Sweet potatoes: what types you growin?
- Thread starter snarfing
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snarfing
Well-known member
oh my sweet summer child. theres hundreds of varieties. i do think i'll grow at least 1-2 purples though. i operate on the more colors in the diet = more healthy so i get purple, bright orange etc when i can
Jigfig
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Nice! Are you planning on growing the white Cuban one(DK if there are multiple colors) they have good flavor imo.
figpumper
Well-known member
I grew the purple ones one year and didn't find them to be very sweet. They were kind of tasteless actually i think the baeurgard and the Georgia jet are pretty good
grasshopper
Well-known member
I grow purple sweet potatoes because they are less sweet, won't spike blood sugar level and have plenty of antioxidants - anthocyanin.
The ones I like are Okinawan (chestnut flavor ) and Stokes (from Stokes county, NC). Both are available in grocery stores when in season. Not sure where you are located. I also grew a bunch of other ones over the last 10 years.
Freshly harvested purple sweet potatoes are not sweet, by the way. They need to be cured/stored to convert some of the starch into sugar.
The ones I like are Okinawan (chestnut flavor ) and Stokes (from Stokes county, NC). Both are available in grocery stores when in season. Not sure where you are located. I also grew a bunch of other ones over the last 10 years.
Freshly harvested purple sweet potatoes are not sweet, by the way. They need to be cured/stored to convert some of the starch into sugar.
grasshopper
Well-known member
Okinawan are often grown in Hawaii due to similarities in volcanic soil and tropical climate with Okinawa.
Hawaii has quite a few local purple sweet potatoes in addition to the Okinawan. I sampled quite a few of them last I visited.
One of the popular Japanese one is a yellow flesh, red/purple skin called Beniazuma. Its texture is on the dry, starchy side, similar to Okinawan. In US market, it is often just referred to as Japanese sweet potato. But obviously, Japanese has more than one sweet potato. There is a popular purple flesh one called Murasaki. But don't mix up with the one sold at Trader Joes. Their Murasaki is purple skin and white flesh. Murasaki simply means purple in Japanese. I had grown Murasaki in SoCal.
Some Japanese and Korean varieties are very similar. In Korean markets, they have a tendency to add "Korean" to all the veggie when they don't have a translation. e.g. Shishito pepper becomes korean pepper. Koreans have their own peppers though as they have pepper in a lot of dishes.
I like to try the end products first before spending time growing them so I prefer getting the buds from markets and make slips myself.
Hawaii has quite a few local purple sweet potatoes in addition to the Okinawan. I sampled quite a few of them last I visited.
One of the popular Japanese one is a yellow flesh, red/purple skin called Beniazuma. Its texture is on the dry, starchy side, similar to Okinawan. In US market, it is often just referred to as Japanese sweet potato. But obviously, Japanese has more than one sweet potato. There is a popular purple flesh one called Murasaki. But don't mix up with the one sold at Trader Joes. Their Murasaki is purple skin and white flesh. Murasaki simply means purple in Japanese. I had grown Murasaki in SoCal.
Some Japanese and Korean varieties are very similar. In Korean markets, they have a tendency to add "Korean" to all the veggie when they don't have a translation. e.g. Shishito pepper becomes korean pepper. Koreans have their own peppers though as they have pepper in a lot of dishes.
I like to try the end products first before spending time growing them so I prefer getting the buds from markets and make slips myself.
DallasFigShop
Well-known member
I have started several from store selections for trials ... I love the newer purple fleshed... from those in the same batch I have some that have made tall slips with green stems but some that hold purple stems
My favorite orange are the red skinned with orange flesh that seem to appear in the markets later... ive had the most issues with these rotting in storage though, maybe due to high sugar but possibly just a bad batch... there is another orange fleshed that makes alot of roots that is decent but makes an uglier potato...
But also im doing Honeynut squash and attempting to breed with larger buttenuts this year... after roasting it tastes like pumpkin pie filling crossed with butternut mash... but after a day in the fridge it was just like eating the sweetest sweet potato, only sweeter and so I encourage everyone to grow them and cross with larger buttenuts and then backcross and stabilize those and then send me some seeds lol
I found a white fleshed variety that varied but I let two of them make slips... one was exceptional the other tasted like a regular potato with light sweetness... they have a very smooth look to them....I started a few Murasaki because I read that they can work in hotter climates and they are exceptional too
Everyone should try protein pancakes with these or with sweet winter swuash ... ill use a roasted sweet potato with 4-6 eggs depending on thickness, and 1 scoop of flavored protein powder... and that is batter... ill add chooed dates or dried cherries and usually some walnuts or pecans - for very healthy stuff that feeds the flora ...
Both potatoes and squash have resistant starch that forms after cooking and then cooling for several hours in the fridge... it works like a prebiotic and tastes great too
My favorite orange are the red skinned with orange flesh that seem to appear in the markets later... ive had the most issues with these rotting in storage though, maybe due to high sugar but possibly just a bad batch... there is another orange fleshed that makes alot of roots that is decent but makes an uglier potato...
But also im doing Honeynut squash and attempting to breed with larger buttenuts this year... after roasting it tastes like pumpkin pie filling crossed with butternut mash... but after a day in the fridge it was just like eating the sweetest sweet potato, only sweeter and so I encourage everyone to grow them and cross with larger buttenuts and then backcross and stabilize those and then send me some seeds lol
I found a white fleshed variety that varied but I let two of them make slips... one was exceptional the other tasted like a regular potato with light sweetness... they have a very smooth look to them....I started a few Murasaki because I read that they can work in hotter climates and they are exceptional too
Everyone should try protein pancakes with these or with sweet winter swuash ... ill use a roasted sweet potato with 4-6 eggs depending on thickness, and 1 scoop of flavored protein powder... and that is batter... ill add chooed dates or dried cherries and usually some walnuts or pecans - for very healthy stuff that feeds the flora ...
Both potatoes and squash have resistant starch that forms after cooking and then cooling for several hours in the fridge... it works like a prebiotic and tastes great too
figpumper
Well-known member
It sounds like you have the squash breeding mastered, you should be sending us some seeds!
Jk lol
snarfing
Well-known member
Sand hill is where im ordering. But they had a tough year too
DallasFigShop
Well-known member
It sounds like you have the squash breeding mastered, you should be sending us some seeds!
Not by far! Im not sure how much time or space it will take just that it will be interesting a fun...
to stabilize traits can take alot of plantings and alot of years... fortunatley alot of people do it so seed swaps should become more regular. Commonwealth is releasing alot of crosses this year too that ill probably have to try also
grasshopper
Well-known member
I have a habit of keeping a few seed buds/plants going in late fall by keeping them in small pots either next to the window or in the dark cool garage. That saves time in spring to redo the slips or finding the cultivars again.
grasshopper
Well-known member
I was reading the Sand hill descriptions on Hawaii and Okinawan. I am quite certain they are the same and people in general have problem getting the purple flesh if live outside of volcanic soil area. I had that problem years ago. Back then, I added Azomite to the soil and it gets its color. Since Azomite also have aluminum, I am not sure it is a good idea. And Azomite is not cheap unless you live in Utah. Buds grown in Azomite amended soil came out purple, while the ones without stayed white even on the same plant. So, it doesn't get transfer throughout the plant.
My hunch is sulfur or some form of sulfate and/or iron may solve the problem as it is one of the most abundant minerals in volcanic soil(which I didn't add on purpose). Both minerals can be found in some fertilizers. I have not been growing them recently as it is not easy to get slips from grocery stocks plus the additional soil/fertilizer requirement.
Spectrum
Well-known member
Yours is a good practice. An abrupt move only allowed time for cutting collection, cuttings that were killed by spider mites before they could be rooted. In the PNW, short summers require an early start for sweet potatoes, so overwintering vines can be beneficial.
snarfing
Well-known member
Well the 2 potatoes i gave are definately different. Did I post the picture? Raw they looked similar but cooked it was totally different. The Hawaiian skin stayed white and the inside was like tie dye where as Okinawa turned purple everywhere.
You can see it sort of here. The Okinawa was all purple and the Hawaiian is far right. A friend has had good success with Okinawa in Maryland
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grasshopper
Well-known member
That is a bummer. I did those moves before. I ended up giving away all my plants each time and asked the receivers to help me restart later.
It is not easy to grow sweet potatoes in PNW as these are tropical plants thrive in heat.