Sweet Potatoes are ready

First I dug these two, by hand. I broke the smaller one. They are very fragile when first dug and break if dropped.

Then I went back and dug the rest of that hill. Here is what I got.

Calalily, It looks like a good sweetpotato year here too. Yours look like they might be Centennials?

What I can see of my O'Henry's sure look like they are sizing up well.

Indy, not sure what kind they are. I sprouted some from the grocery store. From 3 potatoes I got 36 plants. I took cuttings today to root and plant in a new bed I just prepared. They grow year round here. When the vines get too long and start taking over the garden, I cut them back. Doesn't seem to hurt the potatoes.

Nice haul, except that potato 2nd down from the top looks like a thumbnail, so I'm not sure you should eat that one. Send it to me. ^_^

Looks good, Calalily. You are so blessed to have the long growing season that you have.

How many days since you planted slips for this harvest?

I got my mail order short season slips in the ground late so I'm counting days. I am actually kind of sweating it cause I know this heat will not be around for too much longer. One of these mornings we are going to wake up to 55º or 60º. I've noticed the shadows in the garden from the sun's position are already starting to change and the temperature seems to be staying a bit cooler just a tad longer in the mornings before the heat explodes.

Jerry

I'm with Jerry, Calalily. How many days to harvest? I have some planted June 6th. They came from the Farmer's Market but I don't know what kind they are. I'm figuring I'll check at about 100 days or after (if) they flower. I've heard they don't always flower.

Nice looking bunch of 'taters you got there!

Kelly

Jerry, the tag is so faded I can't read it, but they were planted sometime between April 16th and May 6th. I wish we would cool down a bit. It's hotter than normal this summer and no rain. Fortunately once the sun comes up, we get wind.
Gymgirl, I'll send you some sweet potatoes if you want them. They should make it to Houston before they cook in the heat.

Kelly, a few have flowered. I just dug down around the crown. Farmerdill said to be careful of the main root so I was careful. I've got more sweetpotatoes in the lower garden that have nice potatoes under them. I'm pretty sure they were planted end of May, maybe middle of June after I took out the last lettuce. (romaine, it had bolted really bad)

Thanks Calalily. I remember seeing Farmerdill's post on the other thread. I'm figuring mid-September mine should be ready. Hoping anyway - we love sweet potatoes and have never grown them before - lol.

My sweetpotato vines are looking great - I haven't dug into them to see if there are any of edible size. I keep telling myself to wait until the first light frost. Last season was the first year for growing sweets, and they were so good, I planted even more this year - Vardaman (last year/this year) Puerto Rico (this year) - these are both considered "bush type" so they won't take over your whole yard. The Puerto Rico's have purplish leaves.

Hello sweet potato gardeners,

This is my first time to plant sweet potatoes. I picked up a couple from the store and planted them sometime ago....didn't document it but I think it was at the beginning of June.

I'm trying to figure out when to pull up my sweet potatoes because I'm guessing that the vines are not going to die back like other potatoes. Right now they are flowering, dozens of purple flowers are on the vines. Is it time to harvest after the plant stops flowering?

And are you saying that I can just cut back some of the vines and re-root them and new sweet potatoes will grow?

I would start looking for potatoes in about 90 days from planting. Plants should have potatoes between 90-120 days depending on the variety.

Gently remove some dirt from around the base of the plant being careful not to damage the tender skin on the potatoes. If the potatoes are not ready and you still have some growing time before first frost, pile some soil back over the area you uncovered.

If a whole sweetpotato is planted rather than slips, the harvest might not be as good.....any experiences with that?

I cut mine into several pieces before planting.

Just checked them and they aren't ready yet ~ they look more like carrots LOL, hopefully they will fatten up!!

It seems like the vines continued rooting themselves as they grew. I guess this is normal? I'm still wondering if they continue to make sweet potatoes off the new roots.

Hi I would love to grow some but I was told it takes 2 or more to years to grow them so you can harvest them? I am in zone 5B and don't know if they would grow here.

MarciaS, I don't know about growing from the whole sweetpotato, but you probably could grow them from slips. I'm in Eaton, Indiana which is 5a or 5b. Next year get some healthy slips and give it a try.

Good Luck,
Donna

On average the time to harvest from planting the slips is anywhere from 90-160 days depending on what type you plant as well as growing conditions. We have a long hot summer here in Phoenix and they do well. Shorter season climates I think you can still grow them, just start with slips and plant as early as you can with protection if necessary.

I planted slips that I rooted from Farmer's Market taters on June 6th. They already have good size taters under them. I will probably let them grow until either the plants start to die back or it gets cool or I decide I want the space for something else - lol. We really don't have frost in Phoenix - pretty rare.

locakelly, I planted most of mine mine on June 6th also. I planted a few (the ones on each end) on June 20th. I creeped through the vines the other day and pulled one. It was 12 ozs and had long "hairs" growing from the eyes. I, like you will probably wait until the very last day that I can to pull them. My sweetpotato lady said I pulled to early. Here's a picture taken about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Donna

P.S. I just love growing sweetpotatoes.

Wow Donna! How many plants you got there - lol?

They sure like to take over don't they? I have raised beds (a square foot garden) and planted only 2 slips as an experiment as I had never grown them before. Did lots of research and found out they love our desert heat, so decided to give it a try since we love sweet potatoes.

Well, those 2 plants have taken over about 16 square feet of my garden - no kidding! I will definitely be growing a lot of them next year, but may have to dedicate an entire corner of my yard just to the sweet taters! They are growing down over another bed that I will be planting in probably in November, so I figure I'll let 'em grow until then.

Kelly

Kelly, the original plot is 16' x 8'. I planted 24, 14 on one side and 10 on the other. Last year was my first year and that's the holes in the black plastic that I had used. Now they are about 4' out on all sides.

I'm not sure if I should cut them back so I haven't mowed there. I just love watching them grow. We have had a very weird summer here. Only 3" of rain from June 18th to August 28th, 1 1/16" was on August 28th. We have also had it pretty cool. But they seem to mighty.

Who knows if I have very many sweetpotatoes under the vines. I haven't checked except that once, I figure my Dalmatians walk on them enough.

Donna

LOL - looks like it outgrew the original plot.

I wouldn't cut htem back - just let 'em grow. Unless they try to take over the porch or try to run the pets off . . .

I think you can let them grow up until close to your first frost. They really like the heat, but even with your weather being cooler than normal they look spectacular. Be sure and post some pics of the taters you get and I'll do the same.

Mine are alive and thriving in 100+ degree heat since June! Gardening in the desert in the summer though is challenging. I water by the light of the moon, or by the light of my headlamp DH found for me at WalMart. My kids call it my geek light - lol. It's too dang hot to be outside when the sun is out - lol. Although it was 72 degrees when I came to work this morning. You could actually feel the difference. Of course it will be I think 101 before the day is said and done, but I'll take what I can get.

Shoot you couldn't run them dogs off with a stick. This is there home and they want their mommy when something gets strange. I'm hoping they don't figure out there is sp under the vines. They eat everything. Luckily I have a garden elsewhere.

I'm figuring that I will have to dig them up in October. The first frost is forecasted around the 20th. Store them for 3-4 weeks and Thanksgiving here we come. Here again that is if I have any.

I will be more than happy to post a picture, and you be sure to do the same.

Donna

You got it! I'm so looking forward to eating my homegrown taters at Thanksgiving!

My dogs parted the way for me to look into my vines yesterday. It does look like I have some. I was wondering does anyone have any thoughts about pulling one or two so that the others have more room to grow. They look awfully crowded. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Donna

I don't think that there is any need to thin them. For most of us the problem is for them getting too big.

Thank you, Indy. I think I will leave them alone. I received the same answer from Farmerdill and the lady that I bought the slips from. I was kinda in a hurry because they say it's going to rain. If I was going to pull them I wanted to do so before that happened.

I'll believe it will rain when I see it. I pretty sure that it doesn't rain in Eaton anymore, only 3" since June 18th.

Donna

I hope...I hope...I hope there are SP's down there somewhere

WOW rtl! That's a big 'ol patch of taters you got there - lol.

Looks like they're eating your uh, well, it looks like a banana tree?

It is a banana tree Kelly. It spent the summer under the shade waiting for cooler weather to plant. I am fixing to plant it in the next couple of weeks. That tater has tentacles that run four feet to the right of the photo...almost to my pool.
Jayne

I've got my taters in my square foot garden. They've taken over a 4' x 4' bed and part of another - lol. Gonna keep them growing as long as I can, until I need the space for winter veggies. I felt around in there and there are definitely taters!

I have a banana tree that's in a pot under a shade as well. It's putting out new leaves like crazy now that the nights are cooling off. Not sure where exactly it will go in the ground as I have nowhere on the east side of the house it can go unless it is in a pot. Maybe on the east side of a west facing wall - we'll see...

I dug a couple of "Puerto Rico" sweetpotatoes over the weekend. If I closed my eyes, I could swear they were regular white potatoes! For me, that's a good thing, 'cause I love regular old white potatoes, but cannot eat them anymore because of the high carb count
:(

They were small - so I'm going to wait until frost before pulling any more.

A hill of Walmart Produce Dept. sweet potatoes. Slips were stuck 5/15/09.

Picture taken just a little while ago.

A second hill.

A third hill.

A 25 foot row of sweet potatoes. Slips stuck 7/8/09. There are three varieties planted here that were ordered off the Internet, Korean Purple, Indiana Gold, and Violetta.

Ordering off the Internet is not the best for my growing area due to such late arrivals. I hope to get some potatoes of each variety that are mature enough to start some slips next Spring.

Picture taken 9/16/09.

Texasrockgarden, try Mericlone Labs, she will send them when you want.

Donna

Thanks dddal

That looks like a good place to start next spring. I'll save that link in my sweet potato folder.

Jerry

Hi where would I find some slips this next Spring. I live in Spokane WA
Thanks

MarciaS, try the mericlonelabs.com. Debbie is in California and she ships when you need them. I placed my order this year on Wednesday and received the next Wednesday. She didn't want to send them out until that Monday so that they wouldn't get stuck in a post office over the weekend.

Debbie is a very nice lady to work with.

Good Luck,
Donna