My Sweet Potato Experiment

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jannz2 Pilot Point, TX(Zone 7b) Nov 16, 2010

Hi Everybody,

I thought I would share the results of my sweet potato experiment.
...
OK - so last winter I had one ol’ rotten looking sweet potato that had started having shoots on it. I thought…”hmmmnnn.. I wonder if I can grow these..??..” So I took it to my mud room staging area for my plant stuff – and forgot about it.

Come spring I found it again…and the shoots were still sorta’ green. [???...interesting...???] So I looked up HOW you’re supposed to plant potatoes from a ‘shooted potato’ .[basically you cut out each of the “eyes” that have shoots and root them in water]. Well after I did that I planted them in one of my small raised beds and just left them alone basically…but hoping that I’d have some sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.

Well my wish came true. That one ol’ rotten sweet potato produced 18 ½ pounds of NEW sweet potatoes. I just dug them up. It was like digging for treasure. Some were the hugest potatoes I’ve ever seen. The skin is so thin….like “new potatoes”.

I cooked up some of the 'fingerlings' by cutting them into cubes then sautéing them in coconut oil, with a little salt & pepper and some 'allspice'. YUMMO!


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bellieg Virginia Beach, VA Nov 17, 2010

Congratulations!! It is amazing indeed, potatoes and onions are very easy to raise. Try the white and purple ones next summer. Buy them at the oriental grocery stores. Belle

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HoneybeeNC Charlotte, NC(Zone 7b) Nov 17, 2010

I've grown sweet potatoes for two years in a row and have decided they are the simplest vegetables to grow. Just plant 'em and forget 'em. My second choice for ease of growing is garlic, the third onions.

I'm glad your experiment worked out so well.

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Gymgirl SE Houston (Hobby), TX(Zone 9a) Nov 18, 2010

TOTALLY KEWL! BON APPETITE!

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behillman Plantersville, TX(Zone 9a) Dec 09, 2010

jannz2,,,when you said you planted the sweet potatoes in the spring, did you mean in Jan;uary or March? or early spring or late spring. I would like to plant some also this coming spring.

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HoneybeeNC Charlotte, NC(Zone 7b) Dec 11, 2010

behillman - sweet potatoes are a tropical vine, so they should do okay year round in your zone 9A. I set my slips out April 25th this year, which I think was a bit early, but that's when the arrived in the mail! They cannot take frost at all.

Photo taken around mid-May 2010

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jannz2 Pilot Point, TX(Zone 7b) Dec 11, 2010

Hi behillman,

I don't remember EXACTLY when I planted...but it was closer to April than January. I'm really looking forward to planting again next spring because these were the tastiest sweet potatoes I think I've ever had.

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