Grow Your Own Magazine

Already thinking about next year! Has anyone grown butternut squash and sweet potato? Would love to try them but am not going to waste my time if they don't grow sucessfully. Anyone any tips?

We have grown butternut squash a few times, looks good, easy to grow and it tastes great.
I have never trued growing sweet potatoes though

Me too Adam, they seem easy to grow - maybe a bit too easy and they're trying to make a take-over-bid in the garden!

I've not tried sweet potatoe either but have been thinking about them for next year too

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

this is music to my ears!! I LOVE butternut squash but thought it might be too difficult to grow!!
What time of year do you sow them? the same as courgettes or later?

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smiling is infectious....

http://www.thehudsonallotment.blogspot.com/ updated 28th May 2008

There was an article about sweet potatoes in the GYO magazine a couple of issues back. They seem easy enough to take slips of, but I don't know if we have the right climate. I think they need quite warm weather - although judging by this year.... we should be able to grow most things tropical!

Like you... I too love butternut squash. I'm trying a Japanese pumpkin this year which is supposed to have flesh so sweet that it can be eaten raw. I'll see how it compares to butternut squash....!

All I seem to get on butternut squash are lots of leaves - no flowers yet. Do you treat them like courgettes? ie ignore ?

Don't think sweet potato will grow in our climate Sug, but i don't suppose it will do any harm to give them a try.

I thought you just left the butternut squash pretty much like courgettes - although Shortie may have a better answer - she's the butternut squash queen!

Bramble... I was hoping the climate in 'The Sunny South East' may give a bit of hope for the ole sweet potatoes.... I can but hope! I think they're best for those with a poly tunnel, which unfortuntely I don't have : (

Jennie, have you been feeding your squash with anything? Just wondering what could give them lots of leaves and no flowers. I've fed mine nothing (stingy or what!) and I have lots of little flower buds forming and the first flower opened today.

I did give them some chicken poo pellets at the start of the year when I was getting the ground ready, but besides that... nothing.

You mentioned in another thread that your courgettes are all leafy too - have you been feeding them?

Go on, be a dare devil and give them a try. If they grow anywhere in Ireland IT WILL BE the "sunny south east"
We go down every Jan or Feb, and stay in The Towers for 5 days. I love Waterford.

My butternut are huge but have only just started flowering!- good to see there’s other people in the same boat…

As for sweet potatoes, I’ve discovered that they need to be really warm before they will produce slips. I planted a couple of slips out about 6 weeks ago and they seem to be growing healthily albeit rather slowly. Fingers crossed!

Mycorr

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Grow your own truffles – www.PlantationSystems.com – buy a truffle-tree!

You can buy the slips for sweet potatoes from www.thompson-morgan.co.uk But they are expensive. At least I think so.

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Here is some info I found on sweet potatos. I have also looked into growing them, but for the amount I use I think I am better to still get them at my local Caribbean shop.

The main consideration when growing sweet potatoes is climate conditions. In order to produce a reasonable crop, the plants require a long and hot growing season (requiring an average temperature of 24 °C) with absolutely no risk of frost during the growing period: most sweet potato varieties require at least 4 frost-free months. The second important consideration is space. Although it is possible to get “bush” varieties, the natural habit of the plant is to trail along the ground: it often spreads 4 feet in all directions.

In short, if you don’t live in a relatively warm climate, it’s probably not worth you attempting to grow them. For those of you who do have the right conditions, here are some basic instructions on growing them.

Unless you have very sandy soil, make ridges about 20cm/8 inches high and 30cm/1 foot wide with at least 90cm/3 feet between the rows. Growing from seed is not recommended - the best method is to grow from small plants (vine cuttings) which are achieved much in the same way as strawberry runners. They are often referred to as “slips”. Choose an area which gets full sun throughout the day and plant the slips 12 to 18 inches apart along the raised ridges setting them to the depth of the first leaves so that several “joints” are actually underground. Firm the soil and water generously for a few days.

Keep the area as weed free as possible and water in hot dry periods to increase yields. Do not over water as they don’t like wet or waterlogged soil and if you are planning to store any of the crop, don't give the plants any extra water at all late in the season. Apart from this there is little else to do until harvesting time.

Unlike ordinary potatoes, sweet potato vines don't dieback when they are ready to be harvested so the ridges have to be checked regularly for suitable roots at the required cooking stage. Harvest on a dry preferably overcast day. Allow the potatoes to dry on the ground surface for a couple of hours. Sort any damaged or bruised potatoes and use as soon as possible.
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Sweet%20Potatoes%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm

I've grown sweet potatoes with great success: I bought the slips from Thompson and Morgan. I potted them up as I was not ready to plant them out, and they put on some good growth. I then planted them out through holes cut in a black plastic mulch, and watered and fed them periodically. We got a truly brilliant crop of huge beauties! This year they are actually advising that you pot them up for 2-3 weeks before planting out, so I guess that I coincidentally did the right thing.

We have a clay soil (London) and did nothing to improve the drainage, beyond the usual anyway, and they did pretty well. I would definitely have a go, as the thrill of harvesting them was great!

They do need warmth, but our summers are so warm now that unless you live in the far north I would think they would do well. And there is always a polytunnel.

Good luck!

Nicky

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Saoirse: Irish meaning Freedom (I think!)

Slug - no I haven't fed the squash yet, just given them plenty of water and they are growing in an area of the polytunnel where I put plenty of compost. The courgettes are growing in an area which I fertilised with the contents of the Bokashi Bran bucket from work. I'm wondering if it was a bit rich for courgettes. I've never grown courgettes direct in the grown before, normally in pots or grow bags. I had meant to sow more seeds in a bag, but completely forgot!

Any clues/advice gratefully received!

Thank you everyone - after reading the notes from Silverfox I thought I wouldn't bother with sweet potato next year, then I read Nicky's notes now I can't decide. I have at least 8 months to think about it.

Sorry I didn't mean to put you off. If you think about it our weather is always over 24C each summer anyway, and we are now getting longer summers.

I would still give it a go if I was you. If you do let us know how it goes, and how many you get. You never know I could add to the club, but like I say I only eat 1 about every month.

I had one roasted last night covered with cajun spices, OH kept saying this is good, so I thought next year rather than courgettes (which I seem to give most of them away) sweet potato would be a better bet. I'm beginning to drool just thinking about last night's meal!

Hi Jennie,

I don't know what to say really (well, certainly nothing that will help this year's crop). I wondered if your problem may have been to do with over feeding as this can sometimes produce more leafy growth than flowers. Not sure if your Bokashi Bran bucket was too much? I'll be honest and say I don't actually know what a Bokashi Bran bucket is!! Sorry.... showing my lack of knowledge there!

My courgettes are in a pot (didn't have any more space in the garden!)

My butternuts are doing great, however a friend of mine grew hers in a large greenhouse last summer- they were all leaf n no squash- could it be that the plants get too stressed by hot temperatures in greenhouses and polytunnels. Maybe you would be better off planting out rather than in the polytunnel?

Hi
I am a first time grower and I bought 2 butternut plants from the local garden centre, I planted them in large pots outside (as I have small veg plot) and watered them regularly and one died and the other was struggling to grow to 2 inches tall!!! Then a month ago I bought a greenhouse (excitment!!) and as a last resort I put the poor little butternut in it and one month later the butternut has grown by 2 feet and has 7 bud like growths on it which I am keeping my fingers crossed may become fruit as I love butternut!
So hopefully I will have a greenhouse butternut success

Caz

I planted out around 6 of my squash plants into the plot and kept 4 in the greenhouse - boy! what a difference! The ones inside the greenhouse certainly benefitted from that - but the ones outside are now catching up. It must be the hot weather we've had! Had quite a few flowers on both, but think they were only the female ones not the males ones, so keeping my eye on them. What does everyone think - as to keeping them in the greenhouse for a while until they really begin to grow as opposed to planting them outside? I thought it seemed a good idea dexterdog

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Hi dexterdog.
I sowed mine from seed and kept them in the greenhouse until first bud appeared then took a chance and planted two in open ground outside and kept one in a pot. The two outside have done great so far! 10 fruits between the two of them. My OH thinks I am going slightly mad checking each one every morning before I even put the kettle on! But this is my first year at the veg and am really chuffed with the results I am getting. So I am in agreement with you, def greenhouse to start with.

Thanks Debs - I check my veg first thing in a morning as well - and yes OH thinks Im mad! He does enjoy eating the rewards though! dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things