Is It Worth Growing Sweet Potatoes?

[@petpawteek8776]

Hey there from sweet potato country. I live in the Southeastern US and we do some great sweet potatoes around here! 😋 I’ve been growing my sweet potatoes in conditioned straw bales for five years and love it! SUPER easy to harvest and they come out relatively clean. Two things that might help address some of the concerns you mentioned. First, getting more from your space…I usually grow another vining crop that I can trellis up between plants. I’ve done tomatoes, pole beans and cucumbers with great success. I plant those out ahead of my sweet potatoes so they don’t get smothered and because I grow them in straw bales the sweet potato vines will trail down the sides of the bales. Second, getting bigger potatoes… if you make a point of picking up your vines and throwing them back toward the main plant so that they don’t set new roots, the plant will focus more on growing the potatoes it has already set. Every place those roots start grow, the plant will attempt to grow new potatoes resulting in more potatoes but SMALLER potatoes overall. But you got yourself a very nice harvest there! 😊

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the advice. Very useful!

[@Mary-had-a-lil-farm]

Hi. I live in Michigan and had a terrible sweet potato crop this year. I am new to growing sweet potatoes and it has not been successful. They were very very small and not very many. I did not know to not let the vines root. I just let them go crazy all over the place and they rooted many places. I will do as you advised next year and hopefully have a better crap. Thanks for the info.

[@petpawteek8776]

@@Mary-had-a-lil-farm I think That 1870s Homestead (on KZbin) had a successful sweet potato crop last year, if I’m remembering correctly. She’s in Michigan so it might be helpful to check it out. **I just checked it was three years ago. Here’s the video kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYO5pYKNbrx2hacsi=ojRIXW3Y9p5nDEjx

[@KiloBravo69]

If you train the vines up as tall as you can, you will get a better yield. But beware they get heavy, build accordingly. 😁

[@REDGardens]

That is an interesting option. I wonder how well it will work with the higher winds we get here.

[@ximono]

We have success with sweet potatoes in Southern Norway, building on experience from a commercial farmer nearby who has figured it out after lots of trial and error. His results (best variety and method) has been shared with hobbyists, and I gave it a go out of curiosity. It was a great success, both yield (a lot!) and time spent (very little!). It quickly became a family favorite. They're easier to store than potatoes (13-16°C, a cool room will do), and they store really well once cured. I don't remember the exact yield we got, but I've read that 3 kg/m2 is common for commercial growers in Norway. The variety that was found to be best was Beauregard (120 days in our climate). Timing is essential, as I think hours of heat over the season is the main limiting factor. I would only attempt to grow it under cover in our climate. Here's the method that we followed: We started the mother potatoes in March, keeping them hot and moist (~30°C, on top the water heater, wrapped in sphagnum moss inside plastic bags with holes for ventilation) for about 3 weeks, until they sprouted. Then we potted them on into trays of compost and kept them at room temperature with daylight (~20°C, we just put them in a south facing window). When the soil temperature reaches ~16°C (in May for us), the slips can be planted. We cut off the slips and put them in small plastic bags with some moisture for 2-3 days at room temperature to encourage roots. When tiny roots have formed (ideally no more than 5mm), they can be planted out, just like you did. We covered the bed with polyethylene sheeting over hoops ("low tunnel"), and all I did that summer was to water when it was hot and dry. The later you harvest, the larger the roots, so you could wait for leaves to turn yellow or when the soil temperature drops below ~18°C, when growth stops. One tip: You don't want to over-fertilize sweet potatoes. Like potatoes, it may give you more greens than roots. They do however benefit from K.

[@REDGardens]

Wow, thanks for all that useful info!

[@ximono]

@@REDGardens I just found a PDF presentation by the farmer who has pioneered sweet potato cultivation in Norway. Lots of useful info and photos! It's in English after the first two pages. www.grofondet.no/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/170001-Norsk-sotpotet-1.pdf

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

I'm impressed. Mine just sit hardly growing until night temperatures get well into the 60s. Unlike most everything else, they do not stop growing in Florida summer heat. I wouldn't have thought you would get a good crop. Sweet Potatoes do vary. The Beauregard types like you grew are sweetest. Murasaki less so and white Boniato almost like a true yam. The KZbin channel "Deep South Homestead" goes deep into all aspects growing sweet potatoes.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the info.

[@jochalder-royle9130]

Hi Bruce… Impressive! I’m in NZ and get a head start by putting the slips in a jar of water, after pulling from parent, earlier in the season so when ground is warm enough they are already rooted…. don’t know if that would help you at all.

[@REDGardens]

Yes, that is helpful. Thanks.

[@sc0tt500]

Sweet potato are the main crop I grow over the hot summers here in Subtropical Australia, as other cool weather crops just can't handle the heat. Sweet potato don't need a lot of fertiliser or (like carrots) you get all leafy growth and small tubers. They grow really well in poor soils but tend to take over any growing locations. You can eat sweet potato leaves in salads but be careful as the sap can irritate the skin. I've never had much luck growing them in pots but its probably too hot in this climate so it might work well for you. You can start slips by cutting stems (just below a leaf node) into 6 inch lengths and remove all but one leaf and stick it in a jar of water. It will grow roots within a month in a warm location. Once you grow sweet potatoes once you grow sweet potatoes every year whether you like it or not : ) To improve the sweetness of the potatoes they need to be "cured" by storing them at 30 degrees C in high humidity for a week which might be a challenge in your climate.

[@kurt5490]

I use a small grow tent with a humidifier and small heater in it. Maintain 85*F & 85% humidity for a week for curing.

[@REDGardens]

Yeah, that is quite a different climate! I wonder if propagating by cutting the stem would work with our winters. I doubt it would be easy to keep the plant going from one season to the next with this method. But perhaps growing a plant inside in this way and then taking more stems and re-propagating another plant so that it has an appropriate time to develop before transplanting, might be a way to bridge the winter without stressing a plant.

[@angelaobrien7698]

Sweet potatoes need a hard pan under neath them to produce large tubers. Growing in bags would be ideal. Here in New Zealand they need four months of growing to produce a crop and the vines need to not be aloud to root into the ground via the nodes as this depletes the crop. Thank you for another great video.

[@eckeall2121]

This is very true, they're recommended to be planted in soil that isn't deeply cultivated. My nana would prep her kūmara garden by digging a trench then laying boards of wood along the base, just to get a hard layer for the roots to make contact with. Finding the base of the topsoil is what tells kūmara to start swelling. Other people might stamp on the soil at the bottom of the trench before refilling and planting to get a similar hard pan effect Also! Instead of pruning vines you can just flip them over on-top of the existing patch, much nicer for the plant.

[@REDGardens]

That is interesting, I wonder why a hard pan would do that?

[@angelaobrien7698]

This stops them from going further down into the ground and enables the tubers to bulk up. I had a terrible season last year, long skinny tubers.. some people make a pan digging down and putting corrugated iron. You can mound up on ground that hasn't been distributed. They are well worth growing and store through out winter. Not to mention they are delicious once cured.

[@fxm5715]

It can take a bit more management, but it’s possible to grow sweet potato vines up trellises, allowing for much tighter spacing without sacrificing significant foliage. It’s a lot easier to use a trellis with wide openings and weaving the vines in than trying to tie them up. Good luck with the next crop!

[@bobbun9630]

Absolutely. I grow them on nylon netting strung between t-posts. The vines are easily trained up this type of trellis by twisting them around the vertical strings in the netting.

[@REDGardens]

That is good to know, thanks.

[@bjm7z]

This would probably help a lot with the overshadowing. I’m guessing the lack of light had a size-able impact on yeild

[@notforwantoftrying1]

Ahh lad you're spoiling us with videos recently. I feel so excited, the next growing season is just around the corner and I have so many plans for it already

[@REDGardens]

It is good to be back making videos more regularly!

[@HablemosDelHuerto]

It has to do with the variety. Yours are the right size. Make sure you leave them to grow for 4 to 5 months in a very loose soil and, yes, direct sun. Use the vine, not the small shoots, to plant again. Make a loop out of a 15” vine and plant it. You will see better results. For me, is of of my main crops and I grew up planting them using this method. Anyways, you sweet potatoes were excellent.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks!

[@sowgroweat6987]

Hi Bruce my allotment neighbour sucessfully grew these in SW UK outdoors this year despite it being a cool summer. He planted through holes cut in the weed control membrane. The extra solar heat seemed to work well as he had a good crop. Great video thanks.

[@REDGardens]

That sounds like a good option, thanks.

[@Qopzeep]

Great to see you're venturing into the more exotic vegetable space :)! I personally prefer purple sweet potatoes over orange ones, they're much tastier. But also much less available and more expensive, making it a more worthwhile crop to grow! If you can find slips, I'd highly recommend them. As a sidenote, I went hiking in Santo Antao, one of the Cape Verde islands, and in the fertile valleys they grew the sweet potatoes on the moist river banks. The leaves were absolutely massive, and the sweet potatoes very tasty 😊

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to find a source for slips.

[@deathpyre42]

@@REDGardens They tend to have a longer growing season and are native to warmer places though, so you might run into issues unless you grow them in a greenhouse. But cracking one open to see the purple flesh contrasted with that white skin is very satisfying.

[@aggelon7658]

The vines can be grown vertically. Which means plant can take up less space. Also the edible leaves make an extra crop.

[@AaricHale]

I really enjoyed the video ! I always like how much information you give on every topic . This was my second year ever growing them and they have surprised me how well they grow with not much care . We have been really dry this year(most years i'm praying for it to stop raining ) and I still got some the size of a football . I wouldn't have planted any this year but we got some slips given to us . I think I will invest a little bit more time into planting more next year . To be honest I only started liking the taste of sweet potatoes so I never cared to grow them . Thanks for sharing !

[@REDGardens]

Thanks. Glad you appreciate my videos! So cool that you were able to grow them well without much care!

[@AaricHale]

@@REDGardens I live in Southern Indiana and we have a really great climate for growing heating loving crops in the Summer.

[@grahamburchell1]

I grew my sweet potato slips (beauregard) one to a 35l spud pot this year and all got good crops of around 2.5kg each per pot. Grown outdoors in South East England. Planted out April and harvested early October. You can also harvest some leaves from vines to use as spinach substitute.

[@REDGardens]

That is cool. How much space did the plants have to grow in?

[@grahamburchell1]

I put the twelve tubs in a 3 x 4 grid next to each other and left to own devices so they spread a lot around edge and rooted where hit ground. Usually grow up an angled frame but did not get around to this year.

[@bjm7z]

Another note for saving potatoes for slips, they actually make excellent house plants and can tolerate a variety of light levels. My happiest plant is on a counter top about 2 meters from a spur facing window. They produce tons of leaves this way, which would allow you to give them a try over the winter. I ended up doing this because when I tried to cure my first crop, I only had a translucent bin and was using my grow lights to warm cure them, and they all sprouted new slips 😂.

[@BostonBB]

If you like spinach try eating the leaves. I grow them as hanging plants during the winter and harvest the leaves monthly. Fresh free greens in winter and ready to plant in the spring.

[@Mary-had-a-lil-farm]

@@BostonBB. Oh that is smart. Do you put a whole potato in a pot or a half a potato?

[@BostonBB]

@@Mary-had-a-lil-farm You can get the slips from a sweet potato and plant a few slips per pot. I get mine off of the sweet potato vines that are in the garden, just cut and root. But to start off for the first time do the slips technique.

[@Mary-had-a-lil-farm]

@@BostonBB oh! Thanks for that clarification. I thought you meant that’s how you started the slips. I started slips this year and was pretty successful but it was hard to keep them alive until I could plant them outside. So I’m in a big learning curve with these sweet potatoes lol. But I did eat some of the leaves and honestly they’re so delicious. I love your idea I’m gonna try that out thank you again. I think as i start the slips in 2024 I will actually plant them in soil instead of trying to keep them alive in water for so long. I think it came to the conclusion that they survive in Water for a while but they eventually need nutrients I tried adding nutrients to the water but sometimes it was successful sometimes it wasn’t so as my slips develop I’m gonna try to plant them in a little pot of soil this time. Thanks again.

[@BostonBB]

@@Mary-had-a-lil-farm you certainly can plant a whole sweet potato and it'll grow in the pot.. don't bury too deeply and if you haven't tried purple sweet potatoes I recommend them. So delicious and getting some to grow is economical if you have an Asian foods market in your vicinity. All the best to you and your sweet potato journey 😁

[@TonysSunnyGarden]

7:56 Hey Bruce! Have you considered to compare the nutrients in those harvested crops instead of only the weight? Maybe it would be too much work, but some crops should have a higher nutrient density. So maybe the key point in comparing is not only the weight. As always awesome video! Thank you for all those information that you share with the world! Have a beautiful day 🙏☀️

[@REDGardens]

Yes, that is an important factor, and weight isn't the only thing to measure, but it is unfortunately the only easy one. With everything else I have to use the standard nutrient content of conventional food. But I know that there can be huge variation in the nutrients of crops, depending on how well they grow, but I can only determine that with expensive lab testing.

[@sandormarton9723]

But then potato would always win..

[@TheCarneiroid]

Tainung 65 has a popular following in cool season climates. I have had success with it in a maritime climate...it can do well outdoors in a good year

[@eckeall2121]

Soil temp is way more important than air temp for sweet potato, so there's lots of tricks to increase soil temp outside of a greenhouse in NZ, like planting in mounds or ridges, mixing gravel into the soil, placing dark volcanic rocks right next to the planted shoot as a heat sink, black ground cover fabric, or digging an extra trench to drain soil in the spring so it has less thermal mass for the sun to heat up. Less water can be better as they drought hardy but heat loving, and are often grown with no irrigation except for at planting time. Planting at different phases of the moon also has different effects, with the main crop being planted 5-7 days before the new moon, while shoots planted on the full moon will produce fewer larger roots, and shoots planted 2 days after will create a lot of small thin roots suitable for making kao (imagine sweet potato jerky). Also planting 5-8 days after the new moon gives you a hardier crop!

[@REDGardens]

Sounds like getting the soil temperature up is a thing to focus on.

[@babybalrog]

Quick thoughts from last week Leaves are edible as others have said. There are purple potatoes, but don't assume all of them are Japanese or Okinawan potatoes. Japan is about the farthest north I know sweet potatoes are grown. google says they are grown up to 48 degrees north Lat. I know someone else said Sweden. But my point is you probably want a variety bread for short seasons. And maybe purple will be more of a novelty to your local crowd. Others have said to warm the soil, i hear that a lot I've also heard, they will grow in terrible sandy soils where almost nothing else will. I've also heard they don't like too much organic matter. Or at least, if too much is present they put on all leaves and little root. That seems to match what happened with all the times you cut yours back. They also like deep rains (possibly drying out between?). Logical if they grow in sand. Pete Kanaris has a video with Jim Kovaleski where they are grown as a cover crop. With Beans. They are disease and pest resistant in Florida. And will grow all summer while he decamps to Maine. They seem to be a "Set it and forget it" crop, Zone 3. And great for marginal land. But that doesn't mean they can replace main crops.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for those thoughts. It is interesting that they will grow in marginal land, a possibly useful option while converting ground into more productive land. I want to try growing some with different levels of fertility and organic matter to see the difference in how they grow.

[@trockodile]

What a very interesting experiment! Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts so far. Can't wait to see your future developments in this line of research, truly excellent and fascinating. 👍

[@REDGardens]

🙂

[@insidethegardenwall22]

I too planted sweet potatoes this year first time. Reading through the comments and your video really helped. Thanks. Yes, will grow again and will try in a grow bag.

[@REDGardens]

Yeah, the comments are great! So much experience and advice!

[@ngocyenst]

Sweet potatoes is very good for health. I like sweet potatoes and the way which you grow it. Thanks for sharing

[@lexxxelskywalker6411]

Thank you, this was easily digestible and very informative. I'll definitely be checking out more of your videos🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@REDGardens]

🙂

[@nkeenan05]

Great video. I grew sweet potatoes this year, but no tubers. I rooted the slips in a jar of water after I broke it off the mother tuber

[@jamesmcneice7825]

Fun project, thanks for sharing.

[@DenSvaraTradgarden]

Love experiments like this! I have grown sweet potatoes in Sweden, under fleece cover in raised beds, and it works fairly well. If one has the space, that is, because they are not the biggest yielding crop per square meter, like you said. But they are exotic enough to be fun to grow anyway in my opinion.

[@REDGardens]

Cool that you are able to grow them in Sweden.

[@northernforest2687]

Thank you for this video and project

[@Fists91]

You should factor in their value as a salad crop too, the huge abundance of nutrient dense leaves can reduce the need for a dedicated greens crop like spinach and get you some more value out of their growing space.

[@REDGardens]

I need to try those leaves!

[@caseyfletcher3720]

You got a really nice harvest. Trellis them to save space.

[@TheBarefootedGardener]

Interesting! I think you did pretty well considering that you got suboptimal/ not specifically chosen varieties which I’m sure will help. Sounds similar to the ginger from the grocery store.

[@REDGardens]

Yeah, it is hard to get varieties suitable for this climate.

[@ahabthecrab]

Your yield is fairly good. Sweet potatoes take lots of real estate so your yield per square meter seems about right. I have noticed a significant improvement in my yields when I fertilize throughout the season and water regularly. Keep an eye out for any roots that may have been missed when you harvested. I planted sweet potatoes 9 years ago and have never needed to plant slips again.

[@REDGardens]

That is good to know. I think these plants are really more suitable when you have age areas to grow in, and appropriate weather. But it will be an interesting challenge to grow them here. Thanks for warning about the roots left behind!

[@williamowens21]

Did you consider the leaves. They are edible and tasty. It looks like you lost out by just tearing them up. You can harvest leaves during the entire lifetime of the plant. They are nutritious.

[@SethCochran1]

The leaves are the crop! Like a lovely complex spinach and full of nutrients too. I’ll grow more next year just for the leaves.

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

If you're interested in a morning glory crop grown for its leaves, Chinese water spinach, or ong choy, might be a good choice. I've seen it grown hydroponically in a wading pool, though I haven't tried it this way yet.

[@williamowens21]

We have chickens also that yell if I walk by the sweet potato vines and don't pick any for them. Thanks for the ideas.

[@williamowens21]

@SethCochran1 Yes, I'm glad to hear of someone else enjoying the bounty!

[@REDGardens]

That is good to know, thanks. I'll have to try them next year!

[@dagrin0707]

As always, great content! I am in US zone 7a and we do sweet potatoes every year. In your climate, I might suggest covering the soil with black plastic for 2-4 weeks prior to planting to get the soil temperature up. They are very much a tropical plant, though they can be grown in more temperate climates with some help and good preparation. Most of the varieties I am used to are 100-120 days to maturation and harvest. As you stated, they do not really care about compaction, and do a very good job breaking up tough soil and even clays. High nitrogen, midling phosphorus, and high potassium is key for them as well in my experience. I am glad you were able to get a harvest! Cheers and thank you for all you do.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for that info. Apparently the variety that my main supplier will have available is about 90 days to maturity, so that should really help, as I suspect the ones I grew this past year are closer to the 100-120 days.

[@eckeall2121]

In NZ we tend to wait up to 5 months for maincrop sweet potato to mature before harvesting

[@StenApd]

I also tried sweet potatoes for the first time. Had one plant in a 60liter container, and got a 4,1kg harvest from it! I grew in the Netherlands in the open air.

[@REDGardens]

That is quite the yield from one plant!

[@peterk.6093]

I have never tried growing them, but I saw a video where the guy was giving them an incredible (for me) amounts of nitrogen and they were doing great. I also understand that they need really a light soil, full of organic parts. Another interesting idea was keeping the wines in a vertical position, to get them more light. I like your idea of growing them in a bag. So, maybe next year I will try one bag in my small garden with a vertical structure, to see what I get.

[@REDGardens]

There seems to be so many suggestions and experiences out there, including about the amount of fertility. Some people suggest that sweet potato plants do better in fairly infertile ground, and others add lots of fertility! I want to try growing them vertically.

[@baz000]

the last few seconds of the video definately resembled my harvest

[@dag2273]

We are groeing sweet potatoes for about 4 years now, starting them in the house in January in jars with water, once the shoots are 15-20 cm we move them in water until they develop roots. Plant them outside sometine in May, depending on the weather, in October we dig them up. Last year was a bog fail for us, as the soil were we put them was really compacted and we even had empty nests. We're growing them in Romania.

[@REDGardens]

Do you put the sweet potato roots into the water? And then the shoots into water again? That sounds interesting, compared to the method of using trays of growing medium.

[@dag2273]

Yes,we put the potato roots, piercing them with toothpicks,to keep part of it above water. Once shoots are grown, harvest them and agsin in water, as the potato still might produce shoots and we only put around 5 potatoes in total in glass jars. I think we had around 40-50 shoots that we got into ground this year. KZbin gave as the idea

[@REDGardens]

@@dag2273 Cool, thanks!

[@firefly5421]

Well dang, now I want to plant my own sweet potatoes. There's not enough space in my garden for every crop I want to try and you're adding more to my list! 😂 Another great video, thanks for sharing your experiments with us. Have you ever considered soil heating coils? I've seen some people use them to extend winter growing. Not sure how practical they'd be here though.

[@REDGardens]

I use soil heating coils for propagation space. I haven't done that with growing space but something to look into.

[@ranchoraccolto]

I live in the Caribbean and sweet potatoes I plant them between tomatoes, and the longer the slip the better I usually make a circle with the slip to create more roots and therefore more yield

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the tip!

[@iwanttobelieve5970]

Grow bags. They grow great in grow bags. Also after harvesting, you need to cure them for at least two weeks for the sugars to build.

[@REDGardens]

Good to know, thanks.

[@olafemio]

Great stuff!

[@MrDreyven]

I wonder if there needs to be some consideration for calorie density when comparing yield. Tomatos are notoriously high water content and the first source I could find was the USDA which lists sweet potato as having 4 times the calories per 100g compared to tomato. That makes them easier to store and also a very different type of meal than tomato or peppers. I'd probably still rather have 4 times the amount in tomato but with some optimizing of growing conditions a 3:1 ratio would probably be reasonably equal.

[@REDGardens]

Yes, calories is important for this kind of crop. I did a quick calculation (based on standard calorie content data), I figured the sweet potatoes gave me 2400 calories/m2 and tomatoes in same tunnel gave a bit more, closer to 2800. But as you say, with better skill at growing there should be more from sweet potatoes. But in the end, it depends on what I want, and the amount of space I have. In comparison, standard potatoes can produce more than 6000 calories/m2 in the outside gardens. So if I am looking for calories, potatoes are a better option, at least on a simple calorie yield basis.

[@kgarden8960]

Your video has inspired me to try again (East Anglia). I plan to grow them up strings (using tomato hooks), as I have read that if the trailing vines root it reduces tuber-yield. In case of interest I found Highland Horticulture (in Northern Scotland!!). They use tissue culture for their propagation. They have the Beauregard variety which I have grown before (90 days) but some others which are only another few weeks, which I will try for comparison. (I expect you'd have the palaver of phytosanitary certificate)

[@REDGardens]

That is interesting to hear about the rooting vines reducing yield. Something to keep an eye on next year. Yeah, unfortunately since Brexit, getting anything from the UK is almost impossible. Easier to source things from Scandinavia!

[@titanlurch]

If you grow sweet potato indoors over winter you can cut the vine into 6 to 8 inch lengths with several leaf nodes and plant those in spring . The young leaves are eatable too.

[@REDGardens]

I don't think the vines would last over the winter here, but thanks for the info. I did notice some o the vines took root in the soil.

[@patriciaclarkson5730]

Did you know you can also eat the leaves? Potato leaves are eaten in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Very nice dish too.

[@dennistaylor3796]

At 6" long snap starts off and put in a can or jar partially filled with water. They will root in a sunny window. Harvest before frost or cut tops off before frost.

[@MartijnDeGussem]

We grow them outside here in Belgium and get pretty good yields

[@REDGardens]

Nice. I suspect your summers are a bit warmer than here, but I want to try it!

[@andytheworm]

We have grown sweet potatoes for the second time this year in Western Germany, (Hardiness Zone 8b). This year, we grew 4 plants in a raised bed (2m^2) and harvested about 10 kg. In the same bed, we planted three tomatillos that produced a fair amount AND a volunteer Pumpkin also grew there. We didn't weigh the pumpkin but it must have been about 20kg as well. Overall we were really impressed at the harvest. A couple of points: - last year, we harvested about the same amount of sweet potatoes but without any intercropping. We grew them in large containers though. But it appears that the intercropping didn't really make a difference. As the pumpkin grew large over leaving a lot of Sun for the potatoes. - the potatoes had full sunlight. - they developed the roots fairly late (which is apparently typical) so we pulled out the tomatillos and the pumpkin in September and the sweet potato es still had a month to develop on their own. We harvested im November when the leaves turned yellow. They appear much more resilient to mildew than pumpkin it seemed. - as for curing, we cured them for two weeks before Storing. Last year's harvest only got better with every month. The develop sugars progressively. I think the curing only activates the Enzymes. We had Our sweetest Potatoes in Match. So you have something to look forward to. -As for varieties: you should Check out have a look at "Chestnut" (absolute favourite but needs a while to cute) "Bonität" (large delicious White potatoes) and "Evangeline" (similar to Chestnut but not quite as nutty. Maybe a bit high er yielding). If you are interested, I can send you a couple of our potato es for you use for sprouting) Maybe you find this interesting/helpful. I love your Videos and have learned a lot from you! Please keep them coming :)

[@REDGardens]

Very interesting points, especially that the intercropping didn't seem to affect the yield, and really good to know that hey continue to cure in storage. Looking forward to that!

[@PlantObsessed]

I have better luck with them in grow bags. It takes a solid 100 days to harvest after I planted the slips in ground july, even when I started the slips in January. Good luck. I didn't get much but it was worth it for me.

[@REDGardens]

Interesting that grow bags are better for you. I am looking forward to seeing the difference.

[@chrisvenables4584]

Good job giving it a go! Here in Tasmania I haven't tried these yet as I was of the same mind, that it's too cold. I wonder if a raised bed would also help you out as the soil temp would be higher?

[@REDGardens]

Apparently the higher soil temp does help, so I figure raised beds could work.

[@rad7142]

This is will be my second season on sweet potato, once slip is ready I take cutting and put in glass of water for 2 -3 weeks before up potting and than pot up and outside, I am literally doing this today after finishing writing and my coffee. Its been mostly a normal spring but with nasty over temps dotted around like last night. I'm going to partially bury (10 or so cms, 4 inches) as I think this will let the plant access nutrients while also benefitting from being in black pots for heat. Had the same idea as you we were to far south but found out a local Maori tribe from back in the day grew it over the hill. In New Zealand Kumara (sweet potato) country is in the far north. Than enough time the outside tomatoes go in. Peace and love.

[@REDGardens]

So cool that you are starting your growing season as ours is ending! Next year I think I will try putting them in a glass of water first. Thanks.

[@unlimitedx53]

Once again a great video. Small advice for growing sweet potato from my experience: Sweet potatoes do well in warm soil. I ve had way better harvests, when i grow them like asparagus in raised rows with enough space on either side in the spring. Growbags also work great. I ve grown them for 7 years now and the weather is definitvly a factor in yield. In warmer years with continental european weather (central germany) i can report harvests of up to 4.2kg/m^2 in good years in growbags and as low as 1.8kg/m^2 in bad years without raised rows. Next year i ll run a test on grwon the sweet potatoes in a raised u shaped row on the edge of my vegetable garden with other crops in the inner square.

[@ramz1455]

Hi there! Would you recommend in not much nitrogen fertilizer input?

[@unlimitedx53]

@@ramz1455 In growbags they should recieve fertilizers in low quantitys on a rehular bases. I put in a layer of about 2mm bonemeal in every growbag and also fertilise with diluted urin or cow-manure-tea once a week in the first month. Afterwards i reduce it down to every 2-3rd week. In my Gardenbed i use mulching and rotating groundcover- composting to keep a great soil-quality. Thus i don t fertilize much there.

[@ramz1455]

Thank you for the information :)@@unlimitedx53

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for the advice.

[@jaws1845]

We have colder climate varieties in New Zealand. No idea how you get them to your side of the world though. Kumara mahina is a white flesh one that grows great in my garden. Also I have heard you can let the vines climb if you don't want them to spread. And lastly sweet potatoes get sweeter the longer you store them.

[@REDGardens]

I need to hunt for other varieties to try, from closer to Ireland!

[@YenniHope]

There has been success in growing sweet potatoes outdoors in Finland, so I assume it will work in Ireland too with right varieties and sunny spot. As the sweet potato leaves are edible I am planning on growing it as a ground cover without too much focus on the actual potato harvest.

[@REDGardens]

If they can grow in Finland than there is hope for here in Ireland!

[@hurrdurrburr]

The sugar content can be adjusted by cooking at 50-60°C. The amylase is active at that temperature the most. If you cook it directly, you kill the enzyme. Adjust by cooking after harvest, they are sweeter later on.

[@REDGardens]

That sounds like a cool thing to try.

[@brt5273]

If you can find them,"Georgia Jet" matures in 90 days and has a good reputation for high yields in the cooler climate U.S. states.

[@howdyEB]

I can't grow potatoes well where I live, it's too hot. Everyone has to grow sweet potatoes. I don't like the taste that much, but I eat the leaves when most other things die in the summer sun. Your harvest is better than a lot of people's harvest where I live, where they can grow all year long. I had no idea they would grow there. 😲

[@REDGardens]

Sounds like the opposite here, so easy to grow potatoes, but not sweet potatoes.

[@bobbun9630]

I grew a white variety (Hayman, as sold by Southern Exposure in the U.S.) this year. Freshly harvested and uncured it actually does taste (and look) quite a bit like regular potatoes. So far I have fried, mashed, and sampled raw. As fries the taste is about the same, but the texture isn't quite that ideal crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Mashed with gravy they're passable, but there is a slight sweetness to them. Raw the taste is starchy like a regular potato, but doesn't have the same slight bitterness and astringency.

[@howdyEB]

Thanks! I'm going to try to get some! @@bobbun9630

[@rephaelreyes8552]

I’m so jealous. I dug out two of my sweet potatoes and only got 4 small roots

[@REDGardens]

That was kind of what I was expecting, and some of the plants were like that, but others were quite big.

[@YoungGirlz8463]

yup

[@Chris-op7yt]

baking brings out their sweetness. thyme pairs well.

[@permieforlife]

the leaves make a tasty cooked green.

[@victoriasezi2469]

Hey, I'm from Kenya Congratulations for the good work you are doing, I ask if I can grow sweet potatoes using a green house

[@REDGardens]

A greenhouse would work well in Ireland, but I don't know about Kenya. Probably not necessary.

[@victoriasezi2469]

@@REDGardens Well thank you very much for the great work

[@GardenEdenPermaculture]

We made good experience with planting the sweet potatoes under the tomatoes. Sure more shadow for them, but it was still a nice harvest in the middle european climate

[@REDGardens]

That is an interesting idea!

[@billbow6440]

Yes they are not as sweet soon after harvest but in 1-2 months they get sweeter and really yummy! Enjoy

[@REDGardens]

I guess I need to have more patience!

[@szcpos]

Sweet Potatoes? My crop grows best in pots. It seems to me that the pots are warmer than the ground and therefore they grow better.

[@REDGardens]

Good to hear.

[@nigelkakashi]

I think cutting the vines lower your yield. and sweet potato becomes too vegetative if the nitrogen is high

[@susankarpuk7347]

Crop looks great to me. Hard to grow a field crop in a tunnel

[@REDGardens]

Thanks! Yeah, I think they are better as a field crop.

[@tobruz]

You need to cure them to change the starches to sugars. High humidity and temperature for a minimum of two weeks. I have grown them successfully outside in southern Ontario Canada but won’t again as the curing process is a pain.

[@REDGardens]

I have been curing them that way, but had thought a week was appropriate. Might try to experiment with that.

[@tobruz]

@@REDGardens thanks Bruce, love your videos- Bruce in Hamilton Ontario

[@kurt5490]

I start my sweet potatoes in February. I plant the slips in 72 cell trays to root them better for planting out. I don't fertilize them. But i plant them staggered 2 feet apart. I find crowding them makes them produce more tubers. Next year I'll irrigate them 1"/week. I cure them in a grow tent with a small heater and humidifier at 85*F and 85% humidity for a week. I grow Murasaki and a sweet potato that has purple skin white flesh that has a creamy texture from a local Indian grocery store. I'm in southern Pennsylvania, USA. Edit; oh yeah, I plant them out at traditional last frost 15 May, harvest usually mid November.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks for sharing your methods. Makes sense.

[@dennistaylor3796]

In Ohio 5 gallon black bucket or plastic tub with small holes for drainage grown outside works better than in the ground. Plant tall plants around them in the garden.

[@REDGardens]

That is encouraging of the large grow bags I want to use.

[@kubaistube]

I tried sweet potatoes first time this year and definitely did not have so many big tubers on 1 plant. Grew them outdoors in 6a zone. So definitely should be good enough for you to grow them outdoors in the bags. Those peppers were just humongous! What variety was that and when did you seed it?

[@REDGardens]

I think that was a hybrid pepper variety called Red Star.

[@ArsenicF.C]

It's not just about the weight but also calories content. Tomatoes and sweet peppers are mostly water

[@REDGardens]

Yes, I should have looked at that.

[@gcc2313]

They're very long season crops. You'll be planting them in spring and harvesting in late summer, autumn. However there are quicker maturing varieties. You can trellis part of the vines. But to save space bush varieties are better and still produce very well. I grew a bush varieties in a big pot and is produced quite well. But grow bags might be better. They will bulge the pots. They love heat and sun so that's necessary for good yields.

[@REDGardens]

I didn't know there were bush varieties. That would be interesting to try.

[@KumiOriFarm]

Do you think a low tunnel covered in plastic (like insect netting) in the main field would work?

[@REDGardens]

Sounds like it would work, if you didn’t have too windy of a site.

[@critterjon4061]

Have you ever considered using a drip line fertilizer

[@REDGardens]

Yes. I used some in this polytunnel this year,

[@critterjon4061]

⁠@@REDGardenshow well do they work

[@REDGardens]

@@critterjon4061 The drip lines seem to work well with larger crops for regular watering, but I don't yet have enough experience with fertilising through the drip lines to really evaluate it as a method.

[@ashtonswinburn8414]

Can you save Potatoes that haven't ripened for seed next year, having lots of troubles with slugs and looking for ways around them as waiting for potatoes to ripen to save for seed allows slugs to damage most the crop limiting storage. Thanks

[@REDGardens]

I think both standard potatoes and sweet potatoes will grow from smaller, immature seed.

[@bobaloo2012]

Because they taste so similar to me, I've never seen any reason to grow both sweet potatoes and winter squash. When I lived in the hot South I grew sweet potatoes, now that I'm in Oregon I grow winter squash with much better success than sweet potatoes, but it might be a fun experiment now that I have "surplus" polytunnel space to play with.

[@REDGardens]

I think I agree with you, that winter squash is an easier option get something reasonably similar.

[@davidquirk8097]

Are they any good for weed clearance?

[@REDGardens]

I don't know. This tunnel was quite clear of weeds.

[@libbylochner]

Well, I was going to subscribe, but then I read the About section.

[@REDGardens]

Afraid of pronouns? Or something else bother you?

[@Yotaciv]

Next time try black plastic mulch with drip line irrigation. It doesn’t like nights under 10 Celsius, it would appreciate 90 -110 days straight of 30 degree days with good amount of moisture for the first 60 days. Pre heat soil with black tarp before planting. Get northern varieties. Fertilize it like a root crop, low N high PK +Ca.

[@REDGardens]

We get a lot of nights under 10ºC, so anything I can do to increase the warmth would probably help.

[@FredMr-rq8om]

Growing them in a sheet compost bead might be a good idea

[@bobbun9630]

That harvest actually looks pretty good. By comparison in my hot summer climate... Mine were in ground for 130 days this year. I ended up getting 256lbs (116 kg) from sixty or so row feet (18.2m). Several roots were in the general neighborhood of 2kg each. Large roots don't seem to get woody, but the size can be inconvenient. I can't say how much area that would correspond to as some were allowed to spread and others were trellised. Saving space by trellising doesn't appear to affect harvest. I wouldn't worry too much about nitrogen fertility with sweet potatoes. They're considered to be suitable for poor soils and grow just fine in my native soil without putting too much effort into amending it. They are rich in potassium, so presumably they do feed heavily on that nutrient. I don't cure the sweet potatoes because I prefer them less sweet and more starchy. I grew a white variety this year and will be growing more of it in the future, because my goal is to have a decent substitute for white potatoes, which are hard to grow here with only short periods of mild weather in the spring and fall.

[@REDGardens]

That is interesting, thanks for sharing your experience. I will have to look into managing the fertility better, it would be good to have crops that can thrive on less nitrogen.

[@martincrabtree6704]

What do you mean by 'curing' them?

[@bobbun9630]

@@martincrabtree6704 Curing is a process of storing the roots for a couple of weeks in warm conditions with high humidity. This promotes conversion of starches in the roots into sugars, which causes them to become more sweet. They also sweeten up normally with the passage of time, but curing accelerates the process. The actual sweetness varies with variety, with orange fleshed roots tending to be the sweetest, and also with cooking method.

[@reillyd.4753]

I'm in California and I grew mine hydroponically in grow bags on my roof this season and I got on average 10lbs per plant. I had the advantage of them being in full sun and in a much warmer environment than you but you're definitely right about them yielding more if you optimize your growing setup.

[@REDGardens]

Hydroponic sweet potatoes sound really interesting!

[@owendavies8227]

As far as why the sweet potatoes didn't taste sweet -- did you forget to cure them? As far as why you're supposed to harvest them before winter: they get too big if you let them go for too long in a warm climate, and nobody wants to eat medicine balls (not a problem in your climate). As far as planting them early goes, this may actually hurt yields. In the American south, there is a saying: "If you have cold feet, you can't run the race." If you want larger roots, you can plant them further apart and/or stop watering them in late september-early october.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks. in Ireland the soil doesn't really warm up like it does in warmer places, so I guess we have to take our chances.

[@dennistaylor3796]

Hard frost will turn roots into black mush. Voles ( field mice ) eat all the roots

[@dovinhgardenfarm]

Mô hình trồng khoai quá tuyệt vời.

[@miscelany2]

Sweet potato leaves are also edible as a cooked green.

[@tao4124]

Maybe you need to add sand or perlite to the soil.

[@theecobandits6768]

Start next year’s potatoes in corse sand and slips will have heaps of roots

[@lksf9820]

Proof that (if it were needed) when you do your homework you'll hit the ground running. Well done 👍

[@REDGardens]

Good point! Better to get the experience before I need it!

[@lksf9820]

A lot of people just throw seed around and hope for the best, personally I'm more like you, research the heck out of it first. Then at least you're in with a fighting chance.

[@REDGardens]

@@lksf9820 Yeah, I see it as a process. I don’t mind just planting something to see how it will grow, but I want to learn from it, so I can do it better the next time.

[@CormacHolland]

Sweetpotato is one word!

[@REDGardens]

Strange that all references I come across use two words.

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

I love many of the veggies I grow, and there are some I grow that only my daughters eat. I simply dont eat every single kind... however, happy to grow for them. Sweet potato? I jsut dont have enough time, space, or patience... so, I don't plant them.

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

I wonder what the difference would be if you placed the sweet potato on the opposite side of the poly tunnel. Same place where the sweet pepper were... more/better afternoon light? less shade from tomato?

[@REDGardens]

I grow a bunch of crops like that, mainly for other people, but I am willing to make space for the sweet potatoes!

[@gregbluefinstudios4658]

I may try some next year, @@REDGardens for the kids and wife

[@vitkomazzetti2340]

ANYBODY told you that you look like the older version of Jonny Lee Miller in "Elementary" series?

[@beebob1279]

To respond to the title. I guess it depends on how much money you have, and how hungry you are going to be come fall. I think the hardest thing for sweets is the curing and storing process.

[@bobbun9630]

Curing is optional, though if you don't cure your roots will not be as sweet. They still store decently. Mine keep for close to a year (though gradually drying out) in the house at room temperature in cardboard boxes.

[@REDGardens]

Yes, I think those are important factors.

[@popiciulo]

You have to consider calories per square meter also next time.

[@REDGardens]

Yes, I should have done that. Using standard calorie info, these sweet potatoes would have produced 2400 calories per square meter, compared to the 5600 I can get from the potato crop outside. So I would need to get these plants to produce more if they were to compare to the potatoes for calories. The tomato crop (which I grow for flavour and nutrients, not calories) produced close to 3000 calories per square meter.

[@David_Bell_growing]

I've only grown them outside many years ago (before I had polytunnels), using bought slips supposedly suitable for UK climate and failed miserably. Might try again using jba potato bags next to polytunnel cover, behind 2 rows of cordon cherry tomatoes, using some 500mm high X 40mm square plastic mesh strung behind them for support after flopping to found level, providing something to scramble back up again. Bags will make it easier to protect against cold by clumping them together in the middle before stringing them out along the outside. And thanks to everybody for the tip about the leaves.

[@REDGardens]

Hope you have success with the crop next year.

[@LOVEisTHEultimateLAW]

I think the leaves are edible too

[@josesaldanha2683]

👏👏👏👏

[@FrontYardGardener]

I regularly get 4x the yield. Too much fertility might grow more vines and less roots.

[@REDGardens]

That kind of yield would be great! Thanks for the point about fertility.