| My allotment in Liverpool |
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| 2008 This was the year that I decided to grow sweet potatoes and read up about the subject. The basic idea is to grow shoots from a sweet potato and plant the subsequent "slips" which grow into productive plants. It all sounds so easy and I decided to try Tesco sweet potatoes which I knew were probably not the correct variety for England but I wanted to experiment this year. |
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| Growing Sweet Potatoes is a challenge |
| Grow your own Sweet Potatoes |
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| Runner Beans |
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| Sweet Corn |
| QUICK LINKS |
| See my plot in all its glory at the height of summer 2008. This is the third year of the plot. |
| SWEET POTATOES |
| How to grow Sweet Potatoes |
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| MUGS Using the well tried technique of cocktail stickspushed into the tubers, rather like the old idea of growing avocado stones, I placed two tubers in mugs so that the bases were in water which was kept topped up. It was difficult to tell which end of the tuber was up and which was down so I tried one end of one and what looked like the opposite end of the other. As it happened they both sprouted. |
| 18th March 12 days after putting the tubers in the water, the first small buds are visible. Rather like chitting potatoes. It was a real thrill as it was the first time I had ever done this. |
| 18th April The slips are really growing well but the eventual size was a disappointment as pictures I has seen showed them 4-6 inches long |
| 28th May I decided that they were not going to grow much more and cut the slips off and planted them in pots. |
| 28th June The plants were big enough to go into frames and I put 3 in one of my 8x4 foot beds (2.4 x 1.2 metres) |
| 3rd August Growth is rapid under polythene and they are like bindweed, spreading outwards and soon filling the bed. I kept them well watered. |
| 3rd October At last, sweet potatoes, but not as you know them! The roots are very convoluted and I wonder if it is a result of growing the slips in too small a pot for too long. They are rather small, but tasted superb. There are two more plants to lift and I will leave them a litle longer. |
| Lessons Next year I will start them off earlier and will not wait so long before planting the slips in pots which will be bigger than three inches. I will plant them out earlier and hope to get a much bigger crop. That is why gardening can be exciting! I can hardly wait until February 2009. |