I know that most of you live in US but i was wondering if there are any brave souls who would be interested in sending tubers of Ipomoea batatas (any of them) to me in Spain.
It would be easier for a European but I don't know how common they are in the EU. Where ever you live, I would be interested in doing a trade of some kind. Please D-mail me if you are up for this. Lizzy
CLOSED: Ipomoea batatas
are you looking for the edible sweet potato or one of the decorative vines?
mamajack
Do you have black?
Kaleem
well no, i don't have any but i was just curious what lizzy wanted.
Well I don't know what the difference is - it would be nice to have an ornamental which you can eat LOL. Does this exist?
i don't think people eat the ornamentals. i am not the one to be advising about this, however. lol. when you asked for this what did you have in mind? i have never even grown sweet potatoes as a food crop. now i have to go and find out how to do this. but if you are looking for the edible variety why don't you check in with the fruits/vegetables/edible plant forum (whatever it is called) and ask those folks. ornamentals are available here every year in lots of colors. it is late in the season for them to be available now where i live. maybe you could ask for the ornamentals on the florida gardening forum or even the texas gardening forum as they may still be available in south texas.
Well - I guess that now I know the difference I would like to grow both eating kind and the pretty ones! thanks for the advice on asking further south mamajack.
The story for "Blackie" goes like this: They were trying to hybridize the Sweet Potato to acquire a darker tuber (for eating) But the resulting tuber was too small - not enough to grow as food. They scrapped the plant, but gardeners picked it back up as an ornamental plant. So it became a favorite for gardeners - especially container gardens. So glad that someone DID save it from the compost heap!
The history is one reason that I like the plant - it is interesting & shows the different viewpoints of gardeners & farmers.
I have fresh tubers from "Blackie" - will dmail...
Julie
well, julie how does one propagate edible sweet potatoes? do you take a sweet potato and cut it into sections and plant the sections?
barb, lookie here. As you can see, vine looks pretty much like Marguerite. I guess you'd have to actually harvest the tuber to determine whether edible (orange looking) or ornamental (the color more like a regular 'tater, but longish shape)
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/Sweet_Pota_m1140386.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/s1495387.htm&h=200&w=300&sz=20&hl=en&start
Vossner - you're a STAR! Just what we have been looking for. Lizzy
lizzy, I have both "blackie" and "marguerite" sweet potato vines. They'll probably be gone when we get our 1st real frost, which could be any day now. Do you want me to dig up the tubers (if any) and try to send them to you?
xxxx, Carrie
Hi Carrie
That is so kind of you. I have to tell you that JRush from CT has kindly offered to send me some Blackie tubers so I wouldn't want to waste your time. thank you, thank you, thank you for the offers.. You guys are so generous at DG it blows my mind and I apppreciate it so much. you know it only takes one to root before you know it you have millions!!!!!! I'll be passing them along the line here in Espana and maybe down the line we will build up our stocks of plants just like you have in the USA!!!!
Saludos
Lizzy
Well I grow the Blackie and the Marguerite. I know the the Filipinos eat them. My friend cooked mine up for me. I was so suprised. I know this other cook that grows them just to eat!
l1zzy, I am borrowing a sweet potato vine pic posted by JamesCO. It is of the root system. There is a small tuber at the bottom right corner of the pic. That one must be a young/developing tuber; the bigger tubers are fatter but still have the longish shape.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/129536.html
Some one above asked about rooting the regular sweet potatoes. You can take a section and place it in a saucer of water and it will root and make a vine. Not as nice as Blackie or Margarite but nice anyway. I take cuttings and root in water and overwinter of my Blackie and Margarite. They root in a few days.
Vossner - that is quite a root system! Looks like regular roots swell in time to become a storage organ just like other tubers. thanks for showing that.
Sound like there are lots of ways to get the roots going - I guess kids like to see the thing in action and so would I truth be told!!!! I will try different ways and report back to you which was best for me. Thanks everyone