Hello,

I bought the pack of sweet potato slips from T&M. The instructions say
you harvest any time between the end of September and end of October,
so that they are lifted before the frosts. Sadly I haven't had much
success. I wondered how everyone else did?

Two died pretty soon after planting; the other eight grew, but not to
the extent the leaflet suggested they would. The leaflet spoke of
trailing foliage and flowers. I didn't see any flowers and the foliage
whilst tit has grown, it hasn't gone crazy. It was planted in well
draining soil with rotted compost, as advised, so I am at a loss what
went wrong.

The sweet potatoes are the size of a pod of peas; far too tiny to eat!
Did I do something wrong or has this just been a bad year for them?
How did everyone else do?

Thanks,
Stephen.

In article ,
Stephen wrote:

I bought the pack of sweet potato slips from T&M. ...

You've been had.

The sweet potatoes are the size of a pod of peas; far too tiny to eat!
Did I do something wrong or has this just been a bad year for them?
How did everyone else do?

They're true tropical plants. With CONSIDERABLE care, and growing
them under protection, some people have got a crop. Otherwise,
don't bother.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in message ...
In article ,
Stephen wrote:

I bought the pack of sweet potato slips from T&M. ...

You've been had.

The sweet potatoes are the size of a pod of peas; far too tiny to eat!
Did I do something wrong or has this just been a bad year for them?
How did everyone else do?

They're true tropical plants. With CONSIDERABLE care, and growing
them under protection, some people have got a crop. Otherwise,
don't bother.


What Nick said. We grew them once since we were given a couple of slips, but
we're very close to the south coast, and it was a hot summer that year. Even
so, we only got two big ones and half a dozen tiddlers.

Steve

Stephen wrote:
I bought the pack of sweet potato slips from T&M. The instructions say
you harvest any time between the end of September and end of October,
so that they are lifted before the frosts. Sadly I haven't had much
success. I wondered how everyone else did?

Ours are still in the ground, probably about time to bring them up, I guess.
They are still growing quite well (as of last week, anyhow - not checked yet
today!) - will report back later!

Two died pretty soon after planting; the other eight grew, but not to
the extent the leaflet suggested they would. The leaflet spoke of
trailing foliage and flowers. I didn't see any flowers and the foliage
whilst tit has grown, it hasn't gone crazy. It was planted in well
draining soil with rotted compost, as advised, so I am at a loss what
went wrong.

Last year ours did quite badly, with not many tubers, but the ones we got
weren't as small as yours.

This year our plants have done brilliantly. That doesn't mean there will be
anything underneath, but they look /really/ good. If I get hte chance I
will get a photo before we dig them up (assuming they haven't died in the
last week)

We did get flowers, pink ones, like bindweed or morning glory flowers.

"shazzbat" wrote ...
wrote ...
Stephen wrote:

I bought the pack of sweet potato slips from T&M. ...

You've been had.

The sweet potatoes are the size of a pod of peas; far too tiny to eat!
Did I do something wrong or has this just been a bad year for them?
How did everyone else do?

They're true tropical plants. With CONSIDERABLE care, and growing
them under protection, some people have got a crop. Otherwise,
don't bother.


What Nick said. We grew them once since we were given a couple of slips,
but we're very close to the south coast, and it was a hot summer that
year. Even so, we only got two big ones and half a dozen tiddlers.

I also agree with Nick.

We tried for a few years and never got a worthwhile crop, those that did
grow had slug holes all over them anyway. We even tried using our own tubers
to make slips very early for the next season, an easy process BTW, and
potted them up in our heated greenhouse until time to plant out yet they too
didn't produce any worthwhile crop. Lots of foliage such that other plot
holders thought I was growing convolvulus from Hell, it ran everywhere, but
nothing to eat.

I think a heated greenhouse to start them off early, and a large Polytunnel
for growing are needed, at least in the UK.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Tropical in origin, but are grown very successfully in temperate climates with a long warm summer. They are grown in Spain and Italy, and grow well even in northern parts such as Catalunya and Veneto. They were a staple for the Maori of New Zealand. In the US they are cultivated commercially in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina (the main producer), as well as the gulf coast states.

So we aren't too many hundred of miles north of good growing areas. But basically the problem in Britain is that the growing season normally just isn't warm for long enough for outdoor growing to have much chance of success. Better chance in a greenhouse.

The history of the plants is very interesting. They were cultivated from about 2500BC in central and southern America, and from about 700-1000AD in the Pacific Islands, including New Zealand. It was also grown in highland New Guinea before European contact, though possibly from more recent times. But the Philippines knew it not before European contact. The name for them is more or less the same - kumara or some variant - in Quechua (main Peruvian language), Nahuatl (main Mexican language) and Polynesian languages (including Maori), who all cultivated it before European contact. So there is some quite strong indication of Polynesian - South American contact. Although there is some very rare native sweet potato in Polynesia, it is not the same species as South America, and the Polynesians cultivated the South American version, via cuttings.

The Maori trained seagulls to pick bugs off the leaves, would you believe it.

"echinosum" wrote in message
...

;902987 Wrote:
They're true tropical plants. With CONSIDERABLE care, and growing
them under protection, some people have got a crop. Otherwise,
don't bother.
Tropical in origin, but are grown very successfully in temperate
climates with a long warm summer. They are grown in Spain and Italy,
and grow well even in northern parts such as Catalunya and Veneto. They
were a staple for the Maori of New Zealand. In the US they are
cultivated commercially in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina (the
main producer), as well as the gulf coast states.

So we aren't too many hundred of miles north of good growing areas. But
basically the problem in Britain is that the growing season normally
just isn't warm for long enough for outdoor growing to have much chance
of success. Better chance in a greenhouse.

The history of the plants is very interesting. They were cultivated
from about 2500BC in central and southern America, and from about
700-1000AD in the Pacific Islands, including New Zealand. It was also
grown in highland New Guinea before European contact, though possibly
from more recent times. But the Philippines knew it not before European
contact. The name for them is more or less the same - kumara or some
variant - in Quechua (main Peruvian language), Nahuatl (main Mexican
language) and Polynesian languages (including Maori), who all cultivated
it before European contact. So there is some quite strong indication of
Polynesian - South American contact. Although there is some very rare
native sweet potato in Polynesia, it is not the same species as South
America, and the Polynesians cultivated the South American version, via
cuttings.

The Maori trained seagulls to pick bugs off the leaves, would you
believe it.


What a fascinating post! Thank you for the information.

We found kumaras for sale in South Island, N.Z. in a supermarket. They had
a dark purple skin and white flesh, not at all like what we get here. I
think they were like sweet potatoes, not yams.

Seems to me there are a) sweet potatoes (brown skin, white flesh) and b)
yams, brown or purple skin, orange flesh). One is called a yam, the other
is a sweet potato. In Canada, the yam is the orange-fleshed one, grown in
the U.S. We don't have the white dry one except in Caribbean food shops.

The white-fleshed ones are very dry and starchy, and not terribly tasty.
They're used as a carbohydrate staple in the Caribbean. The orange-fleshed
ones are more watery and tasty and cook up a treat when baked with butter &
brown sugar. More like winter squashes.

What about all those other things - Apios americana, for example. I'm
growing them and I would not be able to expect to live off them for more
than a day or so.

Asian food markets have a treasure-trove of things one can plant.

someone

someone wrote:
"echinosum" wrote in message
...
[...]

The history of the plants is very interesting. They were cultivated
from about 2500BC in central and southern America, and from about
700-1000AD in the Pacific Islands, including New Zealand. It was also
grown in highland New Guinea before European contact, though possibly
from more recent times. But the Philippines knew it not before
European contact. The name for them is more or less the same -
kumara or some variant - in Quechua (main Peruvian language),
Nahuatl (main Mexican language) and Polynesian languages (including
Maori), who all cultivated it before European contact. So there is
some quite strong indication of Polynesian - South American contact.
Although there is some very rare native sweet potato in Polynesia,
it is not the same species as South America, and the Polynesians
cultivated the South American version, via cuttings.

The Maori trained seagulls to pick bugs off the leaves, would you
believe it.


What a fascinating post! Thank you for the information.

Yes, indeed!


We found kumaras for sale in South Island, N.Z. in a supermarket. They
had a dark purple skin and white flesh, not at all like what we
get here. I think they were like sweet potatoes, not yams.

Seems to me there are a) sweet potatoes (brown skin, white flesh) and
b) yams, brown or purple skin, orange flesh). One is called a yam,
the other is a sweet potato. In Canada, the yam is the
orange-fleshed one, grown in the U.S. We don't have the white dry
one except in Caribbean food shops.

In general British usage, only the big things originating (I assume) in
Africa are called "yams".
[...]

--
Mike.

In article ,
someone wrote:

Seems to me there are a) sweet potatoes (brown skin, white flesh) and b)
yams, brown or purple skin, orange flesh). One is called a yam, the other
is a sweet potato. In Canada, the yam is the orange-fleshed one, grown in
the U.S. We don't have the white dry one except in Caribbean food shops.

The term "yam" can be used in a strict sense to refer to Dioscorea
batatas, but (I believe) more often means just "edible root" in the
areas they are grown. In places where they aren't, it can mean
almost anything.

I have no idea if the two forms are varieties or subspecies.

The white-fleshed ones are very dry and starchy, and not terribly tasty.
They're used as a carbohydrate staple in the Caribbean. The orange-fleshed
ones are more watery and tasty and cook up a treat when baked with butter &
brown sugar. More like winter squashes.

On the contrary. The white-fleshed ones are delicious, and much
like huge chestnuts to eat :-) The orange-fleshed ones are slimy
and sickly, like a butternut squash on steroids.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , writes
In article ,
someone wrote:

Seems to me there are a) sweet potatoes (brown skin, white flesh) and b)
yams, brown or purple skin, orange flesh). One is called a yam, the other
is a sweet potato. In Canada, the yam is the orange-fleshed one, grown in
the U.S. We don't have the white dry one except in Caribbean food shops.

The term "yam" can be used in a strict sense to refer to Dioscorea
batatas, but (I believe) more often means just "edible root" in the
areas they are grown. In places where they aren't, it can mean
almost anything.

I have no idea if the two forms are varieties or subspecies.

The white-fleshed ones are very dry and starchy, and not terribly tasty.
They're used as a carbohydrate staple in the Caribbean. The orange-fleshed
ones are more watery and tasty and cook up a treat when baked with butter &
brown sugar. More like winter squashes.

On the contrary. The white-fleshed ones are delicious, and much
like huge chestnuts to eat :-) The orange-fleshed ones are slimy
and sickly, like a butternut squash on steroids.

The orange-fleshed ones, as sold in Tesco, are like a somewhat less
crisp carrot.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

wrote in message ...
In article ,
someone wrote:

Seems to me there are a) sweet potatoes (brown skin, white flesh) and b)
yams, brown or purple skin, orange flesh). One is called a yam, the other
is a sweet potato. In Canada, the yam is the orange-fleshed one, grown in
the U.S. We don't have the white dry one except in Caribbean food shops.

The term "yam" can be used in a strict sense to refer to Dioscorea
batatas, but (I believe) more often means just "edible root" in the
areas they are grown. In places where they aren't, it can mean
almost anything.

I have no idea if the two forms are varieties or subspecies.

The white-fleshed ones are very dry and starchy, and not terribly tasty.
They're used as a carbohydrate staple in the Caribbean. The
orange-fleshed
ones are more watery and tasty and cook up a treat when baked with butter
&
brown sugar. More like winter squashes.

On the contrary. The white-fleshed ones are delicious, and much
like huge chestnuts to eat :-) The orange-fleshed ones are slimy
and sickly, like a butternut squash on steroids.

Chestnuts - yuk! Makes my mouth all dry just thinking about them. This
just proves that one man's Mead is another man's Persian :-)

someone

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2010-10-16 22:54:50 +0100, "someone" said:


"echinosum" wrote in message
...
snip
The Maori trained seagulls to pick bugs off the leaves, would you
believe it.


What a fascinating post! Thank you for the information.

We found kumaras for sale in South Island, N.Z. in a supermarket. They
had
a dark purple skin and white flesh, not at all like what we get here. I
think they were like sweet potatoes, not yams.

Seems to me there are a) sweet potatoes (brown skin, white flesh) and b)
yams, brown or purple skin, orange flesh). One is called a yam, the
other
is a sweet potato. In Canada, the yam is the orange-fleshed one, grown
in
the U.S. We don't have the white dry one except in Caribbean food shops.

The white-fleshed ones are very dry and starchy, and not terribly tasty.
They're used as a carbohydrate staple in the Caribbean.

Aren't the white ones what are called 'poi' in Hawaii? Taste like
wallpaper paste - if I'd ever tasted wallpaper paste. I've seen both the
white flesh and orange flesh ones sold as 'sweet potatoes' in local
supermarkets. Now, I usually know what I'm looking for but if in doubt, I
scrape a tiny bit of the skin to be really sure.


The orange-fleshed
ones are more watery and tasty and cook up a treat when baked with
butter &
brown sugar. More like winter squashes.

And with a delicious flavour if roasted?

Definitely!

someone

In article ,
someone wrote:

On the contrary. The white-fleshed ones are delicious, and much
like huge chestnuts to eat :-) The orange-fleshed ones are slimy
and sickly, like a butternut squash on steroids.

Chestnuts - yuk! Makes my mouth all dry just thinking about them. This
just proves that one man's Mead is another man's Persian :-)

You're not adding enough butter :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Stephen wrote:
Hello,

I bought the pack of sweet potato slips from T&M. The instructions say
you harvest any time between the end of September and end of October,
so that they are lifted before the frosts. Sadly I haven't had much
success. I wondered how everyone else did?

Two died pretty soon after planting; the other eight grew, but not to
the extent the leaflet suggested they would. The leaflet spoke of
trailing foliage and flowers. I didn't see any flowers and the foliage
whilst tit has grown, it hasn't gone crazy. It was planted in well
draining soil with rotted compost, as advised, so I am at a loss what
went wrong.

The sweet potatoes are the size of a pod of peas; far too tiny to eat!
Did I do something wrong or has this just been a bad year for them?
How did everyone else do?

You need to plant them early, and in a sunny position, preferably in a
sheltered spot.

They like plenty of water and feeding helps a lot.

Mine are in a planter, and I will leave them there for a second year.

Try eddoes - they are much more productive, and the leaves are edible as
well as the tubers.

Oh, and next time, buy a couple of sweet potatoes which are sprouting
and cut your own slips - I've never bought slips.

--
Rusty

Mike Lyle wrote:

In general British usage, only the big things originating (I assume) in
Africa are called "yams".

In my local friendly Asian foodshop they tell me that 'yam' just means
'root'.

--
Rusty