Sweet potatoes

[maggienetball]

Want to have a go at growing sweet potatoes this year and I've read that you need to grow them from slips.

Has anyone grown them (in the uk)? And did you "grow" the slips too? If so what time of year did you start the potatoes off?

Sorry for so many questions.

[Hawthorn]

Um, first question, what are slips? :D

[ina]

I only know they are the bits of plant material that you grow sweet potatoes from! But what exactly - whether a bit of root, or tuber or what - no idea. It's a bit cold up here for them.

[maggienetball]

slips are the shoots that grow off planted sweet potatoes. I think you plant the potato in a pot of compost indoors then harvest the slips. Then each "slip" is planted out and grows (ever hopefully) into a plant that produces tubers.

I could be wrong about any or all of the above, but that's what I've been told. I just wanted to have a go at them this year as I love SP and at loads. It's fairly temperate down here in Torbay so I may have some success.

[chadspad]

Hi Maggienetball,

Ive grown them here in France, the weathers not that different from the UK. I bought a couple of sweet pots from the supermarket and cut into pieces wherever I saw an 'eye' - a little slit in the potato. I planted them all into a tubs with just normal, cheap peat. I then waited.........and waited....and waited.....u get the picture, it seemed to take ages before they sprouted lol. Once they had I transplanted them into an old tyre with canes to grow up and they grew quite fast. I found it very rewarding to grow these especially as they seemed to be unusual to grow.

Heres a link for a previous thread on them:
http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... sc&start=0

[maggienetball]

What time of the year did you plant the pieces in pots?

[Green Rosie]

Off to add sweet potatoes to my shopping list

[chadspad]

I didnt make any notes foolishly but having read that other thread I said that they were doing OK outside in Aug - Im sure I didnt plant them til late. I would say have a go now in pots - they do take a long time to shoot and they need a long time before theyre ready. Im also pretty sure I planted them in sand and peat in pots thinking back. Know now to always take notes!!

[chadspad]

Found this link http://www.barfoots.co.uk/page63.html

[kiwirach]

if you can get your hands on a copy of aprils Kitchen Garden, there is a 2 page article in there on kumara....as us kiwis call them!.

[Kevin]

Want to have a go at growing sweet potatoes this year and I've read that you need to grow them from slips.

Has anyone grown them (in the uk)? And did you "grow" the slips too? If so what time of year did you start the potatoes off?

Sorry for so many questions.

Trying them this year first time I have grown them they have not sprouted yet so no slips to use. Will let you know how it goes

. Also growing eddoe they have sprouted and have just potted them up to grow on indoors until frost past


Kevin :

[george]

I tried growing them in Christchurch (NZ) where it was a bit too cold probably. However, I did sucessfully get sprouts from store bought ones by putting the kumara in a box of sand in a warm place. I got half a dozen or so sprouts from one potato and the plants grown from them grew well but I only got tiny wee potatoes.

[Mal]

Definitely trying that. Just need to wrest some sweet potatoes from OH who keeps trying to feed them to the baby and I'm away.