2021 Sweet Potatoes

[macmex]

My attention has been divided between Green Country Seed Savers and The Sweet Potato Network, when it comes to posts about this year's sweet potatoes. Here's a link to how things have been going with getting this year's crop planted. I'm running behind but thankfully, there's still plenty of time to get them in the ground.

 George Plants in 2021

I have at least one new variety to get going this year. Satsume (or Satsumaimo) a Japanese variety with dense white flesh. I also need to plant my seedlings, the ones I started from true seed. I think I have at least five such plants, each of which might be really unique.

Until I get my "sweets" planted, I generally feel a little off. Once they're in I'm much more at peace. They start growing rapidly after about a week and a half from planting.

This is a picture from yesterday evening, as I wrapped things up and started the evening chores. I got about a quarter of my rows planted yesterday.


The plastic mulch is under a weed mulch. Ron mentioned the "chimney effect" of plastic mulch, over on his Heavyhitter Okra Thread. The same thing affects sweet potatoes, even this early in the year. Unless I cover that plastic some plants may cook, if the sun hits that mulch. I've taken to using barn scrapings and weeds to shade the plastic at planting time. Once the plants get some size to them, they themselves shade the mulch.

[chrysanthemum]

That sure is a lot of work. I’m glad you’re making progress.

[heavyhitterokra]

Nice looking potato patch, George!

[hank]

My sweet potatoes are putting out runners.

[heavyhitterokra]

Looking good, Hank! What all do I see growing in the background there?

[hank]

Okra corn and cantaloupes in the background of the sweet potato row.  In the lower left are cucumbers. 

[macmex]

By the time I got around to planting my slips (still not finished) things heated up so much that it gets so hot under the plastic it can kill the slips. Here's a picture of the scalding damage it can cause.




There are a couple ways to ameliorate this problem:

1. Mulch something over the plastic to cut down on heat absorbed.
2. Cover the slips with something like a cardboard box, removing it only in late afternoon, while they get established (much work and time).
3. Cut larger holes in the plastic, so that the hot air isn't so concentrated around the base of the plant.
4. Plant slips which have some roots on them. Normally I say that cuts (no roots) do just as well as slips (with roots). But when dealing with really hot air coming out of the plastic mulch it has been my observation that the ones with some root fair better.