"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ps.com...

Bob Hobden wrote:
Ours have grown so well this year and have spread all over the place so
we
are hoping for a decent crop unlike the one previous time we tried them
(provided the slugs haven't feasted).
So when do we harvest?
Do we wait for the first frost to kill off the foliage or just dig them
up
ASAP?
How do we store them over winter?
and provided it's worth repeating the exercise.....
Is it possible to save some plants for next years planting?

I thought sweet potatoes were a tropical veg? Could you tell me more
on how you grew them?

Cat(h)

Yams are a tropical vegetable however sweet potatoes are not related to
yams.

They are tropical and sub tropical but require warm climates and hate frost.
In New Zealand we call sweet Potatoes Kumara and they are the nicest
vegetable around. They make excellent chipping or baked in place of baked
potato.

Kumara can be dug when the plants have turned yellow and started to die
down. If a frost comes along they should be dug immediately. They need about
5 months from planting to mature.

They should be dried in a heap 6-7 days and covered at night if left
outdoors. Store them in a dry warm place in hessian sacks if available.

If kept over winter, tubers can be propogated by burying the kumara in a box
of moist sand placed in a warm spot apparently. Have not tried that however.

rob