like this that keep the memory of the men who worked on that railway alive. Thanks.

[starruby]

Hi Elliceh, I just bought some, cut them in half and stuck in in the ground. I’m a real impatient gardener (I envy all you people who have patience) They sprouted everywhere pretty quickly from memory!There is a lot of vine at the moment but I haven’t dug it up to see whats below the ground. Maybe I’ll break some shoots off and put them in a glass of water and see how that works too.

[bushy]

If anyone watched the last Gardening Australia you would have seen them recomend the best way to spread sweet potatoes is by rooted end runners and planted the way I explained above.

Starruby, why would you try getting shoots to root in a glass of water when you already have vines growing?? just snap off the rooted ends and plant. Wont hurt fruit production, will quickly grow more.

bplum, the leaves or mainly the runner tips are delicious stirfried or in soups, we use them all the time.

When the spuds are ready they usually push up the soil or even break thru, mostly they will be in clumps.

Also, there are many varieties of sweet potato, try some others rather than the woolworths orange ones, much better tasting and textured varieties available

[myco]

I always thought that melbourne would be too cold for growing sweet potato, but around march I had one sitting in my cupboard for too long and it sprouted enormously. so much so that it was starting to grow leaves! I popped it in the ground and threw a couple of tyres on top in hope it would stay a bit warmer. And to my delight it went crazy. I didn’t dare tell it it was in melbourne or enduring the middle of winter. This continued until probably the past month when it’s been quite frosty and it’s been dying back. There’s still a little green, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for warmer times to bring it back. I’ve not really looked much into growing sweet potatoes up until now, so didn’t know about separating the shoots, but i’ll know for next time. 🙂

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