Sweet potatoes

[Tracydr]

I could use some advice on growing sweet potatoes. I really need a sweet potato 101. I just ordered 30 slips.
Here are the varieties I got.

5 each of Sumor, Papota, Liberty, Purple, Grand Asia and Nemagold
I basically tried to get some bland whites ( to taste a little like Irish potatoes since hubby doesn't like sweets)
Some nice sweet oranges for baked sweets and also baking ( I love sweet potatoes, sweet potato bread and pies
The purple, just because it's different
So, how much space do I need, full sun or a little shade ( this is AZ with 110 degree average in July/August), fertilizer, DTM.
And, when these slips get here, do I just plant them straight in the garden?
Thanks!

[Doug9345]

Sandhill has a fairly good set of instructions at the beginning of their sweet potato catalog. It is oriented to northern areas, but it is a place to start.
http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/...o_catalog.html

[Medbury Gardens]

Good luck growing those Tracy,gee your hubby is just like my other half also.

[Tracydr]

Thanks! Richard! Hoping he'll find a variety he actually likes. Maybe in my African chicken soup or something

[Tracydr]

How much space will I need for thirty sets?
Will 8x16 be enough?
Do they like a lot of manure or not?
Just some things I didn't find on the Sandhill Site.

[RebelRidin]

Hi Tracy,

Sweet potatoes will appreciate some manure dug into their bed but it is not essential. It does need to drain well though and retain/be kept with good moisture. They are shallow rooted so you don't want them to dry out excessively between waterings. Your vines may droop a bit in the heat of the day but they should perk right back up again in the evening. If not they probably need water.

I was always taught to make raised rows/hills. That was in heavy clay soils. I think with raised beds that would be unnecessary. I have had my best results in our sandy soils by growing them under plastic mulch. It helps warm the soil up in spring so I can get them going before the weather is too hot and dry. Later it helps with retaining moisture. In your location low soil temps will not be an issue but it could still help with moisture. Soil temps in mid 70's to low 80's are ideal, much like tomatoes. If their vine growth is heavy they can self mulch, otherwise I will put down some straw as the weather gets hot.

I plant the slips about 12 to 16 inches apart in rows 4 feet apart. Your 8 x 16 bed would seem just right for two rows of fifteen plants each.

BTW - I have always found sweet potatoes realtively easy to grow. For me they are pretty much pest and trouble free. I think/hope you will enjoy the experience. I am looking forward to growing some this year as well. My DW has only recently discovered that they are good for much more than holding up marshmellow topping at Thanksgiving.

Best of luck. Keep us posted as things progress this season.

[Tracydr]

Thanks, George! I'll keep everyone posted.
Since I have 6 varieties going in a 16 x 8 bed, is that enough room for 5 slips each?
How can I mark them so that I know which is which? ( I've seen how rampant these can grow in our heat)
Really looking forward to these. I'm hoping I can convert hubby, with some of the more bland and unusual varieties. If not, if they do well, I'll have plenty of easy lunches and potatoes to share with parents and my brother, as they love them.
Trying a bunch of heat tolerant stuff this year so that I don't have empty gardens once the heat really kicks in. More long beans, southern peas and okra than last year. Some amaranth ( trial plants loved the extreme heat), extra basil of different and new varieties, malabar and New Zealand spinach and the sweet potatoes.
Oh, and the Armenian cucumbers, a must for the summer garden. It loves heat. And, of course, eggplants. But I always have these.

[RebelRidin]

You have just enough room for the thirty slips. Spacing the slips one foot apart with the first slip 6 inches in from the end = 15 feet x two rows set four feet apart in the bed = exactly 30 slips.

To keep track of them I would just plant each type together and make a diagram. The watch, water and wait...

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by RebelRidin

You have just enough room for the thirty slips. Spacing the slips one foot apart with the first slip 6 inches in from the end = 15 feet x two rows set four feet apart in the bed = exactly 30 slips.

To keep track of them I would just plant each type together and make a diagram. The watch, water and wait...

Will do! This is very exciting. I bought a new mini-tiller and will be hauling a bunch of manure this week.
I have a bit of garlic on one end but it should be close to done by then, although its a new variety for me.
Pulling up lettuce next week. Would it be too crowded to trellis some long beans, cukes and southern peas on the edges?

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Will do! This is very exciting. I bought a new mini-tiller and will be hauling a bunch of manure this week.
I have a bit of garlic on one end but it should be close to done by then, although its a new variety for me.
Pulling up lettuce next week. Would it be too crowded to trellis some long beans, cukes and southern peas on the edges?

So long as the trellising company is not cutting off their light, enough nutrients and moisture are made available, and you can tend them without walking on the bed/sweet potato root zone .... I wouldn't see any problem. Just the kind of thing I might try myself.


P.S. .... Which tiller did you end up with?

[Tracydr]

I got the Greenworks 8 Amp electric. I haven't tried it yet but I'll probably be doing a little work with it today.

[Tracydr]

Ok, so just a couple more questions. Love the Greenworks tiller, btw!
Should I put them in raised hills? I read a couple of places to raise them into hills, 12 inches above the surface. But, that would be pretty high above my bed and I don't really have the extra soil.
Can I use a bunch of straw as a mulch and plant into it to prevent bermuda from spreading and keep moisture even? Could I also use a few layers of newspaper under the straw? This bed has a Bermuda issue that I'm fighting and the mulch can really help, especially with newspaper. Plus, I can really cut my watering and almost get by with only my every two week flood irrigation, which is so cheap, if I can mulch.
Do sweet potatoes like or dislike manure? I have composted horse and poultry manure mixed with alfalfa but was hesitant to mix it into the soil. I know some root veggies don't like manures.
Was really amazed at how nice that bed is looking when I worked the soil. I started with pure horse manure a year ago. Added some native "clay". It looked horrible for awhile. Added lots of coffee grounds, etc.
Now it looks like a beautiful sandy loam. I harvested a huge batch of carrots off it yesterday.
As far as shading, our heat will be pretty high when I recieve our slips, over 100 most likely. Should I give them some shade for a few days, until they get a root system?
I doubt the cukes and beans will add significant shade. To make sure, I'll only plant the north and east side.

[RebelRidin]

Tracy,

I have grown them under plastic before to control moisture loss so I think your mulch plans are fine so long as your soil drains reasonably after irrigation. I was always taught to hill them and I did that in flat gardening. I think the real benefit to hilling them is establishing a greater depth of loosened soil for them to grow in. I would think in a raised bed, worked to say 10 inches depth, you wouldn't really need that.

Sweet potatoes like heat even more than tomatoes but with temps that high at setting out some shade/partial shade for several days is probably a good idea.

Just my thoughts. No specific experience quite like yours...

[Tracydr]

Thanks, George. In reading the Duck Creek website, sounds like the extreme heat they had in OK last year actually hurt their crop. Hopefully, that was more a matter of irrigation them heat, as I can't do anything about the heat and can't get the slips any earlier. I will start my own slips next year to work on an earlier schedule, although one of the nicest things about sweets is being able to grow something substantially productive in a rather dormant season in AZ. Otherwise, a lot of AZ growers just pull things up around July and quit until September, even October.
I'm trying to do a better job of planning my summer garden to make good use of space year-round. This summer, in addition to the sweets, I'll be growing my already proven heat lovers-long beans, Armenian cucumbers and southern peas. Okra, although my husband doesn't like it, I love okra pickles and I can give it as gifts to family members.
I'm trying some malabar spinach, adding extra basil to put up plenty of pesto. Extra eggplant.
Tomatillos are a new one for me as well.
You can't believe how excited I was about the carrots. I've tried for carrots several years and gotten scrawny little things. When I started to pull up one 10" carrot after the other yesterday I just about fainted! I pulled a huge grocery sack full. Can't wait to try for more carrots next year!

[desertlzbn]

I have been making carrot seed tapes like crazy, I an getting ready to make sure my winter garden is planted well this year, last year I was late planting and did not get the beet crop I was hoping for. This winter I am planning on planting napa cabbage, for the first time.