I harvested the sweet potatoes this morning. We had a 25' row, about 3/4 regular yellow and the rest white sweet potatoes. The yellow did very well, we got at least 20# of good sized potatoes, but the white ones only produced two medium sized and the rest were just little shriveled ones, same as last year.

Does anyone have the secret to growing white sweet potatoes? They're very good when baked but our recent crops have been too small for baking.

Paul

Pavel314 wrote:

I harvested the sweet potatoes this morning. We had a 25' row, about 3/4 regular yellow and the rest white sweet potatoes. The yellow did very well, we got at least 20# of good sized potatoes, but the white ones only produced two medium sized and the rest were just little shriveled ones, same as last year.

Does anyone have the secret to growing white sweet potatoes? They're very good when baked but our recent crops have been too small for baking.

i've never heard of them before, but i wonder if the
method of making sure the energy for the vines is only
going into the central clump would help...

our soil here is way too wrong for sweet potatoes in
most gardens so we've not tried to grow them here since
i've been around.


songbird

On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 4:02:09 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
Pavel314 wrote:

I harvested the sweet potatoes this morning. We had a 25' row, about 3/4 regular yellow and the rest white sweet potatoes. The yellow did very well, we got at least 20# of good sized potatoes, but the white ones only produced two medium sized and the rest were just little shriveled ones, same as last year.

Does anyone have the secret to growing white sweet potatoes? They're very good when baked but our recent crops have been too small for baking.

i've never heard of them before, but i wonder if the
method of making sure the energy for the vines is only
going into the central clump would help...

What method is that?


our soil here is way too wrong for sweet potatoes in
most gardens so we've not tried to grow them here since
i've been around.

For the potato rows, I till sand, compost, and a little perlite into the soil to break it up and make it easier for the potatoes to grow. I thought it was strange that the yellow ones grew well but the whites didn't. The vines and leaves look the same for the two varieties. My wife put a marker in between the two so that we could tell which was in each section.



songbird

Pavel314 wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 4:02:09 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
Pavel314 wrote:

I harvested the sweet potatoes this morning. We had a 25' row, about 3/4 regular yellow and the rest white sweet potatoes. The yellow did very well, we got at least 20# of good sized potatoes, but the white ones only produced two medium sized and the rest were just little shriveled ones, same as last year.

Does anyone have the secret to growing white sweet potatoes? They're very good when baked but our recent crops have been too small for baking.

i've never heard of them before, but i wonder if the
method of making sure the energy for the vines is only
going into the central clump would help...

What method is that?

i'm not exactly sure as i've not done it but something
like going around once in a while and making sure the
vines aren't allowed to root from the nodes so that all
the energy goes back towards the main clump of the vines.

i don't know if they have to be pulled up or how that
goes, but i heard it once and while it makes sense i've
never done it to know.

googling about growing sweet potatoes might give more
details.

i get different results from different varieties of
beans grown next to each other in the same soil so it
doesn't surprise me that it happens to other things too.
i've also had different results for peppers. some do
well and others don't. grown right next to each other...


songbird

On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 8:32:19 PM UTC-4, Pavel314 wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 4:02:09 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
Pavel314 wrote:

I harvested the sweet potatoes this morning. We had a 25' row, about 3/4 regular yellow and the rest white sweet potatoes. The yellow did very well, we got at least 20# of good sized potatoes, but the white ones only produced two medium sized and the rest were just little shriveled ones, same as last year.

Does anyone have the secret to growing white sweet potatoes? They're very good when baked but our recent crops have been too small for baking.

i've never heard of them before, but i wonder if the
method of making sure the energy for the vines is only
going into the central clump would help...
What method is that?
our soil here is way too wrong for sweet potatoes in
most gardens so we've not tried to grow them here since
i've been around.
For the potato rows, I till sand, compost, and a little perlite into the soil to break it up and make it easier for the potatoes to grow. I thought it was strange that the yellow ones grew well but the whites didn't. The vines and leaves look the same for the two varieties. My wife put a marker in between the two so that we could tell which was in each section.



songbird
Try lifting the vines from the ground weekly. Some varieties tend to root more easily than others. If you will notice that where the vines touch the ground they try to root. Breaking this root loose concentrates the plants energy into making tubers at the original planting site. It's not as necessary here in the south but shorter seasons make it so. I used to get large tubers (up to 8 lbs. or so) at the base and smaller tubers further out where the plant rooted. Hope this makes sense to you.
Steve

On Friday, October 2, 2020 at 7:00:14 AM UTC-4, Stephen Peek wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 8:32:19 PM UTC-4, Pavel314 wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 4:02:09 PM UTC-4, songbird wrote:
Pavel314 wrote:

I harvested the sweet potatoes this morning. We had a 25' row, about 3/4 regular yellow and the rest white sweet potatoes. The yellow did very well, we got at least 20# of good sized potatoes, but the white ones only produced two medium sized and the rest were just little shriveled ones, same as last year.

Does anyone have the secret to growing white sweet potatoes? They're very good when baked but our recent crops have been too small for baking.

i've never heard of them before, but i wonder if the
method of making sure the energy for the vines is only
going into the central clump would help...
What method is that?
our soil here is way too wrong for sweet potatoes in
most gardens so we've not tried to grow them here since
i've been around.
For the potato rows, I till sand, compost, and a little perlite into the soil to break it up and make it easier for the potatoes to grow. I thought it was strange that the yellow ones grew well but the whites didn't. The vines and leaves look the same for the two varieties. My wife put a marker in between the two so that we could tell which was in each section.



songbird
Try lifting the vines from the ground weekly. Some varieties tend to root more easily than others. If you will notice that where the vines touch the ground they try to root. Breaking this root loose concentrates the plants energy into making tubers at the original planting site. It's not as necessary here in the south but shorter seasons make it so. I used to get large tubers (up to 8 lbs. or so) at the base and smaller tubers further out where the plant rooted. Hope this makes sense to you.
Steve

Thanks, I'll try that next year.