Read Online Growing Your Own Vegetables: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide by Carla Emery, Lorene Edwards Forkner - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carla Emery, Lorene Edwards Forkner
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potatoes that are cut into pieces, cured, and planted. Each piece must be big enough to supply nourishment to the new plant until it sprouts and is capable of producing its own energy, and it must include at least one “eye”—a small round depression on the potato surface. An average potato will yield 3 to 5 seed pieces. Cure the cut pieces by allowing them to dry in a warm dry room for a couple of days to form a protective callus, which will guard against rot until the plants sprout. Sets are tiny potatoes that are planted whole and thus avoid the vulnerability of cut surfaces.
Regular store potatoes don’t make the best seed potatoes; they are seldom labeled by variety, and they may have been sprayed with chemicals to inhibit sprouting. Purchasing your seed stock through a mail-order specialist or the local nursery in early spring not only assures you of accurate growing information but also offers you a broader choice of varieties to choose from.
Sweet potato
Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) is a tropical starchy root from the ancient Americas that although grown like a potato is not related. Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious foods from the garden, containing large amounts of vitamin A and beta carotene, but they need hot weather and a long growing season to produce. If your July through August mean temperature is more than 80°F, you’re in an ideal zone for sweet potatoes. Less-than-ideal conditions will result in a reduced yield, but sweet potatoes can be grown as far north as southern New York, Michigan, and the Midwest.
PLANTING: Sweet potatoes require a long hot growing season and a well-cultivated soil that’s not too rich; excess nitrogen will send growth to the vine instead of the root. Purchase starts or grow your own slips (see sidebar) and set plants every 1 to 3 feet, depending on variety, in rows 2½ feet apart. If you’re short of garden space, run the 4- to 16-foot-long morning glory-type vines up a garden fence, or grow in a deep window box with the vines trailing down. Vines that spread out on the ground will root along their length; be careful to not damage these secondary roots, as that will decrease yield. Once established, plants can handle a dry spell without harm; they may even be stimulated to produce a better crop as a result.
HARVESTING: For all their long growing season, sweet potato roots put on the most growth during the end of their season—September and October. Planting too late or harvesting too early will yield undersized, low-starch roots that will fail to cure properly for storage. Wait as long as your season will allow and harvest sweet potatoes on a sunny, dry day when the soil is not wet. Dig with a fork very carefully to avoid damaging the crop. Spread the roots out on the ground in the sun for 2 to 3 hours to thoroughly dry. In the South, where temperatures are 80 to 90°F, sweet potatoes can remain curing in the sun for another 10 to 14 days. In cooler climates they must be moved indoors to a very warm area for this curing period. Unlike most vegetables, sweet potatoes need damp conditions to cure; if the weather isn’t humid, cover them with a slightly damp towel.
GROWING SWEET POTATO SLIPS
The sweet potato, like the white potato, is not grown from seed but is propagated from the root itself. The potato is a tuber with eyes that sprout, but the sweet potato is a true root with no eyes or buds. To produce sweet potato slips, about 5 to 6 weeks before garden planting time pot a sweet potato into a hotbed or container of soil at least 1 foot deep, burying the root halfway; smaller roots produce more slips. You can also lay the root in a pan of water to promote sprouting. Whichever method you choose, the temperature must be constantly warm, at least 75°F, and conditions moist.
When a sprout or slip is about 6 to 10 inches long and has produced roots, it’s time to carefully separate it from the original root. Hold the parent plant tightly with one hand and
Regular store potatoes don’t make the best seed potatoes; they are seldom labeled by variety, and they may have been sprayed with chemicals to inhibit sprouting. Purchasing your seed stock through a mail-order specialist or the local nursery in early spring not only assures you of accurate growing information but also offers you a broader choice of varieties to choose from.
Sweet potato
Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) is a tropical starchy root from the ancient Americas that although grown like a potato is not related. Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious foods from the garden, containing large amounts of vitamin A and beta carotene, but they need hot weather and a long growing season to produce. If your July through August mean temperature is more than 80°F, you’re in an ideal zone for sweet potatoes. Less-than-ideal conditions will result in a reduced yield, but sweet potatoes can be grown as far north as southern New York, Michigan, and the Midwest.
PLANTING: Sweet potatoes require a long hot growing season and a well-cultivated soil that’s not too rich; excess nitrogen will send growth to the vine instead of the root. Purchase starts or grow your own slips (see sidebar) and set plants every 1 to 3 feet, depending on variety, in rows 2½ feet apart. If you’re short of garden space, run the 4- to 16-foot-long morning glory-type vines up a garden fence, or grow in a deep window box with the vines trailing down. Vines that spread out on the ground will root along their length; be careful to not damage these secondary roots, as that will decrease yield. Once established, plants can handle a dry spell without harm; they may even be stimulated to produce a better crop as a result.
HARVESTING: For all their long growing season, sweet potato roots put on the most growth during the end of their season—September and October. Planting too late or harvesting too early will yield undersized, low-starch roots that will fail to cure properly for storage. Wait as long as your season will allow and harvest sweet potatoes on a sunny, dry day when the soil is not wet. Dig with a fork very carefully to avoid damaging the crop. Spread the roots out on the ground in the sun for 2 to 3 hours to thoroughly dry. In the South, where temperatures are 80 to 90°F, sweet potatoes can remain curing in the sun for another 10 to 14 days. In cooler climates they must be moved indoors to a very warm area for this curing period. Unlike most vegetables, sweet potatoes need damp conditions to cure; if the weather isn’t humid, cover them with a slightly damp towel.
GROWING SWEET POTATO SLIPS
The sweet potato, like the white potato, is not grown from seed but is propagated from the root itself. The potato is a tuber with eyes that sprout, but the sweet potato is a true root with no eyes or buds. To produce sweet potato slips, about 5 to 6 weeks before garden planting time pot a sweet potato into a hotbed or container of soil at least 1 foot deep, burying the root halfway; smaller roots produce more slips. You can also lay the root in a pan of water to promote sprouting. Whichever method you choose, the temperature must be constantly warm, at least 75°F, and conditions moist.
When a sprout or slip is about 6 to 10 inches long and has produced roots, it’s time to carefully separate it from the original root. Hold the parent plant tightly with one hand and
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