Is it easy to grow sweet potato? If so, how?
Another question, I have normal seed potatoes to plant, but our ground is so wet no chance! Do I have to wait for the ground to dry out a lot? Peas too, do I need to wait for the ground to dry up?
At least our well is filling up nicely, pool needs emptying though!!
The daffodils are flowering, just need some dry weather!!
Growing Sweet potato etc
-
oliveview01
- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 2984
- Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 2:31 pm
- Location: Sevilla
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
Hi Oliveview - surprised noone has got back to you yet.
We grew some sweet potatoes a couple of years ago but they were not very big and we soon got bored peeling the little blighters and ran out of recipes to use them!!! We were given cuttings by a neightbour - I don't know if you can grow them from the actual tubers .... the locals seem to do them from the cuttings. The plants soon trail and creep all over the place but do have pretty blue flowers!!
Your seed potatoes should be laid out on trays to sprout their first shoots for a few weeks in a dark place - loosely covered by a black plastic sheet will help so they don't get sweaty and mouldy. So with a bit of luck the weather will have improved a bit by the time they have their shoots about an inch long. They would like wet ground to go into but you will find it awful difficult to dig it and get the job done - I sank down to my mid-calves the other day by our broad bean patch!! A tip from our locals here - with potatoes here you don't bother with UK style double digging and trench making, just make a trench deep enough to set the spuds in, cover them, and then heap the soil over them as they come up, to end up with a ridge over the plants, then leave them to their own devices until after they have flowered, then they should be ready for digging up.
I have not had much success with peas, so hope someone else can give you advice on that one. But I do think they would appreciate wet ground, saves watering them in, and they just need the seeds pushing under the surface, so no digging required, if your plot is ready for them?
We grew some sweet potatoes a couple of years ago but they were not very big and we soon got bored peeling the little blighters and ran out of recipes to use them!!! We were given cuttings by a neightbour - I don't know if you can grow them from the actual tubers .... the locals seem to do them from the cuttings. The plants soon trail and creep all over the place but do have pretty blue flowers!!
Your seed potatoes should be laid out on trays to sprout their first shoots for a few weeks in a dark place - loosely covered by a black plastic sheet will help so they don't get sweaty and mouldy. So with a bit of luck the weather will have improved a bit by the time they have their shoots about an inch long. They would like wet ground to go into but you will find it awful difficult to dig it and get the job done - I sank down to my mid-calves the other day by our broad bean patch!! A tip from our locals here - with potatoes here you don't bother with UK style double digging and trench making, just make a trench deep enough to set the spuds in, cover them, and then heap the soil over them as they come up, to end up with a ridge over the plants, then leave them to their own devices until after they have flowered, then they should be ready for digging up.
I have not had much success with peas, so hope someone else can give you advice on that one. But I do think they would appreciate wet ground, saves watering them in, and they just need the seeds pushing under the surface, so no digging required, if your plot is ready for them?
-
Martin Page
- Resident
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:57 pm
- Location: Chiclana de la Frontera - Costa de Luz
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
The thing with sweet potatoes are that they are ravenous feeder. They prefer rich humus type soils that are kept damp at all times .... See the problem. The soils here are usually sandy, starved, limestone and in the summer, very dry.
If you have a source of compost, or better still manure, and prepare a bed as you would for ordinary potatoes , you can get very good crops if you keep the watering consistent.
They will spread, and layer root, every where. keeping them constrained and controlled is the best way of insuring a good main crop from the base of the plant, if they spread too far away, the crop from the out runners is usually very poor and weak.
Peas are another challenge .. but your soil should be ideal for them, if you give them an additional feed of 'blue' fertilizer .. They are tricky buggas to get your timing right. Too early and they will damp off and rot in the soggy ground. Too late and they will dry out as they are setting the pods and mildew will be a problem. They are also very attractive to rats and mice.
I would suggest that you start them in pots first and have them started so you can transplant as soon as the ground dries out.
Peas don't like to too hot ...
You might decide that they arn't worth the effort...
If you have a source of compost, or better still manure, and prepare a bed as you would for ordinary potatoes , you can get very good crops if you keep the watering consistent.
They will spread, and layer root, every where. keeping them constrained and controlled is the best way of insuring a good main crop from the base of the plant, if they spread too far away, the crop from the out runners is usually very poor and weak.
Peas are another challenge .. but your soil should be ideal for them, if you give them an additional feed of 'blue' fertilizer .. They are tricky buggas to get your timing right. Too early and they will damp off and rot in the soggy ground. Too late and they will dry out as they are setting the pods and mildew will be a problem. They are also very attractive to rats and mice.
I would suggest that you start them in pots first and have them started so you can transplant as soon as the ground dries out.
Peas don't like to too hot ...
You might decide that they arn't worth the effort...
-
oliveview01
- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 2984
- Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 2:31 pm
- Location: Sevilla
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
Many thanks for your replies, I think I will just carry on buying sweet potatoes as and when needed!!
-
oliveview01
- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 2984
- Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 2:31 pm
- Location: Sevilla
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
oh dear, I forgot the comments here and saw the sweet potatoe ´stems´ and purchased 3, then got another 4 yesterday- they have the option-lie or die! I have tucked them at the edge of the veg plot, do they go mad like pumpkin? 
-
Martin Page
- Resident
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:57 pm
- Location: Chiclana de la Frontera - Costa de Luz
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
They sure do .. especially if you water them
-
oliveview01
- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 2984
- Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 2:31 pm
- Location: Sevilla
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
Daft question, 
where do the potatoes grow on the plant, at the root bit where they are planted or all along the plant? See I said it was a daft question! JUst looked them up, at the root bit! Can I grow the plants up a fence?
where do the potatoes grow on the plant, at the root bit where they are planted or all along the plant? See I said it was a daft question! JUst looked them up, at the root bit! Can I grow the plants up a fence?-
Martin Page
- Resident
- Posts: 1805
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 4:57 pm
- Location: Chiclana de la Frontera - Costa de Luz
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
No ... they need there roots in the ground - and did I mention watering ??
-
oliveview01
- Andalucia Guru
- Posts: 2984
- Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2005 2:31 pm
- Location: Sevilla
Re: Growing Sweet potato etc
So, being thick.... they grow along the ground and root where they want? I can see me pulling themup!!!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests