15 September 2016 Sweet Potato Harvest

Durgan · September 20, 2016

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Durgan

http://durgan.org/2016/September%202...0Harvest/HTML/ 15 September 2016 Sweet Potato Harvest
My ten sweet potato plants were harvested. This is my first attempt at growing sweet potatoes under reasonable conditions. Eight of the plants were from slips purchased from a site on the internet. Two purple ones were from slips from a supermarket grown by myself. The supermarket slips were longer growing hence accounts for their larger production. The total weight was 31.5 pounds from ten plants or an average of 3.15 pounds per plant. With good growing conditions extrapolating my results an expectation from each plant would be about 6 pounds in a home garden. All the new tubers were centered around the planted slip in a diameter of about 12 inches. The vegetation covered a very large area and was very healthy. It was removed before digging the tubers. Some of the tubers were disfigured by an insect or rodent. This was simply cut away. The tubers were placed in a hot greenhouse and will be allowed to cure or condition for about ten days, then stored in my root cellar. One tuber was baked and is shown with these pictures. It was most pleasant to eat.

greenthumbomaha · October 1, 2016

Fantastic harvest, Durgan. Those are monsters and look delicious. A root cellar , wow that is a privilege for year round fresh eating.

I started slips from sweet potatoes from the organic grocery store but in the heat I was too wiped trying to play catch up with tomatoes.
Next year a big sweet potato patch for sure.

- Lisa

Farmette · October 1, 2016

A very nice haul, Durgan. Do you have the names of the varieties of any of them? I am pretty sure my sweet potato harvest is going to be pretty good this year too, as it was a nice hot summer.

Durgan · October 1, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmette

A very nice haul, Durgan. Do you have the names of the varieties of any of them? I am pretty sure my sweet potato harvest is going to be pretty good this year too, as it was a nice hot summer.

No names. I chose the supermarket two due to their appearance. The remainder were ordered and they were all wimpy when they arrived. Upon planting 8 starting growing. As I mentioned this was my first success of significance. I will put effort into it in 2017 starting in February with the slips-chosen from the supermarket.

PhilaGardener · October 1, 2016

Those look great - we have been getting a bit of rain over the last week; once the soil dries out, I have to get around to digging mine!

Nematode · October 10, 2016

What are the flavor changes as they cure?
This is my first year and did not try them fresh, as "the internet" says they must be cured warm for 10 days to harden them, and then stored cold cor 30 days for best flavor.

Durgan · October 11, 2016

I ate some sweet potatoes freshly dug and they were excellent. I also read the caveat about curing. It would appear to be more to improves storage life than improving taste, but my experience with sweet potatoe growing is limited.

September 20, 2016	#1
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	15 September 2016 Sweet Potato Harvest Posted on September 15, 2016 by Durgan http://durgan.org/2016/September%202...0Harvest/HTML/ 15 September 2016 Sweet Potato Harvest My ten sweet potato plants were harvested. This is my first attempt at growing sweet potatoes under reasonable conditions. Eight of the plants were from slips purchased from a site on the internet. Two purple ones were from slips from a supermarket grown by myself. The supermarket slips were longer growing hence accounts for their larger production. The total weight was 31.5 pounds from ten plants or an average of 3.15 pounds per plant. With good growing conditions extrapolating my results an expectation from each plant would be about 6 pounds in a home garden. All the new tubers were centered around the planted slip in a diameter of about 12 inches. The vegetation covered a very large area and was very healthy. It was removed before digging the tubers. Some of the tubers were disfigured by an insect or rodent. This was simply cut away. The tubers were placed in a hot greenhouse and will be allowed to cure or condition for about ten days, then stored in my root cellar. One tuber was baked and is shown with these pictures. It was most pleasant to eat.

October 1, 2016	#2
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Fantastic harvest, Durgan. Those are monsters and look delicious. A root cellar , wow that is a privilege for year round fresh eating. I started slips from sweet potatoes from the organic grocery store but in the heat I was too wiped trying to play catch up with tomatoes. Next year a big sweet potato patch for sure. - Lisa

October 1, 2016	#3
Farmette Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2009 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 985	A very nice haul, Durgan. Do you have the names of the varieties of any of them? I am pretty sure my sweet potato harvest is going to be pretty good this year too, as it was a nice hot summer.

October 1, 2016	#5
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	Those look great - we have been getting a bit of rain over the last week; once the soil dries out, I have to get around to digging mine!

October 10, 2016	#6
Nematode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2012 Location: massachusetts Posts: 1,710	What are the flavor changes as they cure? This is my first year and did not try them fresh, as "the internet" says they must be cured warm for 10 days to harden them, and then stored cold cor 30 days for best flavor.

October 11, 2016	#7
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	I ate some sweet potatoes freshly dug and they were excellent. I also read the caveat about curing. It would appear to be more to improves storage life than improving taste, but my experience with sweet potatoe growing is limited.