Hey Herrick, we’re also in zone 4B - Lake Champlain Valley on the eastern edge of the Adirondacks. Thanks for this video but I think you left out a very important part about growing sweet potatoes, that you can’t grow them from the tuber itself like your “Irish potatoes,” but you have to get them to sprout, then transplant the sprout itself. Happy growing!
I am inspired! Found your channel several years ago. I love watching and doing some of the ideas. Recently also binged watched the videos I have missed. We are in Maine so your climate is much closer than the channels I also follow from the southern states. Thank you soooo much!
I love what you called a "small" sweet potato....you haven't seen my attempts. But this gives me hope. Great tip about oven curing. By the fall harvest there is no place hot enough here. Thanks!!!
You had a great blog. Loved the essays on historical figures, home economies, Christian agrarianism and prep related topics and such. Sweet potatoes has been on my list for a long time, but keep forgetting to source slips ... LOL. Nice to see they grow well in the north. My family is joining the exodus from the big city lunacy to our "little plot of land" from a 4B to 3B. Hope I can grow the there.
I've been growing food in Washington State sine the mid 90's. I just removed to upstate NY we are in zone 4a and 5b. Very inspiring video, thank you for sharing.
Fellow New Yorker here Also 4B due to elevation Extreme Northern Cayuga county. Gotta love lake effect until someone experiences it they don't realize how much of a difference 6 miles can be. lol Thanks so much for the information here, now I know I can grow sweet potatoes as well!
Hey, I know this video was from a year ago, but could you elaborate a little bit on what you did to the soil underneath? I’m in a zone five, in the Midwest, clay soil, which it looks like that’s what you’re digging in and I’ve never been able to grow a root crop! Onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes. You name it. More advice you could give would be so appreciated.
That’s pretty cool you got that much harvest from three plants! I wonder if you had planted twice that many slips in the same area if you could have gotten a bigger yield, maybe by pruning off the vines at a certain point? It would be a fun experiment.
I'm pretty sure I would have gotten more yield from that space if I planted closer together. I don't know about increasing yield by pruning vines. That sounds like too much work! 😁
Zone is not really relevant for growing sweet potatoes, or really any summer crop in a garden. Sometimes it's a decent proxy for frost date or length of growing season, so it's not always useless, but it's worth remembering that it's a proxy. Zone is defined by minimum winter temperature, and you're not growing summer crops in winter. What really matters for sweet potatoes is having enough days of warm weather. The amount varies a bit by variety, but you really want about 100-120 days with nighttime temperatures above 60F or so for best production. They'll do even better if you have truly hot summer temperatures (90F+). I grow them in Northwest Arkansas (zone 6b) and they pretty much grow like weeds in the garden. What's tough is regular potatoes, as those need a decent season of moderate temperatures, which I don't have. The continental climate here means that the weather goes from overnight freezes to daytime highs in the 90's in the space of 4-6 weeks, and that means that even with row covers early in the season the potatoes are maturing in the heat. My personal experience with storing the roots is that they store just fine uncured for about a year at room temperature. They do sprout and gradually dry out over that time, but would likely do that even without curing. I don't cure because I prefer them in savory dishes and don't like the sweetness--I'm planning on mostly white and purple types next year as they're naturally less sweet to begin with, and the white ones make a good substitute for "Irish" potatoes if sugar development is minimized.
Seems like you would need to water, or use a commercial weed cloth that let water thru. Where I live. We have many 100 degree days. My soil would dry out.
There is abundant subsoil moisture here in the Northeast. The plastic retains the moisture that rises through capillary action. It is enough to supply the plants as long as they are not spaced too close together. This idea may not work in your growing region.
What verity is the sweet potato. I tried few verities in past in zone 5 utica Ny had mixed outcome. One time I tried in mini bed all the potatoes were under the tarp lol .
I think my sweet potato variety is Beauregard. I also grew sweet potatoes in my Minibed garden. But once was enough. I had the same experience. That experiment was a failure. 😕
hanginlaungry360… the sweet potatoes grew well in the Minibeds but they grew beyond the perimeter of the beds and harvesting them was a real hassle. This, they are not well suited to the Minibed system. 👍
@@herrickkimball This is good to know, as I'm in zone 4and was thinking some kind of raised bed would be a good way for the plants to stay warm. Just wondering if leaving them in the ground would be warm enough!
![Turn ONE Sweet Potato Into 100 LBS Of Sweet Potatoes By Growing SWEET POTATO SLIPS! [Complete Guide]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0igp5IzO21g/mqdefault.jpg)
Well hello, from southern tier of NY. Just found you channel
Hey Herrick, we’re also in zone 4B - Lake Champlain Valley on the eastern edge of the Adirondacks. Thanks for this video but I think you left out a very important part about growing sweet potatoes, that you can’t grow them from the tuber itself like your “Irish potatoes,” but you have to get them to sprout, then transplant the sprout itself. Happy growing!
Love my sweet tators in zone 5,,,I'm still harvesting them, 1/3 done, great little harvest u have there
I am inspired! Found your channel several years ago. I love watching and doing some of the ideas. Recently also binged watched the videos I have missed. We are in Maine so your climate is much closer than the channels I also follow from the southern states. Thank you soooo much!
I love what you called a "small" sweet potato....you haven't seen my attempts. But this gives me hope. Great tip about oven curing. By the fall harvest there is no place hot enough here. Thanks!!!
You had a great blog. Loved the essays on historical figures, home economies, Christian agrarianism and prep related topics and such. Sweet potatoes has been on my list for a long time, but keep forgetting to source slips ... LOL. Nice to see they grow well in the north. My family is joining the exodus from the big city lunacy to our "little plot of land" from a 4B to 3B. Hope I can grow the there.
I've been growing food in Washington State sine the mid 90's. I just removed to upstate NY we are in zone 4a and 5b. Very inspiring video, thank you for sharing.
That is interesting. Thanks, I might just try them next year.
Fellow New Yorker here Also 4B due to elevation Extreme Northern Cayuga county. Gotta love lake effect until someone experiences it they don't realize how much of a difference 6 miles can be. lol Thanks so much for the information here, now I know I can grow sweet potatoes as well!
Hey, I know this video was from a year ago, but could you elaborate a little bit on what you did to the soil underneath? I’m in a zone five, in the Midwest, clay soil, which it looks like that’s what you’re digging in and I’ve never been able to grow a root crop! Onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes. You name it. More advice you could give would be so appreciated.
Very Nice!!
Thank you. Ive really wanted to grow sweet potatoes. I'm high altitude desert out west, zone 5/6. I think your system will work for me.
I don't know if it will work in your area. But it;'s worth a try. 👍
That’s pretty cool you got that much harvest from three plants! I wonder if you had planted twice that many slips in the same area if you could have gotten a bigger yield, maybe by pruning off the vines at a certain point? It would be a fun experiment.
I'm pretty sure I would have gotten more yield from that space if I planted closer together. I don't know about increasing yield by pruning vines. That sounds like too much work! 😁
@@herrickkimball Just thinking the energy of the plant might have gone into the sweet potatoes instead of into the leaves.
Zone is not really relevant for growing sweet potatoes, or really any summer crop in a garden. Sometimes it's a decent proxy for frost date or length of growing season, so it's not always useless, but it's worth remembering that it's a proxy. Zone is defined by minimum winter temperature, and you're not growing summer crops in winter. What really matters for sweet potatoes is having enough days of warm weather. The amount varies a bit by variety, but you really want about 100-120 days with nighttime temperatures above 60F or so for best production. They'll do even better if you have truly hot summer temperatures (90F+). I grow them in Northwest Arkansas (zone 6b) and they pretty much grow like weeds in the garden. What's tough is regular potatoes, as those need a decent season of moderate temperatures, which I don't have. The continental climate here means that the weather goes from overnight freezes to daytime highs in the 90's in the space of 4-6 weeks, and that means that even with row covers early in the season the potatoes are maturing in the heat.
My personal experience with storing the roots is that they store just fine uncured for about a year at room temperature. They do sprout and gradually dry out over that time, but would likely do that even without curing. I don't cure because I prefer them in savory dishes and don't like the sweetness--I'm planning on mostly white and purple types next year as they're naturally less sweet to begin with, and the white ones make a good substitute for "Irish" potatoes if sugar development is minimized.
Hi, curious which variety you grew/have grown. Some are good for us yanks and some aren’t. Trying to zero in on the best varieties.
Beauregard has grown very well for me.
What month did you planted them?
well that didn't show me anything to be honest. I see a harvest. but what did you plant to get that harvest?
He shows you at 3:43: in a 5 x 12 plot covered with black tarp, he planted 3 plants 4 feet apart.
Seems like you would need to water, or use a commercial weed cloth that let water thru. Where I live. We have many 100 degree days. My soil would dry out.
There is abundant subsoil moisture here in the Northeast. The plastic retains the moisture that rises through capillary action. It is enough to supply the plants as long as they are not spaced too close together. This idea may not work in your growing region.
Wouldn't want to live that close to rockerfeller..
What verity is the sweet potato. I tried few verities in past in zone 5 utica Ny had mixed outcome. One time I tried in mini bed all the potatoes were under the tarp lol .
I think my sweet potato variety is Beauregard. I also grew sweet potatoes in my Minibed garden. But once was enough. I had the same experience. That experiment was a failure. 😕
@@herrickkimballcan you elaborate?
hanginlaungry360… the sweet potatoes grew well in the Minibeds but they grew beyond the perimeter of the beds and harvesting them was a real hassle. This, they are not well suited to the Minibed system. 👍
@@herrickkimball This is good to know, as I'm in zone 4and was thinking some kind of raised bed would be a good way for the plants to stay warm. Just wondering if leaving them in the ground would be warm enough!
I have a mess of slips that were a long time in the making. Think I will pot them until spring.