I have Vining. One year deer found them. Ate a bunch of leaves off. I still got a huge yield with a few huge ones...bigger than a kleenex box! So, now I cut the vibes as needed and get a great yield. They can be eaten too. Thanks for your amazing vids!
Hi Travis, my source for slips , didn’t get any because of vendor issues. Luckily i was growing my own and have them all planted. I have been watching you since you were at Hoss. I appreciate all your info. I live in SE south carolina. 30 min from Savanna. So we share the same weather. You are my #1 RU-vidr. Thank you.
Good tips. In northern Uganda. We check the beds and take out big or early maturity bulbs and harvest the late maturity on a second harvest. Only be careful not to break the little bulbs off the stem
Excellent tips! I grew sweet potatoes in a 4ft x 4 ft raised bed last year. I will say, if you do not want them tops to sprawl all over the ground below, this might not be the way to go. My bed was in a spot that it did not matter. Excellent harvest for the 4 slips I put it in. They were quite easy to grow. Sounds like I could have put a couple of more slips in that bed.
How fortuitous of your video to come out. I just brought home a flat of beauregard sweets and it's going to be my 1st time planting them, in a raised bed no less. Hahaha Can't wait for the green cascade that will follow. Thank you for the watering advice, good to know. Blessings from Linda in middle Georgia.
Great tips! I just planted my 3rd planting of sweet potatoes in 100 gal raised beds in NC 7B zone. I counted forward 120 days to our first frost date so June 1 is still ok. Bought the Steele plants, Jets and Orleans.
Just watched one of your videos talking about okra, and tomatoes. When it starts to get hot in late May. I put a white shade cloth over my tomatoes. They do not wilt down during the heat of the day. We had tomatoes all the way to late September. Try it on a couple of of your tomatoes. I’m in zone 8 B west of you.
Steele Plants order arrived! Thank you for the link!! Man they're impressive compared to mine. First time trying to grow sweet potatoes. Thank you for the info you post on your channel.
Hey Travis, I hope y'all are doin fine. I been way too busy to comment much lately. I'm just gettin ready for the sweet potato slip to go out. I been getting onions and white potatoes in everywhere. I am squirrelling onions in and around everything in the raised beds new in ground beds next to others ect. I started with 8 sweet potatoes in jars of water with the toothpicks holding them up. I have sooo many slips now about 5 varieties. I have been pulling off the real nice ones putting them in glass jar of water and those slips are full of roots 3-5 inches long lots of leaves and ready to pop in the ground. I whittled a stick like you had a couple years ago with the two points at the end for poking the slip in the ground. I love that stick tool esp since it was free! Also since I have trouble bending I can do this standing up that is a great plus right there. So from now to the last day of September I have just at or about 120 days which is long enough for all my varieties here. I hope y'all have a great safe summer with your kids!
My problem growing sweet potatoes in the Chicago area has been not getting anything sizable enough to eat. I have them on a timed drip system this year so they will get consistent watering and they are in the sunniest location I have. Hoping this 3rd attempt will be the year. 😀
I can think of a few possibilities that might help you out some. I assume you're mostly lacking for a long, warm growing season. Choose a variety with a short maturity date. Grow your own slips indoors instead of ordering them, as they'll usually be shipped to your location late. Consider using plastic to warm the soil both before planting and earlier in the season. Clear plastic is the most effective as it allows sunlight to pass through before trapping the heat. You can also grow them in a grow bag, which may allow you to move the plants if necessary to protect them. Plant fairly early--a couple of weeks after your last frost, provided no temperatures below 40F are in the long range forecast. Have extra slips in case it's a problem. Finally, once you get the potatoes, if they're small you can still use them for cooking. Boiling them with the peels still on will loosen the peels so you can take them off with minimum waste. Remember that most people giving you advice not to plant until late when everything has warmed up to ideal temperatures are growing them in the South where they have that luxury. You may need to make some changes based on your circumstances.
@Bobbun all good advice. I do grow my own slips and you're right about the length of my warm season. I have them growing in black plastic 17 G tubs, so hoping the containers will provide the extra heat. 🙂 i got them planted just after the last frost date since the temps where good. We'll see how it works out this year and I will post the results on my channel. Thanks for commenting. 😀
I don't have any idea what cultivar I have planted. I bought some a few years ago at the market that looked a lot like Beauregard's and I had some sprout and I planted the sprouts and have been growing them every year since. I've learned a few things from you today about the potassium and not cutting the vines. My son does all the yard work and if my vines have crossed the border he weed eats the ends off. I'll be giving him orders to not trim the vines.
I’m trying sweet potatoes for the first time this year in Vermont. I think I will try grow bags and keep them in my greenhouse because we don’t get 90 degree days very often here
Thanks Travis great stuff as usual. I am trying two different approaches myself. First, in my large pots I am planting a 2 foot slips about 4 inches under the surface with only the leafted out end sticking out of the soil; Georgia Jets. The second is also like you planting the slips straight down in. A Filipino told me you get a higher yield laying them out rather than sticking them in. We will see.
Tip #6 - To grow more sweet potatoes, plant more sweet potatoes. Obvious, but still worth mentioning. Mine have been in the ground for a few weeks now, and I'm well north of you. Of course, you have the luxury of a longer growing season. One of these days I may experiment with a bush type. I like to train mine up a trellis to save space. A twining type would be nice, but the plants are bred for the interest of "Big Ag", and twining isn't considered a desirable trait in that market.
Well Travis guess sweet taters r in my future, ordering as we speak. Dug my Elbas today 5 planted in 20 gal bag and 54 harvested little over 8lbs 94 days planted after you died of a lot quicker, really a pretty tater . Fixing to eat a couple with a steak. Hope I get my order in in time. Still riding your coattail on a small scale 😂😂
Question… Just bought another round from Steele (first round went as ground cover in my fruit orchard) and wondering if you think the slips could b grown on double rows. I’ll have drip tape under, thought if they’re a foot apart each line but alternating 6” from each other in the adjacent double row. Would this b too overcrowded for the tubers and/or vines? LOVE the videos and info, always look forward to new videos! Thanks and have a great weekend!!
As far as collards go i built a wooden frame added some pvc used metal like wire holders to attach then bought some 7x100 ft bird netting from walmart and hinges on one side now my collards are covered and bugs aint hitting them like last yr or yr before using them to feed my lizards last yr got so few leaves it was unreal
Just put mine in the ground(Georgia Jets Beauregard) couple three weeks ago, they revive very nicely and within a week and a half they were chewed down to the nubs, so I’ve sprayed spinosad.did lose several plants tho.but now I’m guilty of one of your tips after the vine got long enough I cut a couple and rerouted them for new plants. It is in a raised bed so it will be hard to contain didn’t realize that you’re not supposed to cut them,thanks for the info and tips
i just placed an order! it will be my first time planting sweet potato slips, so do you consider consistent watering to be daily? i have drip irrigation…if i plant some in a raised bed and the rest in my row garden, is daily watering the best?
I pulled parsnips today. I was hoping to get seed. I’m wondering if I’ll have to leave a couple till next year for them to go to seed. I sowed them sometime last year.
Hey man, really enjoy your videos! Question about fertilizing...how often are you feeding during their growth? I did an AP granular when I planted and have used a 0-10-10 fish-based fertilizer every few weeks while growing. How late into growing are you doing additional fertilizings? Do you stop at some point or fertilize until the end? Thanks!
I ordered the agro-thrive, both types, should be here Tuesday, but do I need that Nature's Safe as a pre plant also? Most of my summer crops are cow peas and I direct seed those. I'm just getting done with my main crop of maters. Planted my sweet taters and okra already. Podding now.
I planted some slips from store bought potatoes and the plants are flourishing in a pot. Been there a couple of months. Will they be okay if I move them to a bed? Any suggestions?
I bought some sweet potato slips that are rooted in small germinating cups. Can I plant them like I would tomatoes in my raised bed or do I need to wash the dirt off the slips and plant bare rooted?
Where do you buy the nature safe 8-5-5 at locally? . I want to try it due to seeing your results. It must have some micro nutrients also because I’ve never heard you talk about anything else you’ve added
It's not water-soluble, but it does break down better after being watered. It has a little bit of ammonia-based nitrogen to give a little early pop, but the remaining action is slow release.
Thank you. I got the vardaman slips and p. Rico slips from steele. The rico ones are having a hard time compared the the vardaman. Its been 3 weeks and im just barely getting leaves on the varadaman but it hasnt warmed up here quite yet. 70s during the day. Im hoping they will take off when temps are 80s consistently?
What about not letting the runners take root? I've always tried to keep them pulled up so that more energy from the plant went to the main potatoes instead of letting them form a bunch of little ones away from the row where I planted them. Is that inaccurate? Does it not matter?
Might depend on your growing season. Mine is short and cool (Ontario zone 5) so I don't let them root, but since Travis has a growing season about twice as long and finds himself getting problems with sweet potatoes that are too big because he didn't harvest early enough or plant them close enough together, then maybe he can let them root.
@@Lochness19 well I live in the same zone as Travis and I thought in previous videos he had talked about not letting the runners root so I was just trying to clarify. Also Mark from Self sufficient me lives in Australia in probably a warmer zone than ours and he says the same thing. So at any rate I respect Travis and his advice although it seems to change through the years. I'm just trying to keep up on the latest greatest methods
Hi. Nice video! Thank you. How can I calculate the approximate yield weight versus the size of the raised bed? For illustrate, what size bed do I need to produce let's say 100 pounds of sweet potatoes? A rule of thumb for calculating larger harvests.
Will potato vines climb? Im growing them for the first time as friend gave me slips. I have a shorter growing season but nothing ventured nothing gained. I space mine much farther apart.
Just makes it easier to know exactly where the sweet potatoes will be when we dig them. Also, they tend to enlarge more evenly in a hill. Not as important in a raised bed as it is in the ground though.
Depending on the variety, anywhere from 90 to 120 days. The ones I planted, Beauregard are ready in 90 days. The tag should tell you the variety and maturity time.
Has anyone ever grown them in Wyoming? I'm zone 4 and I'm attempting to grow slips right now ( inside of course) our night time Temps are still in the 30s
I tried containers this year and used organic soil (off brand)….planted regular potatoes and they started growing great. But then started dying. Used an app on my phone and it said the soil contains a spore. I am so disappointed, I thought using organic would give me a good crop. Had to dispose of plants and soil. Going to clean containers and sterilize them. Maybe next year….
@@humanbeing4368 It is sad. Cars fly up and down this road without paying any attention. You can easily see the ducks crossing the road a 1/2-1/4 mile away if you're looking at the road.
