Your video is a great reminder of the value of patience and perseverance. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow and harvest melons and oranges, but the end result is so worth it. And the fact that you're able to make a living by selling them at the market is even more impressive. Keep up the great work! And it's an honor to have you visit our channel, we can discuss more about our experiences in harvesting and building farms.
You could take cuttings of the vine before harvest and keep them indoors or in a warmer area until planting out when its warm enough, then you could eat all of your harvest :)
Saria I’ve grown one indoors and I just don’t have the room or place for it. The vines get too messy and the Winter is too long. I also tried in my greenhouse and they really suffered for the same reason but also still not warm enough at night. They were not happy plants. The shorter length of day didn’t help. I guess it is possible, but not worth it. Better to grow things that are happier in our environment. I wish I could be somewhere like Hawaii and grow them year around, though 🙂Thank you for the comment.
Actually, I found that... why mess with all of the slip starting, etc. Perhaps it's different because I live in Hawaii (Big Island). But the potatoes kinda grow wild out on their own in areas I don't cultivate of harvest. When I want to actually grow sweet potatoes for food I simply cut as many vines as I need or want. Maybe a foot and a half long (shorter ones work as well in more confined spaces. I then strip the leaves and side shoots off of the majority of the length of the vine. I leave only the very tip of the growing tip in place plus a couple of leaves. I then dig a trench to accommodate the long vine and bury all except new growth end. They take off rapidly no problem. This is all done in the amount of time it would take to efficiently complete those few steps. No pre-preperation other than having a growing bed ready to except them. So easy.
wow 8yr old video. thanks for sharing. Baker Seed doesn't carry this potato anymore. I don't know why but I ordered some in ebay from some random and received some pretty crappy slips. I didn't have time to root them I just stuck them in the dirt as I am also late season June 1st. they are just starting to show signs of life but they are tiny..I also hope to store for next year's grow.
Great harvest those r my favorite variety my grandpa use to grow that! I also grow that too but my harvest wasnt that great i harvested to early but hopefully next year will be better!
+Cheryl cummings Thank you... sorry to hear your harvest wasn't that great... I have my fingers crossed for you next year... will they grow all year where you are? I remember your video that talks about your grandpa growing them, very cool.
The vines are the planting materials. Every point that has leaves is a potential rooting point. In our place we use vines. We cut about a foot long and plant in the soil ensuring three or thereabout points where the leaves were and they grow fine producing good sized potatoes. We don't know about the slips. Also because we are in the tropics small potatoes left in the field bring sprouts that can be cut into planting materials.
I see that you did this a coup,e years ago. I hope you have mastered creating slips by putting the vines in water now. You can also put a small sweet potato tuber part way in water and as the slips developer pull them and their roots away gently from the tuber and voila more mature slips. Just keep them in water until you are ready to p,ant them. Lastly if the vines root outside of the planting bed- under or around, where the vine roots could create a whole new plant. Happy harvesting!
Lisa Nowakow Thank you! I actually really prefer starting them in soil (putting the entire sweet potato or half directly in soil). This way I can leave them outside, I don’t worry about the heat and acclimating to the sun.
Take one potato that has a lot of eyes on put it in some water hold it up with some toothpicks and it will grow you a sweet potato vine inside the house like a houseplant it will grow all winter that way makes a beautiful green plant all you have to do is harvest some slips from it put them in water and root them next year you can have lots of plants
Do you know that the vines are seedlings too? You can cut the vines into 6 inches and replant them. Plant them into the soil. Also, when you plant your sweet potatoes. Cut the tips of the vines. So, the energy will go to the fruits instead of the vines. You can feed them to the rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats or compost them. Try and good luck.
Yes you can plant the vine,in my country we plant the vine not the slip just cut them off about 24 inches long and fold it twice then bury the folded part,3/4 of vine must be buried and 1/4 of it in the top of the soil..
adrian collado wonderful! It makes good sense to me that the vine should be able to produce, not just the slip. Wish we could grow them year around here. 😊
How long have they been growing? I grew Molokai purple sweet potatos for the first time and after 6 months they were the size of footballs, lol. First time growing sweet potatos, next time it will be 4 months. Anyway I’ll just cure them longer, supposed to still be good for consumption, sweet potato pie anyone? Btw, the leaves are edible, I just stir fried them for 2-3 min. Douse them with your favorite stir fry sauce and you got a nice side dish. Very similar to spinach, high in vitamins and minerals.
Wow that is a great harvest :) I grow my sweet potatoes for vines But i don't know to much about sweet potatoes so i don't know if it works with all of them or not. I have started to try to line up my bags and rot the runners as they grow. That has seemed to work quite well. for rooting but i have not harvested they yet to know if this is a good practise or just a way to make the runners grow longer :)
It has been a number of years so I don’t recall without watching it again, but that has been my experience with Okinawan sweet potatoes in my area. Perhaps because our growing season is not as long as it should be for this variety. I have 3 more plants this year so I’ll see what happens this year. That said, I don’t have good storage for them, so that is really all I need and we eat the greens as they are growing. We will always grow them in containers, at least as long as I’m on this current property and not a warmer location.
Hi to all, these ended up not being Okinawan Sweet potatoes - very disappointingly. Please see my video ua-cam.com/video/kFPqtW1BXmE/v-deo.html for when I found this out. I have ordered slips from 3 sources for the Spring, however, so hopefully between the three of them I will get better luck.
I just harvested mine. I did find a mix of really big ones and smaller size. I bought Malaki too. I will go find your other video. Did your cutting do well over winter?
The cutting survived, and actually had tiny sweet potatoes when I replanted it outside, but it wasn't thriving in the greenhouse...it was sort of surviving.
Okinawan sweet potatoes were only thing I remember my grandfather ever eatting I don't recall him ever eatting rice he grew his own sweet potatoes on the community farm in Naha were do get them were I can grow my own I have tried and they get rotten in the ground I think they have been irradiated !
Ruttigorn Logsdon Your grandfather sounds like he knew good food! 😊 I'm not sure where you are located , but in the USA they can be purchased from Baker Creek Seeds. If you are out of the USA, I'm not sure but I had the same experience as you from grocery store Okinawan sweet potatoes (not organic). If you can find organic, they should not be irradiated, but conventionally grown ones may be.
GLHFsport Yes, I believe they should. We pull slips off of sweet potatoes to grow them, so I see no reason why a vine cutting wouldn't do so as well. I did one test, but didn't mark it so by the time I harvested, couldn't tell which one it was! That said, I've read conflicting stories-but I still think the answer is yes.
Definitely a difference between Stokes Purple and Okinawan. Okinawans are tan to beige to whitish on the exterior and varying shades of purple in the inside. Stokes are purple all the way through. UBE I am not sure and the source I attempted to purchase from were out so I have not yet had a chance to test them. From the sounds of them, they sound similar, but I do not know. Okinawans thus far are my absolute favorite. Hopefully the ones I am growing this year are truly them. That said, we are moving to a far more raw food diet, so I am still undecided about my sweet potato growing in the future.
Hello My Garden Mine must be stokes then. They are growing great btw. trying to overtake my whole side yard with vines sending out roots. I just trim them back and eat the leaves. Hopefully they have enough room in my 12gal pots to grow
jennifer wilson Thank you! If you have some warm temps and a long growing season, they aren't hard. They aren't as productive as some of the other sweet potatoes, but worth it 😊
+billy pchajek No I haven't started yet... the sweet potatoes in this video ended up not being Okinawan Sweet potatoes so I have to wait until I receive the slips I've ordered. I did order from 3 different sources this time, so hopefully between the 3, maybe I'll get them before too late. Good luck with yours - I would like to hear how they grow!
If you were in Canada I could send you some slips. I grow oh Henry and Chinese purple. And an trying so make slips from a Okinawan(140 days) and a couple other Asian varieties. I make my own slips early the ones I order never have time to finish
I will be interested in seeing yours grow. I start my own slips for the Murasaki Japanese and the Stokes purple, but I can't get a non-irradiated Okinawan purple where I am. However, hopefully with 3 different sources, maybe I'll get at least one good Okinawan that I can start my own slips from next year.
+Tuan Nguyen Sorry, I wish I could. They did not end up being Okinawan Sweet potatoes. See my video here ua-cam.com/video/kFPqtW1BXmE/v-deo.html I have ordered from three different places for Spring however, so hopefully I will have better luck this time.
All you have to do is harvest Time slips from The Vines you just pulled off save them and roll them next year they'll grow all year inside like a greenhouse house
I’ve heard that, and I tried one that way, but couldn’t tell which one it was when I harvested. Even so, production was very low with them. This year I didn’t grow them, next year I may again since I’m not eating as many I really don’t need to worry about production. Thank you for the comment 🙂
I don’t recall now, but I don’t think so. I did the same this Spring. I get plenty of slips from organic Murasaki (Japanese) sweet potatoes from the store. I guess I just don’t want to grow too many, I do not have cool storage for them. I didn’t find them productive enough though to rely on them even though they are my favorite. I guess I’ll find out soon when I harvest this years’. 🙂
Michelle Vuong Yes, sweet potato leaves and stems are edible. We do include some of the leaves in our salads, but I think it is more common to cook them (but we usually do not).
Agusta Sister yes I’ve tried one plant in green house that way and one in the house, but becomes too unruly! Probably better with a sweet potato that does not vine. Thank you for the reply and for watching!
+Вадим Бат Thank you! These ended up not being Okinawan sweet potatoes : ( apparently the seller must have mistakenly sent me the wrong slips. However, I have ordered from three sources already to arrive in Spring, so hopefully the right ones will come this time. I hope you can also get this variety to grow, they are very tasty, healthy, and look good too!
It should have been purple, but it was yellow. See my You tube video, Big Disappointment, that one shows what an Okinawan sweet potato should have looked like inside, and what mine looked like... it was a sad moment.
We recently ordered seeds sweet potato in China. Was sent to Okinawa, Molokai, etc., Instead of seeds sweet potato seeds came to jicama. These are unscrupulous sellers, alas occur.
Your video is a great reminder of the value of patience and perseverance. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow and harvest melons and oranges, but the end result is so worth it. And the fact that you're able to make a living by selling them at the market is even more impressive. Keep up the great work! And it's an honor to have you visit our channel, we can discuss more about our experiences in harvesting and building farms.
I do not sell, but thank you for the comment
You can definitely grow from pulls (vine cuttings) usually they don't produce as much so I would plant more of them
Thank you for sharing your big beautiful, Okinawa sweet potatoes.
I enjoyed your sweet, humble, demeanor.
Hategoto
Thank you ❤️
You could take cuttings of the vine before harvest and keep them indoors or in a warmer area until planting out when its warm enough, then you could eat all of your harvest :)
Saria I’ve grown one indoors and I just don’t have the room or place for it. The vines get too messy and the Winter is too long. I also tried in my greenhouse and they really suffered for the same reason but also still not warm enough at night. They were not happy plants. The shorter length of day didn’t help. I guess it is possible, but not worth it. Better to grow things that are happier in our environment. I wish I could be somewhere like Hawaii and grow them year around, though 🙂Thank you for the comment.
I watch full video
Super duper shairng
Actually, I found that... why mess with all of the slip starting, etc. Perhaps it's different because I live in Hawaii (Big Island). But the potatoes kinda grow wild out on their own in areas I don't cultivate of harvest. When I want to actually grow sweet potatoes for food I simply cut as many vines as I need or want. Maybe a foot and a half long (shorter ones work as well in more confined spaces. I then strip the leaves and side shoots off of the majority of the length of the vine. I leave only the very tip of the growing tip in place plus a couple of leaves. I then dig a trench to accommodate the long vine and bury all except new growth end. They take off rapidly no problem. This is all done in the amount of time it would take to efficiently complete those few steps. No pre-preperation other than having a growing bed ready to except them. So easy.
Wow those last three were really big. We are thinking about growing sweet potatoes next year.
+Midwest Gardener We eat a lot of sweet potatoes so I find growing them very rewarding. I look forward to seeing the videos if you do!
wow 8yr old video. thanks for sharing. Baker Seed doesn't carry this potato anymore. I don't know why but I ordered some in ebay from some random and received some pretty crappy slips. I didn't have time to root them I just stuck them in the dirt as I am also late season June 1st. they are just starting to show signs of life but they are tiny..I also hope to store for next year's grow.
Nice harvest. Happy Thanksgiving. Best wishes Bob.
+Bob Lt (BobMel's Gardening) Thank you Bob, Happy Thanksgiving to you as well :)
Great harvest those r my favorite variety my grandpa use to grow that! I also grow that too but my harvest wasnt that great i harvested to early but hopefully next year will be better!
+Cheryl cummings Thank you... sorry to hear your harvest wasn't that great... I have my fingers crossed for you next year... will they grow all year where you are? I remember your video that talks about your grandpa growing them, very cool.
Yes they will grow all year😀
I'm envious! : )
The vines are the planting materials. Every point that has leaves is a potential rooting point. In our place we use vines. We cut about a foot long and plant in the soil ensuring three or thereabout points where the leaves were and they grow fine producing good sized potatoes. We don't know about the slips. Also because we are in the tropics small potatoes left in the field bring sprouts that can be cut into planting materials.
Thank you for the info ❤️
Gosh. The first 5 minutes I couldn't hear you. Enjoy your show thanks!
I see that you did this a coup,e years ago. I hope you have mastered creating slips by putting the vines in water now. You can also put a small sweet potato tuber part way in water and as the slips developer pull them and their roots away gently from the tuber and voila more mature slips. Just keep them in water until you are ready to p,ant them.
Lastly if the vines root outside of the planting bed- under or around, where the vine roots could create a whole new plant. Happy harvesting!
Lisa Nowakow Thank you! I actually really prefer starting them in soil (putting the entire sweet potato or half directly in soil). This way I can leave them outside, I don’t worry about the heat and acclimating to the sun.
thank you for sharing a good video.
Take one potato that has a lot of eyes on put it in some water hold it up with some toothpicks and it will grow you a sweet potato vine inside the house like a houseplant it will grow all winter that way makes a beautiful green plant all you have to do is harvest some slips from it put them in water and root them next year you can have lots of plants
Do you know that the vines are seedlings too? You can cut the vines into 6 inches and replant them. Plant them into the soil. Also, when you plant your sweet potatoes. Cut the tips of the vines. So, the energy will go to the fruits instead of the vines. You can feed them to the rabbits, chickens, pigs, goats or compost them. Try and good luck.
Yes you can plant the vine,in my country we plant the vine not the slip just cut them off about 24 inches long and fold it twice then bury the folded part,3/4 of vine must be buried and 1/4 of it in the top of the soil..
adrian collado wonderful! It makes good sense to me that the vine should be able to produce, not just the slip. Wish we could grow them year around here. 😊
How long have they been growing? I grew Molokai purple sweet potatos for the first time and after 6 months they were the size of footballs, lol. First time growing sweet potatos, next time it will be 4 months. Anyway I’ll just cure them longer, supposed to still be good for consumption, sweet potato pie anyone? Btw, the leaves are edible, I just stir fried them for 2-3 min. Douse them with your favorite stir fry sauce and you got a nice side dish. Very similar to spinach, high in vitamins and minerals.
Wow that is a great harvest :) I grow my sweet potatoes for vines But i don't know to much about sweet potatoes so i don't know if it works with all of them or not. I have started to try to line up my bags and rot the runners as they grow. That has seemed to work quite well. for rooting but i have not harvested they yet to know if this is a good practise or just a way to make the runners grow longer :)
+Benja's Uber 1337 Hobby Sounds like a good practice!
+Hello My Garden ty :)
wow ilove sweet potato
Bought some in flushing NY today. Hope i can save some to plant.
3angels Ikabod I hope you were/are able to!
What other food do you usually produce at home besides sweet potatoes?
Hi! Greens, carrots, peppers, paw paws, blueberries, grapes, blackberries, persimmons, pumpkins, hardy kiwi, black turmeric, to name a few. 😀
8 sweet potatoes? That is why you don't plant in containers.
It has been a number of years so I don’t recall without watching it again, but that has been my experience with Okinawan sweet potatoes in my area. Perhaps because our growing season is not as long as it should be for this variety. I have 3 more plants this year so I’ll see what happens this year. That said, I don’t have good storage for them, so that is really all I need and we eat the greens as they are growing. We will always grow them in containers, at least as long as I’m on this current property and not a warmer location.
Hi to all, these ended up not being Okinawan Sweet potatoes - very disappointingly. Please see my video ua-cam.com/video/kFPqtW1BXmE/v-deo.html for when I found this out. I have ordered slips from 3 sources for the Spring, however, so hopefully between the three of them I will get better luck.
I just harvested mine. I did find a mix of really big ones and smaller size. I bought Malaki too. I will go find your other video. Did your cutting do well over winter?
The cutting survived, and actually had tiny sweet potatoes when I replanted it outside, but it wasn't thriving in the greenhouse...it was sort of surviving.
The only way to ensure what you plant, is start the slip yourself. Then you know what sweet potato it came from.
Wow so huge sizes
GOH BOMBA thank you!
Nice video may I ask how many slips per container and how often did you water them
I got my Okinawan slips from potatoes i bought from the asian produce market.
How nice if I can grow them and eat them yummy
GOH BOMBA I hope you can!
Hello My Garden thank you
Okinawan sweet potatoes were only thing I remember my grandfather ever eatting I don't recall him ever eatting rice he grew his own sweet potatoes on the community farm in Naha were do get them were I can grow my own I have tried and they get rotten in the ground I think they have been irradiated !
Ruttigorn Logsdon Your grandfather sounds like he knew good food! 😊 I'm not sure where you are located , but in the USA they can be purchased from Baker Creek Seeds. If you are out of the USA, I'm not sure but I had the same experience as you from grocery store Okinawan sweet potatoes (not organic). If you can find organic, they should not be irradiated, but conventionally grown ones may be.
if the vines have fertile soil beneath them cant they root and produce potatoes? like a creeping vine
GLHFsport Yes, I believe they should. We pull slips off of sweet potatoes to grow them, so I see no reason why a vine cutting wouldn't do so as well. I did one test, but didn't mark it so by the time I harvested, couldn't tell which one it was! That said, I've read conflicting stories-but I still think the answer is yes.
is there any difference between okinawan, UBE, or stokes purple sweet potatoes? or is it just a locational tag on the same vegetable.
Definitely a difference between Stokes Purple and Okinawan. Okinawans are tan to beige to whitish on the exterior and varying shades of purple in the inside. Stokes are purple all the way through. UBE I am not sure and the source I attempted to purchase from were out so I have not yet had a chance to test them. From the sounds of them, they sound similar, but I do not know. Okinawans thus far are my absolute favorite. Hopefully the ones I am growing this year are truly them. That said, we are moving to a far more raw food diet, so I am still undecided about my sweet potato growing in the future.
Hello My Garden
Mine must be stokes then. They are growing great btw. trying to overtake my whole side yard with vines sending out roots. I just trim them back and eat the leaves. Hopefully they have enough room in my 12gal pots to grow
The more room the better, but I suspect you should get a decent crop of sweet potatoes in 12 gallons. :)
Hi, Was that one plant per pot and how big was pot? Thanks
observer It has been a couple of years now so I may be forgetting, but I believe it was three plants and a 30 gallon pot.
My favorite potato to, it seems hard to growth them.
jennifer wilson Thank you! If you have some warm temps and a long growing season, they aren't hard. They aren't as productive as some of the other sweet potatoes, but worth it 😊
Are these technically yams or sweet potatoes?
They are sweet potatoes :) Many people use the terms interchangeably, but they are sweet potatoes.
tomato, tamato....same sht
Put more plant at least 3 slips in 1 pot
have you started your slips for 2016? i have read that they are slow to break dormancy i am starting mine this week
+billy pchajek No I haven't started yet... the sweet potatoes in this video ended up not being Okinawan Sweet potatoes so I have to wait until I receive the slips I've ordered. I did order from 3 different sources this time, so hopefully between the 3, maybe I'll get them before too late. Good luck with yours - I would like to hear how they grow!
If you were in Canada I could send you some slips. I grow oh Henry and Chinese purple. And an trying so make slips from a Okinawan(140 days) and a couple other Asian varieties. I make my own slips early the ones I order never have time to finish
I will be interested in seeing yours grow. I start my own slips for the Murasaki Japanese and the Stokes purple, but I can't get a non-irradiated Okinawan purple where I am. However, hopefully with 3 different sources, maybe I'll get at least one good Okinawan that I can start my own slips from next year.
can you send me some of that okinawan slips to try growing? I love okinawan sweet potato
+Tuan Nguyen Sorry, I wish I could. They did not end up being Okinawan Sweet potatoes. See my video here ua-cam.com/video/kFPqtW1BXmE/v-deo.html I have ordered from three different places for Spring however, so hopefully I will have better luck this time.
awe...sorry to see it wasn't what you were hoping for but i'm sure it will be great this season. :)
Thank you! :)
All you have to do is harvest Time slips from The Vines you just pulled off save them and roll them next year they'll grow all year inside like a greenhouse house
i tried growing the slip from a potato i order and wasnt successful.
I’ve heard that, and I tried one that way, but couldn’t tell which one it was when I harvested. Even so, production was very low with them. This year I didn’t grow them, next year I may again since I’m not eating as many I really don’t need to worry about production. Thank you for the comment 🙂
why is 3 slips all you can order
I don’t recall now, but I don’t think so. I did the same this Spring. I get plenty of slips from organic Murasaki (Japanese) sweet potatoes from the store. I guess I just don’t want to grow too many, I do not have cool storage for them. I didn’t find them productive enough though to rely on them even though they are my favorite. I guess I’ll find out soon when I harvest this years’. 🙂
Are you a japanese by any chance?
Gigi Cedo Hi ! No I am half Chinese and half Italian by ethnicity.
Hello My Garden my grandpa grows all kinds of fruits and vegetabals
And his backyard is like a farm
sweet potato leaves are edible, we add them to soups
Redeemed Believer Yes! We also throw a few in salads 👍😊
Are the leaves and stems edible?
Michelle Vuong Yes, sweet potato leaves and stems are edible. We do include some of the leaves in our salads, but I think it is more common to cook them (but we usually do not).
Asian markets sell them in the produce ailes. I cut the leaves and saute with olive oil and garlic.
Nice harvest
Do You sell vine Okinawan?
Hi what state are you in?
Crystal Tr I am in North Carolina, Piedmont area (north of the Raleigh/Durham triangle area).
Are you still growing the Okinawan sweet potato?
I planted Korean/Japanese sweet potatoes mid May. Does anybody here know how long before I can harvest? Thank you.
When the vines die, dry, and leaves wither. Maybe 4 - 5 months.
You know you can grow from the vines
Lady Blacketter I didn’t know that! Does that hold true for all sweet potatoes?
You can also eat the leaves like spinach, stir fry, etc. Mines yielded a lot but not as big as those. I brought mine from HI.
You woukd do better groeing the vines as a house ola t for next years crop
Agusta Sister yes I’ve tried one plant in green house that way and one in the house, but becomes too unruly! Probably better with a sweet potato that does not vine. Thank you for the reply and for watching!
, , , :) ~
+Vernal White Thank you!
Could not hear u at first. Good try
Sorry about that!
Nice vid but needs mic. Thanks.
Boring.
boring
Bob Hamilton sorry to disappoint
Beautiful sweet potatoes! I hope that someday I'll grow this variety of sweet potato.
+Вадим Бат Thank you! These ended up not being Okinawan sweet potatoes : ( apparently the seller must have mistakenly sent me the wrong slips. However, I have ordered from three sources already to arrive in Spring, so hopefully the right ones will come this time. I hope you can also get this variety to grow, they are very tasty, healthy, and look good too!
+Hello My Garden And this sweet potato what what color is inside? And looking forward to Your video with the crop of Okinawan sweet potato.
It should have been purple, but it was yellow. See my You tube video, Big Disappointment, that one shows what an Okinawan sweet potato should have looked like inside, and what mine looked like... it was a sad moment.
We recently ordered seeds sweet potato in China. Was sent to Okinawa, Molokai, etc., Instead of seeds sweet potato seeds came to jicama. These are unscrupulous sellers, alas occur.
That is the sad truth! Sorry that you had the same experience.