"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

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?

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

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)

"Cat(h)" wrote

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?

We got the "Slips" (rooted cuttings) sent from T & M and planted them as per
their instructions, nothing special, lots of water and seaweed extract to
start with to get then off to a good start and then left to their own
devices thereafter other than water when dry. Two plants died when first
planted, weedy cuttings!
Last time we planted them in humps like normal potatoes but they didn't grow
anything like this years which are running everywhere including the next
door neighbours plot, and he thought we had planted giant convolvulus to
take over the world. :-) I must admit it's exactly what they look like.
The thin crop from our first planting was attacked badly by slugs, I do hope
this years crop isn't.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Cat(h)" wrote

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?

We got the "Slips" (rooted cuttings) sent from T & M and planted them as
per their instructions, nothing special, lots of water and seaweed extract
to start with to get then off to a good start and then left to their own
devices thereafter other than water when dry. Two plants died when first
planted, weedy cuttings!
Last time we planted them in humps like normal potatoes but they didn't
grow anything like this years which are running everywhere including the
next door neighbours plot, and he thought we had planted giant convolvulus
to take over the world. :-) I must admit it's exactly what they look
like.
The thin crop from our first planting was attacked badly by slugs, I do
hope this years crop isn't.


We grew them last year, and very nice they were too. There was much about
them from the americans in rec.gardens.edible, but the prime thing IIRC was
not to let the frost touch them or they're spoilt. I would have them all up
when a frost is likely.

Steve.

Steve wrote

We grew them last year, and very nice they were too. There was much about
them from the americans in rec.gardens.edible, but the prime thing IIRC
was not to let the frost touch them or they're spoilt. I would have them
all up when a frost is likely.

I dug up one lot, the smallest growing row, today just to see what's what.
Good sized tubers and the red skinned white fleshed ones are the biggest
fattest ones, the orange skinned yellow fleshed ones (rather long and thin)
seem more prone to slug damage but they have all suffered with slugs again.
Think I'll have them all up by the end of the week, cleaned and stored just
to be on the safe side, I can't imagine they will do much more growing
anyway.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Cat(h)" wrote

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?

We got the "Slips" (rooted cuttings) sent from T & M and planted them as per
their instructions, nothing special, lots of water and seaweed extract to
start with to get then off to a good start and then left to their own
devices thereafter other than water when dry. Two plants died when first
planted, weedy cuttings!
Last time we planted them in humps like normal potatoes but they didn't grow
anything like this years which are running everywhere including the next
door neighbours plot, and he thought we had planted giant convolvulus to
take over the world. :-) I must admit it's exactly what they look like.
The thin crop from our first planting was attacked badly by slugs, I do hope
this years crop isn't.


Thanks Bob, and best of luck with your crop. You never know, I might
give those a try next year. As I'm the only one in the household to
like them, just a quick question: how many sp do you get from each
plant?

Cat(h)

"Cat(h)" wrote ...


Thanks Bob, and best of luck with your crop. You never know, I might
give those a try next year. As I'm the only one in the household to
like them, just a quick question: how many sp do you get from each
plant?

On today's showing only two or three decent sized ones per plant, the red
skinned white fleshed ones are much bigger than the "normal" orange skinned
yellow fleshed ones but there are lots of small tubers too. None of the
tubers are as big as ones seen in the supermarkets.
Trouble is, the slug damage makes a significant proportion of the crop
unusable.
Slug resistant Sweet Potatoes anyone?

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

George.com wrote:
[...]
Yams are a tropical vegetable however sweet potatoes are not related to
yams.
[...]
But note that in some American recipes "yam" means "sweet potato", not
"yam".

--
Mike.

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
Hi Bob.

I harvest them before the first frost. If however, you wake up and find
that it frosted overnight unexpectedly, you can go out first thing, and cut
the greens off at ground level and save the potatoes.

I then wash them off, and let them dry. Then I put them in a container that
allows the air to get to all sides of them, and put them in the warmest room
I have. They want high humidity and 80 to 90 degrees F for 10 to 15 days.
If you cant provide the humidity and high temp, leave them in the warm room
for another 5 to 9 days. Once the curing process (the starch changing to
sugar) is completed, you can put them in a cool, dark room. I put mine in
the basement, where they will stay for a long time. I still have a few I
raised in 2005. Never let them get cooler than 55 degrees F, or they will
be ruined. Don't store them in the fridge.

I always save some for the next years planting. I get a planting tray that
will hold water, and is about 2 inches deep. It is also about 2 feet long
and 18 inches wide. In February or March, I lay several sweet potatoes in
the tray. They can touch each other, but must have the majority of them
touching the bottom of the tray. The tray must be located somewhere that is
warm. I have my "frost free" freezer in the basement. I put the tray on
top of the freezer, and check the water supply every 3 to 5 days, and I add
water as needed.

Within about 3 weeks the slips will start sprouting up from the potatoes.
This goes on until the danger of frost is over in the spring March or
April), and I hold the potato down with one hand and pull up on the slip
with the other, using a rotating motion. I pick 10 to 20, trim the leaves
off the bottom 2/3 rds of the slip, and set them in a can of water. Don't
let any green leaves hang in the water, or they will rot and kill the slips.
Within 3 to 5 days these slips will have roots.

I like to plow up my garden space and rake the dirt into raised rows. Then
I flatten the top of the rows with my rake. I lay my soaker hose on top of
the rows and plant the slips along the soaker hose. If they get frosted by
a late frost, you can plant them again if you have more in the can
developing roots. If you have a lot of extra, you can then sell some to
your friends.

I wash the potatoes off, pat them dry, coat them with cooking oil, lay them
in tin foil and bake them in the oven for an hour. They are so sweet I
don't need to add brown sugar and so moist I don't have to add a lot of
butter. You can fry them, bake them, boil mash them, or cut them into
chunks and add them to stew.

Have fun. If you need anything else, contact me.

Dwayne (in Kansas)

On 4/10/06 00:02, in article
, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:


George.com wrote:
[...]
Yams are a tropical vegetable however sweet potatoes are not related to
yams.
[...]
But note that in some American recipes "yam" means "sweet potato", not
"yam".

Doesn't yam come from Calocasia and make what the Hawaians call 'poi' -
disgusting to the untrained palate but nostalgically yearned for by exiles?
Or is that Alocasia - and what's the difference?!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 4/10/06 00:02, in article
, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:


George.com wrote:
[...]
Yams are a tropical vegetable however sweet potatoes are not related to
yams.
[...]
But note that in some American recipes "yam" means "sweet potato", not
"yam".

Doesn't yam come from Calocasia and make what the Hawaians call 'poi' -
disgusting to the untrained palate but nostalgically yearned for by
exiles?
Or is that Alocasia - and what's the difference?!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

That question sounds like a goody for David Poole:-)
Alo and calo are related they are both aroids--that's my total knowledge.
The leaves of one hang down and the other is more erect:-)
It's the colo that gets eaten (Colocasia esculenta?) Apparently it's
considered and invasive weed --so on that basis I have a few which make nice
big leaves and die if you mention the f word.
It's just too cool up here to leave em out.
Anyone planning to eat them should take care to make absolutely sure about
preparation and cooking. The spadix is poisonous (oxalic acid) and tastes
horrid.

"Dwayne" wrote
I harvest them before the first frost. If however, you wake up and find
that it frosted overnight unexpectedly, you can go out first thing, and
cut the greens off at ground level and save the potatoes.

I then wash them off, and let them dry. Then I put them in a container
that allows the air to get to all sides of them, and put them in the
warmest room I have. They want high humidity and 80 to 90 degrees F for
10 to 15 days. If you cant provide the humidity and high temp, leave them
in the warm room for another 5 to 9 days. Once the curing process (the
starch changing to sugar) is completed, you can put them in a cool, dark
room. I put mine in the basement, where they will stay for a long time.
I still have a few I raised in 2005. Never let them get cooler than 55
degrees F, or they will be ruined. Don't store them in the fridge.

I always save some for the next years planting. I get a planting tray
that will hold water, and is about 2 inches deep. It is also about 2 feet
long and 18 inches wide. In February or March, I lay several sweet
potatoes in the tray. They can touch each other, but must have the
majority of them touching the bottom of the tray. The tray must be
located somewhere that is warm. I have my "frost free" freezer in the
basement. I put the tray on top of the freezer, and check the water
supply every 3 to 5 days, and I add water as needed.

Within about 3 weeks the slips will start sprouting up from the potatoes.
This goes on until the danger of frost is over in the spring March or
April), and I hold the potato down with one hand and pull up on the slip
with the other, using a rotating motion. I pick 10 to 20, trim the leaves
off the bottom 2/3 rds of the slip, and set them in a can of water. Don't
let any green leaves hang in the water, or they will rot and kill the
slips. Within 3 to 5 days these slips will have roots.

I like to plow up my garden space and rake the dirt into raised rows.
Then I flatten the top of the rows with my rake. I lay my soaker hose on
top of the rows and plant the slips along the soaker hose. If they get
frosted by a late frost, you can plant them again if you have more in the
can developing roots. If you have a lot of extra, you can then sell some
to your friends.

I wash the potatoes off, pat them dry, coat them with cooking oil, lay
them in tin foil and bake them in the oven for an hour. They are so sweet
I don't need to add brown sugar and so moist I don't have to add a lot of
butter. You can fry them, bake them, boil mash them, or cut them into
chunks and add them to stew.

Have fun. If you need anything else, contact me.


Excellent. Thank you Dwayne, exactly the sort of information I wanted (and
some answers to questions I hadn't asked yet but was thinking about).

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK