Sweet potatoes any joy?

[noviceveggrower]

Hi,
I was thinking of a "different" veg to grow next year that we would all eat and I thought of sweet potatoes.
So was wondering who had grown them this year?
Have you grown them before or is this the first time?
And how's it going? Are you due to harvest soon or is it going to be nearer autumn?
Oh more importantly would you grow them again?
Thanks

[Bigmallly]

I'm growing them for the first time NVG, they are confusing me at the moment as the vines are climbing up the frame in the poly like runner beans would do. I thought you had to lay them along the soil to make more roots hence more crops but they are defiant lickle beggers and still want to climb. Anyhows, I can't be bothered fighting with them so just letting them climb, they need a long warm growing season so plan to leave them till around Oct before furtling.

[Alison]

I grow them most years and usually get some crop (although not sure it's worth the effort if I actually looked at what I get ) but only if I grow them in the tunnel and make sure they get enough water. I don't find that they root and produce more tubers along the length so I wouldn't worry about them climbing, they basically go wherever they want in my experience and I leave them in the ground for as long as possible to encourage the roots to swell, if I dug them up now they'd be nothing worth having.

[bearded bloke]

As Alison says they go wherever they want,the sweet potato "fields" on Madeira look like the crop is bindweed,but a lot more dense.

[JMCKG]

Tried them last year in greenhouse. Plenty of foliage but very little crop, not worth the bother IMO. I live in West Scotland, you may be luckier than me. Give it a try.

[bearded bloke]

There is an article in the current (September) GYO magazine on sweet potatoes see page 35

[Noosner]

Yes, I liked the fact the article explained how to make your own sweet potato 'slips'. Anyone here tried doing that?

[Bigmallly]

Yes,I've grown slips using the glass of water method but they take forever to grow so I just bunged the tuber in the ground..................

[Noosner]

Sounds as if that method worked well, BM, if they are growing all over your polytunnel!

[Bigmallly]

I'll try & remember this thread for an update but I'm not expecting much in the way of a good crop.

[Small pumpkin]

The sweet potato is on my list to grow next year. Will it grow alright in a potato bag, in the Polytunnel or dose it need more space?

[dim]

I planted a grafted sweet potato last year at a clien't home in a raised bed ...

it grew rampant and filled the bed ... (approx 5 foot by 5 foot square raised bed)

when I harvested, the only sweet potatoes that I found were dierctly beneath the roots of the plant and not beneath the runners

I got approx 10 sweet potatoes, so decided to give it a miss this year .... it's not worth the space it takes IMHO