Sweet potatos

[briggsy2011]

i bought 2 plug plants from b and q and planted in my containers and left in my green house. the leaves have grown arnd starting to creep around the gh. i have read that i can harvest them when the leaves turn a yellow colour. anyone else know any tips when i can harvest them?

thanks

[snohare]

I suppose if i kept it indoors overwinter it might stand a chance?

I believe they have to be kept at a temperature of more than 50 degrees. So cool/chilly room temperature, but as the temperature drops they become more susceptible to moulds etc in the compost etc. Sweet potatoes are prone to a million fungal diseases.

i have read that i can harvest them when the leaves turn a yellow colour

I hadn't heard that - but then I am hardly what you would call an expert grower, I've tried unsuccessfully three times ! - but I'd guess that at this time of year, it is entirely possible to have yellowed leaves due to stress caused by low temperatures. Certainly mine has been languishing outside in what should be a suntrap, but due to the low temperatures nothing has occurred other than mottled leaves. The chances of getting a harvest this year are obviously zilch, we are close to getting air frosts already.

If I'm lucky I will be able to persuade a friend to keep it in his conservatory over the winter (I'm expecting to be away for a while) and next year it will burst into life...assuming it does that a second year.

[briggsy2011]

i think i read somewhere online ref harvesting when the leaves turn brown. Now I dont when to harvest! i might leave it another couple of weeks and harvest then.

[snohare]

Now I dont when to harvest!

Have a furtle...If you can feel nice big s.p.'s in the soil, then you dig properly with something more than your fingers.

[briggsy2011]

ohhhh goodo i will have a rummage and report back later

[Jono]

My mum grows tubers in potato sacks, on a sunny patio. She doesn't get bigguns, but does harvest a decent crop of smaller ones. Works better than my ones planted on the plot.

[BarleySugar]

My vines are still dark green and appear to be growing well, so perhaps 'down south' I might get a longer growing season. Interesting to hear about the idea of taking cuttings for next year. I might give that a go, Kissykit bought the plants for Mother's day this year, and I think they were quite expensive. I'll be interested to see what they produce this year. They seemed to sit still for a long time.

[snohare]

If you don't have a longer growing season in Kent than in Aberdeenshire, by at least a month if not six weeks, then our climate is even more c****d up than I thought, and that is going some !