Great taters. I grow my sweet potato vines as a sort of living mulch under my tomatoes, peppers and okra. It really helps suppress the weeds and keep the soil cooler and moister in the heat of summer. But the downside is I don't want to dig them until I'm ready to pull the "main" plants in the bed at the end of the season and right now I know there is some sort of critter snacking on at least some of them in one of the beds. Ugh.
I'm glad to see your results with the trellis since I've often thought of growing some of my sweet potato vines vertically as well. I had read somewhere that when vines put down roots at various places along their length, they put less energy into feeding the potatoes at the hill since their existence has the insurance of the other roots along the way. Sort of like a damaged fruit sometimes ripening early, possibly as a survival strategy so that the seed inside is mature earlier.
Anyone else do any testing of this.
|