Thanks dl, I'll stick with them for awhile and see what happens.
I'm growing vardaman sweet potatoes, which is a 110-day bush variety with purplish leaves.
SWEETIES UNDER STRAW/LEAVES #1
John, My Vardeman's seem better behaved than they were last year. So far they are still a "bush" not a rampant vine. It could be the soil. Last year there was grass growing in that area, and the subsoil was very rocky. Hubby and I removed the grass, then I threw lots of leaves on top, some left-over potting soil and set the slips. It's possible they do not have enough "depth" to grow well.
I hope your squirrel eaten leaves are replaced by new ones soon. Ya wanna borrow my little dog, she's great at chasing squirrels up trees. Goodness knows what she'll do if she ever catches one!
HoneybeeNC,
Any possibility I could set some Vardeman slips into a large 24" planter and hope for a few sweeties? I'm in the process of moving and packing up my eBucket/ePlanter/EB garden for the move. Today I harvested the potato crop from two washing machine tubs. The planting medium was potting mix, homemade compost and leaf mold.
I unpacked each tub onto a large tarp. Then, since I'm moving, I carried reuse the planting medium in my eBuckets for my next cole crop. But, since the eBuckets are already planted and just need to be moved, I'm not gonna bother with redoing the existing potting medium.
I could put two sweetie slips per planter, for a total of 6 plants. Also, since Vardeman is "bush" type, I could put a trellis or plastic poultry wire cage around each planter to contain the vines.
LMK what you think. I think it could possibly work!
Linda
As of today, leaves are regrowing on my (formerly naked) sweet potato stems!
Gymgirl - I usually judge pots by their gallons - I think a 10 gallon or larger pot would be okay to grow Vardemans. One slip per pot. I've never tried this, but have thought about doing so - perhaps next year.
Count back from your first frost date in your new area and judge whether or not there will be time for the slips to form potatoes.
Good to hear John! Boo on those squirrels!
Linda - I can plant SP slips through mid-July, so you should have plenty of time. On average they need 120 days to reach full maturity, though there will be sweeties before then - just not as many and not as large. Remember the potatoes grow somewhat horizontally out from the main root, so they need planty of space width-wise to from nice sized taters.
Thanks, guys! Our first frost date is December 7th, so, technically I can plant the sweeties out until probably mid-August.
How are everyone's sweeties doing? Mine are taking over several beds and doing just fine - lol. Planted early May I'll be looking to harvest in early October - just in time for fall planting...
Looks like all the viners are trying to take over - lol.
Part of my jungle...
Looks like you're off to a great start, Kelly. What a good lookin jungle! I like the dark opal basil next to the vines in the 1st pic.
I planted my Vardaman's on June 6th and my expected harvest date is September 14th. My plants have fully recovered from their attack by the squirrels or rabbits or whatever, and now they have nice healthy leaves and I think they are poised for greatness. I'd post a pic but it has been raining off n' on for the past three days it seems.
Thanks John! I have several types of Basil planted and the purples are my fave - they look pretty and make a nice addition to sauces. Glad your vines recovered. They're pretty prolific, so I think it would take a lot of critters to take them down - lol.
I think I planted all my sweeties early May. Last year I planted them the first week of June and had to harvest early October as I needed the bed space. Lots of sweeties but also lots of baby ones. This time I'm gonna give 'em plenty of time to grow.
I just did a walkabout tour of my about-to-be-transported garden.
My EB tomatoes look like death on a shoestring...if I'd never tasted a vine-ripened tomato before, I'd seriously be questioning why anyone would want to grow such ugly vines...
The Kings of the North bells have small balls on each one, along with one humongous brown grasshopper...
I have exactly two Red Cajun okras -- one on each plant...
My 7 onions look happy, and are golfball size...
I turned my back on what I thought were some struggling Florida Highbush eggplant seedlings I Winter Sowed and whoa! they're up to about 5" with full leaves about to jump on my neck outta the milk jugs!
It's damp outside from all the rain. And, the sky's about to open up yet again...
I am soooooooooooooooooooooo ready to break everything down, clean everything up and out, MOVE, and be challenged with my cole crop in September, in a new (albeit temporary) location!
My nephew told me he has a completely EMPTY attic...a ray of sunshine....
What's up with your sweeties? No activity for awhile...
Just growing bigger and biger vines - lol. These critters you don't do much except water them for a few months. Kind of a boring veg to grow - lol - but delicious in the end!
I'd be happy to be growing even a "boring" veggie right now!
Poor Linda - lol... You'll be back to growin' in no time girlfriend!
I think I'm addicted to growing veggies. Even the poor, leggy, cabbage seedlings have my full attention right now!
My sweet potatoes and corn. Note the purple leaves- very nice.
Very nice, John.
What's with that box, though? Is it one of those optical illusion puzzles?
Why are you dissin' on my raised garden bed, LOL! Yeah, it is a makeshift bed that I pieced together because I did not have the time to construct anything better and I needed to plant ASAP.
Or better yet, the optical illusion effect is an experimental pest-control device that I am trying out.
This message was edited Jul 29, 2010 8:24 AM
Don't worry John.
If that PCID (pest-control illusional device) works, EVERYONE'S RBs will start looking like it!
^^_^^^^_^^ (Me, and my friend John)
John I'm not totally sure about this, but doesn't arsenic leach out of pressure treated lumber over time? I like your idea though. I think I might have a better shot at growing sweet potatoes if its soil was in an elevated box which would get warmer than my regular garden soil. I've tried growing them before and the tubers are so delicious, but the majority were on the small side. Hhhhmmm, there's always next year.
They stopped using arsenic in pressure treated wood over 3 years ago. However, they still use copper and other heavy metals. There is always the possiblity that these metals will leach out overtime and be absorbed by your vegetables. Not to mention that it will may also get into your groundwater.
So, what do ya'll use to fertilize sweet potatoes? I have fish emulsion and Hasta Gro 6-12-6 on hand.
OMG, I just checked my veggie calendar and as it turns out, my sweet potato Vardaman's were ready for harvest 4 days ago!!! It's been 100 days. Check them out. What should I do now? Just dig them all up??
How do you tell if they're ready to harvest? I hate to check mine and find out that they still need to grow!
How long they been in the ground Crista? I harvested at 4 months last year as I needed the space. There were a lot of taters but many more small ones... Leaving them 5 months this time.
Some places the vines may flower or start to die back but they don't seem to do that here.
I have three tubs growing, all look great. The half-whiskey barrel gets sun part of the day (and it's a HOT sun) so some parts of the vine have crispy leaves but it looks very happy. I plan to harvest around Thanksgiving time. That will be about 5-months.
They look great McP! Mine get crispy leaves even under the shade cloth so no worries...
Went ahead and harvested the sweets since they were a 100-110/ day variety. This is my first sweet potato harvest, so I thought I would go by the book and see what happens. Well, the harvest was a bit on the low end in terms of yield, and the sweets came out long and thin. Maybe I developed a new fingerling sweet potato? LOL. Looks like pests got to some of them (cut worms?) and the soil seemed more compacted than I remember when I planted.
I will need to water my sweets better next time, and I will have to mix in some sand or shale or something to keep my soil loose. I used composted cow manure from Lowe's, piled on top of my gulf coast clay. I really need to work the soil beneath the bed next time.
I'll post pics later. I'm off to Lowe's to go buy lumber for my raised beds. Looks like it may rain any minute...
The soil beibg compacted is most likely a watering issue. Sweet potatoes like water - slow deep watering. That may also be the cause of the skinny taters, though that could be the variety as well.
When I grew my first crop of potatoes, I used lots of leaf mold mixed into MG potting mix (I was using containers). Loose enough to dig into with my hands. Only issue I had was not planting enough seed potatoes.
I didn't have enough "dirt" to grow sweet potatoes this year, so I piled leaves on top of the clay, made a small mound for each slip from what soil I did have and set the slips.
This past couple of weeks, I've been harvesting the sweets. I weighed the sweets from one plant, and the scale measured 6lbs.
I set 55 slips, about five died. If each plant gives 6lbs of sweets, I'll have 300lbs! I've started giving aways sweets to anyone who says they like 'em.
Wow, that's amazing. Next year I'll use more leaves and straw and less potting soil. I fear I am going to have the "compacted dirt" problem that John experienced. Didn't know about the slow deep watering need of the sweeties, I've beent turning on the hose to full shower and blasting the containers. I'm waiting until Thanksgiving-time to harvest.
Good job HoneyBee!
I was watering my sweetie vine this morning and saw the edge of a tater......guess I'll harvest the entire barrel this weekend and see what we've got. It's so exciting to harvest. I giggle like a kid!
This message was edited Sep 29, 2010 9:51 AM
Yeah - taters! Mine are pushing 5 months so will probably harvest this weekend. Lots of taters there that I can see. I so need to get fall/winter stuff planted but this weather is putting a damper on that plan!
I know...........triple digits. I can't plant any fall seeds, they won't germinate. Mark my words: we're going to go from 105° to 65° overnight. I'm thinking of building a cold frame, need a glass shower door or two. Any ideas on where I could score one cheap or free?
Shoot - we put two out in July with bulk trash;o( Never thought I'd use them for anything but someone sure picked them up in a hurry. I'll keep my eyes/ears open for some. Maybe ask on Freecycle? Those peeps give away all kinds of weird stuff - lol...
For shower doors try Habitat Rehab stores or Stardust Building Supply. I'll keep watch in my hood this weekend, it is bulk trash pickup.
Okay thanks. I'll check the Habitat stores this weekend.