Sweet Potato Ground Layer

[ETXfigs]

I think all the potatoes and sweet potatoes came from South America originally and spread by world travelers to Europe and Asia.

The same is true for tomatoes. I've often thought what would Italian food be like without tomatoes that originated in South America. Italians do so many great things with tomatoes that when I was younger, I thought tomatoes must have originated in southern Europe.

 

[GoodFriendMike]

If it is sold in a grow pack, you can probably sprout it with ease.

I typically try all the sweet potatoes first before growing them because it takes space and time to grow them. I cut half of the bud, cook it up for taste, while the other half sits in a water dish for a few days before sprouting.

For the Okinawan, I had to try 5-6 different places to find one that sprouts. At the time, I don't think LSU or a lot of places sell untreated ones or slips.

Okinawan from Okinawa are actually steamed treated to kill off weevils. It is still raw inside but the chance of sprouts reduced after the steam bath.

Oh, UBE from Philippines is another good one to look for. I think it is in the yam family, has a richer, starchier or creamer texture. I haven't seen it sold raw live in the US, even in Philippines grocery stores. You can find them in the frozen veggie section or many pastry or ice cream shops would have UBE products.

I think all the potatoes and sweet potatoes came from South America originally and spread by world travelers to Europe and Asia.

My local whole foods carries quite a few varieties. They all seem to grow easily.
I used to buy a couple really small ones to plant with the big ones to eat.
But stopped as they seem to take over the yard. I had to up-root figs to dig them out.
Anywhere a stem touched the ground they rooted and started to produce a tuber.
I have since got rid of almost all vines.

 

[grasshopper]

Friend in NoCal just sent me pics of potatoes dug up this morning. Those were planted in February.

You can't plant sweet potatoes in Feb even in the south. I hadn't tried it that early in SoCal though.

 

[figpumper]

I got two small vines from a big box store and the ones in the pics I posted were from Walmart. They were sweet potatoes (not live plants) for planting. Here is a pic of the package they came in.

View attachment 8620

I find sprouting them in water pretty easy. I just put a couple of sweet potato in plastic Dixie cups pointed end down and fill it 1/2-3/4 with water and once they sprout i snap them off, stick them in water and they have roots in a couple days.

 

[grasshopper]

Hmm, I am heading to the market to get some Stokes. I couldn't find it earlier in the season. I think sprouts carry it now.

 

[grasshopper]

I find sprouting them in water pretty easy. I just put a couple of sweet potato in plastic Dixie cups pointed end down and fill it 1/2-3/4 with water and once they sprout i snap them off, stick them in water and they have roots in a couple days.

If my friend from NorCal heard you say this, she is going to puke. She tried to sprout hers since last December. Those came out finally in May.

For me, I got mine from a cold dark storage room in a dry paper bag. No water or light. I didn't do a thing and it sprouted so I figured it wanted to grow badly and gave it a chance.

 

[ETXfigs]

In the op I asked about ground layering and said that I was going to bury some portions of the vines to see if they grow roots. I didn't realize these things grow roots where ever the vines touch the ground, and they are growing so fast in a spot that doesn't even get that much sunlight. Then after reading some of the posts about how they are difficult to get rid of and come back every year, it sounds like kudzu. But I have to admit that I love sweet potatoes and an aggressive vine like this that puts sweet potatoes all over my yard sounds AWESOME!

 

[grasshopper]

In the op I asked about ground layering and said that I was going to bury some portions of the vines to see if they grow roots. I didn't realize these things grow roots where ever the vines touch the ground, and they are growing so fast in a spot that doesn't even get that much sunlight. Then after reading some of the posts about how they are difficult to get rid of and come back every year, it sounds like kudzu. But I have to admit that I love sweet potatoes and an aggressive vine like this that puts sweet potatoes all over my yard sounds AWESOME!

I thought the same but not my wife or my friends.

 

[ETXfigs]

Check this out. I want to try this. I don't know how the vines don't root into the ground. When he first walks over to the bales of straw he moves the vines out of the way and they are not rooted to the ground. Can anyone identify what type of sweet potatoes that is, and have you ever grown them like this? If I try it, maybe it will be next year. Also fertilizing and watering those bales of straw looks like a recipe for spontaneous combustion. Lol

 

[ETXfigs]

To give you an idea of how fast these things are growing, the 1st pic is from June 13th and the vines are only up to the first horizontal paracord. The 2nd pic is from this morning June 16th and the vines are well established on the 2nd rung of the paracord ladder. The cords are 16" apart and they were up to the 2nd cord yesterday, so they are growing atleast a foot taller every day. Tomorrow they will be almost to the 3rd cord.

The 3rd pic is two other sweet potato vines that I'm going to remove that tomato cage and keep those ones on the ground. So I have 3 different varieties of sweet potatoes and I don't know what they are. I am wondering if anyone can identify them by these pics.

 

[ETXfigs]

This is what I meant by ground layering. I put some dirt over part of this vine in a spot that has a node. I don't know if anyone does this with sweet potatoes. Maybe I will regret it later if the vines take over my yard, Lol