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Old December 5, 2022   #7
b54red
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRinPA View Post
Our plot at the comm garden was not successful. Well, box #1, the 9x5, was not. The 4x4 is still unchecked. I plan to dig it today.

The 9x5 had 1/2" hardware cloth tacked onto the bottom, and also about 15" high above the boards. A fortress impenetrable by voles.

YEAH RIGHT! The damage was biblical. May as well call that bed Jericho.

I think they climbed right up the vines. I found two current nests, 6 newborns and 5 with hair and eyes open. Two other nesting/bedding areas. The sweet potatoes were mostly split or eaten away.

I planted Lehigh potatoes in that same bed, as an afterthought, one foot along the long edge where the black plastic did not cover. Those did great and were only eaten a little. Those voles love their sweet potatoes.

I'm thinking next year, a setup like yours with a trellis, but maybe with fabric pots elevated. Maybe bench legs from EMT so they can't be climbed. It will be a pain to water, though.

Question - what makes sweet potatoes split? Too dry, then too wet, just uneven watering?
I have not seen vole damage in years due to the ability of my miniature dachshunds to find them and kill them without digging up the whole yard and garden. Of course once in a while they will spot one of those oversized sweet potatoes and manage to dig it out and haul it out into the yard and gradually eat it.

I had a good crop of sweet potatoes again this year even though we had a long period of drought from August through most of October. My sweet potatoes have been productive since I started planting them down the middle of my pepper bed. They seem to really like bell peppers and vice versa. Even when I forget to keep the vines from swallowing up the peppers the peppers do well but I try to keep them under some control. The two are the only companion plants that I have found to be worth the effort of pairing every year. The other companion plants that are somewhat advantageous are beans/cucumbers and onions/tomatoes.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas,
Bill
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