|
TEXPEST, Pest Control From Rational Environmental Solutions (903) 216-1408 james@texpest.com
In my youth, I never would have thought that the sweet potatoes I so despised digging, would have made an appearance on national TV, but there they were, on the Oprah show! Not only that, but the particular sweet potatoes being featured, came from right here in my native East Texas. Go figure. Some of my readers and visitors to my websites started to ask me questions, so I wrote a short tutorial on the subject of growing Sweet Potato Slips, which it turns out, was a bit of a mystery to many home gardeners.
Well, I decided to take the subject a little further, and answer a few more questions.
Curing sweet potatoes.
When potatoes ar dug, they usualy have some abrassions and cuts. It is important to let these "cure" or "heal." This is the process of air drying them, until the abrasions are covered with a dry layer. If you can, spread them out thinly on a rack or some supported screen or nylon mesh, and allow them to be shaded, and cured in the breeze, this seems to be the best method. It also refers to the process by which the starches in the plants turn to sugars. As the potatoes cure, they will become sweeter to the taste. Well cured potatoes will keep at least until the next seasons potatoes are dug if they are stored properly and not allowed to freeze. Frozen sweet potatoes should be disposed of quickly, they will begin a fairly rapid rotting process. Any which have been frozen can still be fed to farm animals, without any consequences to the animals.
Choosing "seed" potatoes.
You can save potatoes for seed. Choose medium to small potatoes, which are not overly stringy. Like any form of selective breeding, you want to not only choose the best ones, but the ones from the best "hills." You should look for these when you are digging them. Choose hills that have several, or almost all prime specimens. If a hill has four or five, high quality potatoes, it is probably a good genetic source for you to propagate. Of course you will want to take them from more than one parent plant, to insure a little genetic diversity. Cure and keep these, as you would all the others, but keep them labeled so they won't get eaten!
Dates for starting slip beds, setting slips, and digging.
This, I am going to leave up to the reader to discover. We live in such a vast area, that there are several zones, and each one will be slightly different. There are many good resources on the internet, and your county extension agent will be able to help you make that determination. In general, after the plants are transplanted it seems to take about three months for them to reach maturity. That will be a good place to start your calculations. Figure backward about ninety days or more from the date of your first killing frost, and add extra time for the slips to propagate, and that should give you a good starting date. A note of caution here. I have seen a field of sweet potatoes reach maturity during an unusually rainy period, never to be dug. When the winter came and passed, and spring rolled around, the field and surrounding area had the distinct odor of a pig pen for months! Please, just get them out of the ground somehow.
Sweet potatoes are high in protein, beta carotene, and many other healthy nutrients. The vines can be fed to farm animals, and have a high level of protein as well.
Window sill science:
This entire process is a great educational tool for children, from propagation to the table. It can aid in explaining plant growth and propagation, the process of genetic selection, the process of how plants make sugar, and good nutrition. There are many more ways to pass on knowledge through this object lesson. I am sure you can find them.
Back To Tutorial Directory
|
