Your 2025 Garden

[tripletfeb]

Anyone here have experience with sweet potatoes? I have read conflicting instructions online about curing, and storage. I would love someone's personal experience with them. Thanks.

I grew sweets for a few years. To cure, I just set them inside, in a cool location for a few weeks. Worked for me but we ate them pretty quick(about two months) so I can't speak to the long term storage

 

[Sally PB]

I grew sweet potatoes twice. The first year, the vines took over "their" area and way more, so the next year I grew just 3 vines, and they sure spread too.

Since I have a short season, I had to get shorter season varieties, and I don't recall what they were.

Curing... They need a warm, humid spot to cure so that the starches convert to sugar. Warm was supposed to be 80+ degrees and humid was supposed to be 85%+ RH. I don't really have a place like that, so I got inventive. For awhile, I had them spread out on tables in the green house. Since I had to let them grow as long as possible, the green house wasn't warm enough in short order.

Next stop was on the dining room table. I had them in large clear garbage bags, covered with my electric blanket. I monitored the temp with a thermometer to keep it around 80-90 ish.

Some of them got a bit of mold in the bag, but most were ok. I stored them in the basement. We didn't eat that many, and they didn't store that well. Some rotted, some got moldy.

Since the ROI was rather low, I haven't bothered to grow them again.

 

[R2elk]

I grew sweet potatoes twice. The first year, the vines took over "their" area and way more, so the next year I grew just 3 vines, and they sure spread too.

Since I have a short season, I had to get shorter season varieties, and I don't recall what they were.

Curing... They need a warm, humid spot to cure so that the starches convert to sugar. Warm was supposed to be 80+ degrees and humid was supposed to be 85%+ RH. I don't really have a place like that, so I got inventive. For awhile, I had them spread out on tables in the green house. Since I had to let them grow as long as possible, the green house wasn't warm enough in short order.

Next stop was on the dining room table. I had them in large clear garbage bags, covered with my electric blanket. I monitored the temp with a thermometer to keep it around 80-90 ish.

Some of them got a bit of mold in the bag, but most were ok. I stored them in the basement. We didn't eat that many, and they didn't store that well. Some rotted, some got moldy.

Since the ROI was rather low, I haven't bothered to grow them again.

I tried growing some supposedly short season ones, one time. Got some okay vines but no tubers.

Once was enough.

 

[R2elk]

Picking grapes today.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I usually use them for soil conditioning, but I keep some for slips the following year. I have never bothered to cure them as such, just harvested after the first frost and spread them out to dry for a couple weeks. I have close to 100% long term survival. I can't speak to flavor.

 

[jxp]

Picking grapes today.
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