Sweet potato or Yams?

[Issangeorge]

I have done several searches, but could find little. Is anyone growing these in Isaan?

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[pigeonjake]

do you know what george, believe it or not i only said to my wife today i want to grow some sweet potatoes,

ive asked the garden shop lady to get mo some, i was in there this morning ordering some more turf,

ill take a pic or 2 when and if i get them, mac my wife says they grow round here,

jake

[sbf]

Hi Issangeorge,

We have loads of sweet potato's grown commercially around us. In fact the two fields up from our house have just been cropped with them. There are many different varieties being grown, I have 4 varieties in two 20m rows in the home garden, though we d not produce commercially s yet. One variety is white and quite small, and when given to me I was told it was a very old variety, not grown commercially because of the low yield. Perhaps it has exceptionally good flavour but I have not tried it yet. I have another large whitish variety, and two purple ones, all three of these are grown commercially around these parts. The darker of the two purples is my slightly preferred one for eating, but any of the three is fine. We use them for anything you would use a potato for, chips, baking, roasting, boiling, soup and so on.

Commonest way to propagate them here is find a field where they are growing, and then take tip cuttings off the vine. Say 5-6 nodes, and then plunge the lower 2-3 nodes vertically into the top of a ridge. Rows about 60-100cm apart, and put cutting in the ridge about 30cm apart. Plenty of water, and about 3 months later you should be eating your very own crop. Gross off just under 2 rai was B100000 according to the neighbour.They are cropped year around in this part of Isaan - southern Sisaket. They do need a fairly fertile free draining soil though, and plenty of water through the dry season.

Alternately propagation can be done by getting a sweet potato tuber, the bit you eat, and put that into a pot with the tuber lying across the pot, covered with 4-5cm of compost. After a couple of weeks, you will have plenty of young shoots come up and then just gently remove these where they join the tuber - they should have small root attached - and plant in ridge as above. This is the method used in places like NZ, Oz and USA where for climatic reasons only one crop a year is grown. They store some seed tubers over the winter just like potatoes, then force the tubers in heated beds to get their new seasons cuttings.

So Pidgeonjake look around the market and veg section of the super market, try out the different varieties you see, and then when you find one you like plant some tubers as above to start off, and after that tip cuttings to maintain your stock. If you plant the tip cuttings monthly you should keep a constant supply up for the home.

If you want some tips cuttings, and are attending the farmers meeting on 28th at Bergen's PM me, I would be happy to oblige.

[pigeonjake]

Hi Issangeorge,

We have loads of sweet potato's grown commercially around us. In fact the two fields up from our house have just been cropped with them. There are many different varieties being grown, I have 4 varieties in two 20m rows in the home garden, though we d not produce commercially s yet. One variety is white and quite small, and when given to me I was told it was a very old variety, not grown commercially because of the low yield. Perhaps it has exceptionally good flavour but I have not tried it yet. I have another large whitish variety, and two purple ones, all three of these are grown commercially around these parts. The darker of the two purples is my slightly preferred one for eating, but any of the three is fine. We use them for anything you would use a potato for, chips, baking, roasting, boiling, soup and so on.

Commonest way to propagate them here is find a field where they are growing, and then take tip cuttings off the vine. Say 5-6 nodes, and then plunge the lower 2-3 nodes vertically into the top of a ridge. Rows about 60-100cm apart, and put cutting in the ridge about 30cm apart. Plenty of water, and about 3 months later you should be eating your very own crop. Gross off just under 2 rai was B100000 according to the neighbour.They are cropped year around in this part of Isaan - southern Sisaket. They do need a fairly fertile free draining soil though, and plenty of water through the dry season.

Alternately propagation can be done by getting a sweet potato tuber, the bit you eat, and put that into a pot with the tuber lying across the pot, covered with 4-5cm of compost. After a couple of weeks, you will have plenty of young shoots come up and then just gently remove these where they join the tuber - they should have small root attached - and plant in ridge as above. This is the method used in places like NZ, Oz and USA where for climatic reasons only one crop a year is grown. They store some seed tubers over the winter just like potatoes, then force the tubers in heated beds to get their new seasons cuttings.

So Pidgeonjake look around the market and veg section of the super market, try out the different varieties you see, and then when you find one you like plant some tubers as above to start off, and after that tip cuttings to maintain your stock. If you plant the tip cuttings monthly you should keep a constant supply up for the home.

If you want some tips cuttings, and are attending the farmers meeting on 28th at Bergen's PM me, I would be happy to oblige.

thanks great info,

yes we will be at burgans,

ive just done a trip to iraq working and we were eating them there, could tell the difference to be honest, so thats why i asked mac if they were grown here,

thanks again,

see you on the 28th

jake

[pigeonjake]

just got back from big c and ive bought some,,lol

ill be planting them later just like spuds,

jake

[IsaanAussie]

Your pigs will love the vines (not all varieties, some are bitter). You can cut them back hard every few weeks, use a few to increase your crop and the rest into the sty. Note: go easy on the N fertiliser, too much and you will get heaps of vine and not much tuber growth. Of course that could be a good thing for the pigs!

[masuk]

Some years ago, I had to visit a boarding high school in Papua New Guinea. The term had just started, and I was impressed by so many students working in the vegie gardens.

It was explained to me that each student must bring so many kg of sweet potatoes to the school at the beginning of term. 50% of the potatoes had to be planted, the other 50% was for the student to consume while waiting for the crop.

This is their staple, and so much healthier than processed white rice, and they certainly were a fit bunch.

As a matter of interest, the staple used to be a very starchy, low nutrition root crop, which I think was called Taro. When the Malay traders introduced sweet potato, which had came from South America a hundred years or more previously, there was a huge increase in population and overall health.

[Robby nz]

In NZ they are called kumera and they don't plant the tubers, just leave them on the surface of the soil where they will produce shoots, they will continue to produce shoots for quite some time and you will get quite a lot from a single tuber, choose a big even shaped tuber.

They will even produce shoots if kept inside in a cupboard or just on a bench.

The shoots are always planted on top of the furrow.

[pigeonjake]

so ive got to dig my tubers up tomorow,, ive bl00dy planted them