sweet potato taking over!

[eandrdavis]

First time growing sweet potato and the vines appear to be taking over the greenhouse. Do we snip off the tips to stop it filling the greenhouse or will that stop the tubers from forming? Cheers

[lacysue2]

snipping will hurt production.

[Bramble_killer]

you can train them as the vines aren't stuck to the ground so some canes, some string and get them growing out of the way.

[eandrdavis]

Thanks, I'll try to train them on to something else as they have taken over the long canes already!

[vegetable-gardener]

I tried growing sweet potatoes 2 years ago - they never got bigger then when I bought the plant. It was in our previous garden and my garden now is much warmer. Will have to try next year. Did you buy the plants?

[Alison]

I've never managed to get them to work outside but have managed a bit of a crop in pots in the greenhouse. This year I have more space in the polytunnel so am trying them in a bed so will have to see. Vines going pretty mental already though.

[beach_gal]

I grew sweet potatoes for the first time in 2010. I didn't bother with 'slips' as I'd heard that they were a waste of time, and instead I bought proper plants. When they arrived they were tiny, literally a solitary 1" long leaf on each plant, but they soon grew when I put them into 6" pots on the greenhouse bench. In late may they were moved into the poly tunnel at the allotment and didn't look back. All the 'love' they got from me was a little dollop of chicken manure when they were planted, and were watered every 3 or 4 days, nothing else.

From what I'd read on the internet it seemed that I would need to wait until the foliage died back before I dug them up, but all was still green and growing by the first week of october but I needed the space so dug them up anyway: The total harvest from 10 plants (around £15 from Dobies) was 45kg, and the majority of the spuds were over 8" long and 3" diameter, with the biggest single one weighing in at 6.5lbs. I'm still munching my way through them, and they're stored in a spare bedroom with the radiator turned off, and show no signs of deteriorating 3 months out of the ground.

So don't lose heart, they will grow over here, so long as you can give them a bit of shelther.

[Two_Sheds]

. I didn't bother with 'slips' as I'd heard that they were a waste of time

Why a waste of time?

The total harvest from 10 plants (around £15 from Dobies) was 45kg

That's really impressive, I don't weigh much more than that

[Sylvan]

That's really impressive, I don't weigh much more than that

:sigh: Those were the days...

How much longer does it take if you start with slips?

(Oh dear, there's so much I want to grow in a greenhouse I think it will have to be the size of a small town )

[Alison]

I didn't bother with 'slips' as I'd heard that they were a waste of time, and instead I bought proper plants. When they arrived they were tiny, literally a solitary 1" long leaf on each plant, but they soon grew when I put them into 6" pots on the greenhouse bench.

Why a waste of time?

How much longer does it take if you start with slips?

To be honest the description of the small plants doesn't sound much different from the slips I have in the past but assume that they have a better root development so probably get going quicker. Some of the suppliers don't send out the slips or whatever until really rather too late as you need to get them in the ground and moving on as soon as it's warm enough. They also seem to have benefited from a good feed and plenty to drink.