I had a critter in the garden trying to dig them up for me so out they came. I've never been so excited about anything I've grown so far. They did great. Thanks farmerdill for all your help.
I dug up my very first crop of sweet potatoes
frogs- when did you plant? How long does it take to grow 'em. If yours are just done- would I be able to grow them in Minnesota zone 4?
I LOVE sweet potatoes.
I planted them some time in may. I live in north Ga so the slips didn't arrive here until then. This is my first year to grow them. Farmerdill had said to leave them in the ground until just before frost. But as I said, something was after them. and frost is only a few weeks away. He gave me alot of good advice. I'm not sure what areas they grow best in. wish I knew more.
yummy, I love sweet potatoes! when's dinner?
epatz,
Sweetpotatoes like a lot of warm weather. They are a natural in the south, but grow very well in Indiana. I set them out in May here...often early May...weather permitting. They could be grown in Minn. usually.
I am planning to try some next year. Don't know anyone in my area that grows them now but talked to someone who "used to". Any suggestions for variety etc will be appreciated!! I can provide plenty of warm weather! ;-)
Grammy, in your area you can grow just about any variety. My favorite is Jewel, an orange fleshed cultivar. But there are lots of others. Just go to plant files and type sweet potato in the search column.
epatz, I don't know about Minnesota, There are some 90 day cultivars that claim to have been grown in Canada, but the only actual growers I can find were in S.E. Nebraska. General consensus is that even for the short season cultivars, you need 150 frost free days.
Thanks, Have you ever ordered thru Sandhill Preservtion? http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/sweet_potatoes.html They list about 80 cultivars? I will plant Jewel. Any other suggestions?
Yes I experiment with cultivars from Sandhill. They really ship too late for this area, so I try a couple of cultivars each year and get enough to start my own seedbed the following year. To get the best crop I need to set plants in late April.
Edited to add, If you can't find plants locally, you might look at http://www.sweetpotatoplant.com/potatoes.html
This message was edited Sep 19, 2006 7:45 PM
I think I should set mine out abut the same time or a couple weeks earlier. Besides Jewel???
Other commonly raised orange tubers are Beauregard and Centennial. I like the yellow old timer Nancy Hall. I have tried several of the ones at Sandhill. I have a very good white variety but these taste about like white potatoes...so what's the use.?
There are a lot of them, Centennial is good, but Jewel is an improved version. Was not impressed with Beauregard. Use to grow Nancy Halls and Port Rico in the 40's and 50's. Both productive, but Nancy hall tastes too much like a pumpkin to suit me. Porto Rico has good flavor, but here is very susceptible to scurf. I have pretty good luck with Georgia Red, Oklahoma Red, and Ringley's Porto Rico. Most of the whites, Triumph, Poplar Root, and Violetta, I agree with Indy. Dry and taste like Irish potatoes with sugar on them. Grew one once that was sold to me as White Jewel, that was a classic honey dripper. Very good. Trialing Carver, Willowleaf and Oakleaf (Sandhill) this year. Too early to tell if they are worth keeping yet.