Potato Update Sweet and Otherwise

Welcome back,

This year I decided to plant a few sweet potatoes as an experiment to see how well they would grow in this area.  I have only tried to grow them once before, quite a few years ago, without success.  I may have planted them too early in the season as sweet potato plants are sensitive to cool temperatures.

I ordered them from the Jung Seed Company.  The variety I decided to try is Centennial, described as follows:

America's leading sweet potato for northern climates. Sturdy field-grown plants mature early before frosts. Bright copper skin with deep orange flesh. Fine-grained, moist and delicious when baked.

Centennial Sweet Potato

Unlike regular potatoes that are planted as seed potatoes, sweet potatoes are started as plants.  The live plants are shipped at the time that is appropriate for planting in your area.  They may be wilted when you receive them but this is normal.  The plants are very hardy and will survive the shipping process.

I planted them in a small garden I have down behind our pond.  It's just a little spot where I usually plant a few extra tomatoes (imagine that!) or whatever i have extra of.

I planted them about 6 inches deep and about a foot apart.  I then gave them adequate water and protected them with wood shingles until they get adjusted to the hot sun and outside conditions.

Sweet Potato Plants

The Plot is Ready

Sweet Potato Plants

All Finished

Back in the main garden, the "regular" potatoes are coming up nicely.  An important step in growing potatoes is "hilling."  It is a process of loosening the dirt around the plants, then mounding up the dirt to a height of about 8 to12 inches to give the potatoes plenty of soil to develop in without being exposed to the sun.  If the plants aren't hilled properly, many of the potatoes will be above ground and will turn green as they are exposed to light.

Hilling the Potatoes

The final step is to add grass clippings or some other mulching material,  This isn't absolutely necessary but it cuts down on weeding tremendously, holds the moisture in the ground, plus keeps the soil from baking hard in the sun.

Mulching With Grass Clippings

Note:  I ended up planting a third variety of potato in addition to Kennebec and Yukon Gold.  For more information on these two varieties and planting, see my post of May 30, 2014 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2014/05/in-with-potatoes.html).

The new variety I am trying this year is an heirloom called German Butterball.  I ordered these from the Jung Seed Company.

German Butterball Potato

This superb potato says 'butter' and it's better than excellent. It has yellow, slightly flaky, melt-in-your-mouth flesh with butter-rich flavor. One taste and you'll know why it won first place in Rodale's Organic Gardening 'Taste-Off' contest. Disease-resistant plants produce high yields of large, round to oblong tubers with lightly netted golden skin. A good keeper. Late season.

I am looking forward to trying these!

In my next post I will talk about planting peppers and an update on all of the delicious greens we are enjoying.

Thanks for reading.