Search
Latest topics
» New to Forum and SFG 15" raised bed foundationby clphelps97 Yesterday at 6:13 pm
» N&C Midwest: June 2023
by sanderson Yesterday at 4:32 pm
» Tea Time -- Compost Tea, that is
by sanderson Yesterday at 4:23 pm
» What are you eating from your garden today?
by sanderson Yesterday at 4:18 pm
» Kiwi's SFG Adventure
by sanderson Yesterday at 4:09 pm
» Easy Refrigerator Pickles from Extra Produce
by sanderson Yesterday at 3:29 pm
» Frequency/amount to water
by lisawallace88 6/8/2023, 3:12 pm
» Mulch around garlic
by Scorpio Rising 6/8/2023, 10:19 am
» Birds of the Garden
by Scorpio Rising 6/7/2023, 9:21 pm
» Paul's First SFGs
by pkadare 6/7/2023, 4:38 pm
» What Have You Picked From Your Garden Today
by Scorpio Rising 6/6/2023, 11:58 pm
» Famous Gardening Quotes
by OhioGardener 6/5/2023, 10:18 am
» Hello from Central Missouri, Zone 6a
by Scorpio Rising 6/3/2023, 3:48 pm
» N&C Midwest: May 2023
by OhioGardener 6/1/2023, 8:55 pm
» Walking stick kale
by sanderson 5/31/2023, 1:38 pm
» Why Letting Weeds Run Wild Can Actually Help Your Garden
by sanderson 5/30/2023, 2:35 pm
» Teaming with Microbes Kindle Sale (Mem. Day weekend 2023)
by sanderson 5/29/2023, 3:14 pm
» Mid-Atlantic New Host Intro & Info
by JAM23 5/29/2023, 8:38 am
» Poppy seeds - Hungarian Blue Breadseed
by AtlantaMarie 5/28/2023, 6:12 am
» Sluggo Plus
by sanderson 5/27/2023, 3:23 pm
» Centpedes
by OhioGardener 5/25/2023, 6:19 pm
» beneficial nematodes
by OhioGardener 5/24/2023, 9:18 pm
» Senseless Banter...
by markqz 5/24/2023, 5:39 pm
» Pre-Filling a 30" Raised Bed
by toledobend 5/24/2023, 1:10 pm
» Happy Birthday!!
by AtlantaMarie 5/24/2023, 7:03 am
» Aphids & Their Predators
by MrBooker 5/24/2023, 6:01 am
» Hello from Bobcaygeon, Ontario
by Scorpio Rising 5/20/2023, 1:52 pm
» Spring Flowers
by OhioGardener 5/18/2023, 6:23 pm
» My Solar Dehydrator at Work
by sanderson 5/18/2023, 3:10 pm
» French Tarragon
by sanderson 5/18/2023, 12:41 pm
Google
Sweet Potatoes
+3
countrynaturals
sanderson
Mellen
7 posters
Page 1 of 1
Sweet Potatoes
Does anyone in CA zone 9 (I'm in Visalia) grow sweet potatoes? When do you start your slips? When do you plant them out? When do you harvest? (How's that for a bunch of questions!)
I've been researching. Based on what I've read I could start slips now, plant them out in September and harvest in December after the first light frost?
Thanks!

I've been researching. Based on what I've read I could start slips now, plant them out in September and harvest in December after the first light frost?
Thanks!
Mellen-
Posts : 128
Join date : 2016-03-20
Age : 74
Location : Visalia CA-Zone 9b
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Fresno here. I haven't heard of planting in Sept. Maybe someone else will come along who knows more than me. Like, most everyone else!
Last year was my first experiment with SP. I had 2 totes of sweet potatoes. I started the slips from 2 potatoes cut in half and suspended in water with toothpicks in Feb-March? When they had slips with roots, I planted them (after last chance of frost). Harvested in late October when the plants were basically dead and all I had were fingerlings.
They spent a couple months without good sun. This year I have them in a better location where they will have sun until harvest time. May 5, 2016, 

Last year was my first experiment with SP. I had 2 totes of sweet potatoes. I started the slips from 2 potatoes cut in half and suspended in water with toothpicks in Feb-March? When they had slips with roots, I planted them (after last chance of frost). Harvested in late October when the plants were basically dead and all I had were fingerlings.


Re: Sweet Potatoes
Thanks Sanderson. I had a feeling I was too late. Research told me the potato slips would be ready in 12 weeks; the potatoes ready 120 days after that. Guess they weren't talking about our area.
It did say that leaving them in the ground until after the 1st light frost would make them sweeter?
Love the tote idea. Holes in the bottom? Mel's mix or something else? In one blog it said they planted them in horse manure. My kinda guy. Am I the only one who thinks horses & their poop smells just fine?
My sister & I see someone with a horse, we always ask if we can smell him. I do have a source for LOTS of horse poop!
It did say that leaving them in the ground until after the 1st light frost would make them sweeter?
Love the tote idea. Holes in the bottom? Mel's mix or something else? In one blog it said they planted them in horse manure. My kinda guy. Am I the only one who thinks horses & their poop smells just fine?

Mellen-
Posts : 128
Join date : 2016-03-20
Age : 74
Location : Visalia CA-Zone 9b
Re: Sweet Potatoes
I would go ahead and have some fun trying them anyway. You will learn a lot, even if all you get are fingerlings.Mellen wrote:Thanks Sanderson. I had a feeling I was too late. Research told me the potato slips would be ready in 12 weeks; the potatoes ready 120 days after that. Guess they weren't talking about our area.
Holes in the bottom, lined with weed fabric, filled with MM and maybe some extra rich compost. Straw mulch when it gets hot to slow evaporation. I love horse manure and use it as a green in my hot compost piles. I love the smell of horses, also. I think it is a girl thing. I got a Morgan when I was 14.Love the tote idea. Holes in the bottom? Mel's mix or something else? In one blog it said they planted them in horse manure. My kinda guy. Am I the only one who thinks horses & their poop smells just fine?My sister & I see someone with a horse, we always ask if we can smell him. I do have a source for LOTS of horse poop!
Re: Sweet Potatoes
I was raised in Ash Mountain, Three Rivers, and Sequoia National Park (summers). My father was in charge of the stock used in the back country; next door was Wolverton Pack Station run by the Maloy's. Wonderful way to spend summers. People would come up to rent horses and say "Ewww....what's that smell". We would be "what smell?". Love it!
I'm going to get a load of manure & run it down the side of my house (not too close) in the back yard, to compost over the winter. Hope for lots of worms & good stuff to plant sweet potatoes in next year. It's on the west side so will get lots of sun for them.
I think I'll follow your suggestion & try anyway now. I file those experiments in the "shoot & holler" file. I'll let you know what I get. If nothing else, maybe a few seed potatoes for next year? Start them for slips in February, right?
Thanks again!
I'm going to get a load of manure & run it down the side of my house (not too close) in the back yard, to compost over the winter. Hope for lots of worms & good stuff to plant sweet potatoes in next year. It's on the west side so will get lots of sun for them.
I think I'll follow your suggestion & try anyway now. I file those experiments in the "shoot & holler" file. I'll let you know what I get. If nothing else, maybe a few seed potatoes for next year? Start them for slips in February, right?
Thanks again!
Mellen-
Posts : 128
Join date : 2016-03-20
Age : 74
Location : Visalia CA-Zone 9b
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Summers in Sequoia with horses! I planted 6 of the fingerlings this spring as an experiment. Multiple shoots came up so I had to thin them to just 6 for the size of the tote! Shoot and holler. 
PS: Just thinking. You could add some fall leaves in to the manure row.

PS: Just thinking. You could add some fall leaves in to the manure row.
Re: Sweet Potatoes
I plan on doing just that. I have a gardener who does my front yard, but insists on pesticides on the lawn so he doesn't carry my weeds to the next customer. I understand that, but it's why I am keeping him out of my BACK yard. No pesticides allowed! I can, however, rake the leaves before he gets to them....and add them to my pile. I'm already planning on hitting up the neighbors this fall also. I hope for lots of leaves!sanderson wrote:
PS: Just thinking. You could add some fall leaves in to the manure row.
Mellen-
Posts : 128
Join date : 2016-03-20
Age : 74
Location : Visalia CA-Zone 9b
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Mellen, sweet potatoes actually do better in slightly poor soil. If you get it too nitrogen rich, you'll get loads of vines and small tubers. My first few experiments went that way. The containers grew like mad, I had vines everywhere and when I pulled about the container, it was a mass of threads but very few and very small tubers.
No_Such_Reality-
Posts : 664
Join date : 2011-04-22
Location : Orange County, CA aka Disneyland or Sunset zone 22
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Here I am thinking I'm preparing the perfect bed for my sweet potatoes. I guess I'll go back to the drawing board. Thanks for the heads up!
Mellen-
Posts : 128
Join date : 2016-03-20
Age : 74
Location : Visalia CA-Zone 9b
Roseinarosecity-
Posts : 315
Join date : 2011-08-14
Location : 10a - San Gabriel Valley - Pasadena, California
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Ooo, I LOVE IT!

Re: Sweet Potatoes
OH MY GOSH ROSE! You planted eyes instead of slips? Everything I've read says to grow the slips & plant them. You did yours like regular potatoes, right? How deep did you plant them?
I think I'll take mine out of the water and bury them now, then try the slips next year. What a harvest!
The rest of the photos that have been posted are great. Totes, coal buckets. My brother has some oak half barrels he is going to give me. I was going to use those.
This is FUN!!!
I think I'll take mine out of the water and bury them now, then try the slips next year. What a harvest!
The rest of the photos that have been posted are great. Totes, coal buckets. My brother has some oak half barrels he is going to give me. I was going to use those.
This is FUN!!!

Mellen-
Posts : 128
Join date : 2016-03-20
Age : 74
Location : Visalia CA-Zone 9b
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Hi Rose!
Melen, I planted one tote with slips and one tote with SP fingerlings with eyes. I can't tell the totes apart now unless I dig down to find a fingerling. Just try it. You may get a surprise this late fall.

Melen, I planted one tote with slips and one tote with SP fingerlings with eyes. I can't tell the totes apart now unless I dig down to find a fingerling. Just try it. You may get a surprise this late fall.

Re: Sweet Potatoes
Mellen,
I didn't know about slips, so I planted like a potato. I probably planted each at 3 inches deep and covered with compost. I got to see them flower! It was like a small Morning Glory flower. I harvested on November 8. I let them dry out outside for a day, then I brought them indoors until Thanksgiving day. There was so much info about curing them, but I didn't have the right conditions or patience to cure for months. I think folks here also said they don't cure like the commercial growers cure.
On Thanksgiving day, we prepared them in a casserole. They were delicious!
The real reason I wanted to grow sweet potatoes was to eat the leaves, but I was too chicken to try the leaves for fear I bought the wrong sweet potatoes. Anyone out there eat the sweet potato leaves?
I said I was going to do slips for the next year but that year is now here and I never started for slips. Since they need 150 days to grow them, we could plant before the month is over and eat them for Christmas.
Good luck!
I didn't know about slips, so I planted like a potato. I probably planted each at 3 inches deep and covered with compost. I got to see them flower! It was like a small Morning Glory flower. I harvested on November 8. I let them dry out outside for a day, then I brought them indoors until Thanksgiving day. There was so much info about curing them, but I didn't have the right conditions or patience to cure for months. I think folks here also said they don't cure like the commercial growers cure.
On Thanksgiving day, we prepared them in a casserole. They were delicious!
The real reason I wanted to grow sweet potatoes was to eat the leaves, but I was too chicken to try the leaves for fear I bought the wrong sweet potatoes. Anyone out there eat the sweet potato leaves?
I said I was going to do slips for the next year but that year is now here and I never started for slips. Since they need 150 days to grow them, we could plant before the month is over and eat them for Christmas.
Good luck!
Roseinarosecity-
Posts : 315
Join date : 2011-08-14
Location : 10a - San Gabriel Valley - Pasadena, California
Re: Sweet Potatoes
Hi Rose!
This year is my first time growing sweet potatoes, I just planted slips today. Very sad slips, that I got for free when I intended to purchase them because they were in bad shape. And after I waited a few days, very, very bad shape, and extremely stinky.
They hardly have roots, much less leaves. I read the eating the greens thing, but had forgotten, thanks for the reminder! Guess I'll see what happens. Best case, I need to thin the survivors and have leaves to try. Worst case, I find out whether my preferred place to shop still has some winter squash seedlings to take up the growing space.
Morning glories are in the Ipomoea genus. My loose understanding is the right sweet potatoes would be any Ipomoea batatas (which would be expected to have morning glory like flowers) - and the wrong ones would be yams (Dioscora sp.) Is this different than your understanding? Your picture looks like Ipomoea batatas and not like Dioscora sp.
This year is my first time growing sweet potatoes, I just planted slips today. Very sad slips, that I got for free when I intended to purchase them because they were in bad shape. And after I waited a few days, very, very bad shape, and extremely stinky.

Morning glories are in the Ipomoea genus. My loose understanding is the right sweet potatoes would be any Ipomoea batatas (which would be expected to have morning glory like flowers) - and the wrong ones would be yams (Dioscora sp.) Is this different than your understanding? Your picture looks like Ipomoea batatas and not like Dioscora sp.
BeetlesPerSqFt-
Posts : 1439
Join date : 2016-04-11
Location : Port Matilda, PA Zone 5b/6a LF:5/11-FF:10/10
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
|
|