remark the word murphy , and most people will assume you are referring to the “ Irish ” spud ( Solanum tuberosum).Aptly key out the Irish Irish potato , it was insert to North America by Irish immigrants . However , it initiate in South America , and was brought to Europe in the former 16th century . It is part of theSolanaceaeor nightshade household .
The sweet potato ( Ipomoeabatatas ) , along with the break of day glory , is in the bindweed orConvolvulaceaefamily . It originated in Central and South America , and was tasted by Columbus and his entourage , who finally took it to Europe in the later 15th hundred , well before the democratic “ Irish ” potato .
The structures of the two types of potato are very different . The sweet-flavored potato is actually arootstructure , meant as a entrepot equipment for sugar and nutrients to be used by the plant when the availability of these are low .
The Irish potato is a genus Tuber , and is an annex of thestemof the plant , not the root . It stores nutrient also , and allow the works to regrow in better condition . The ontogeny of the “ oculus ” is an indication the flora is attempting to regrow .
Confusingly , sweet murphy are often called , and labeled by marketplace , as yams . Yams ( Dioscorea villosa)are very different . They are from the familyDioscoreaceae , which include lilies and some pot . yam originated in Africa , and are , like the Irish white potato , an prolongation of thestem . They can grow to be very enceinte , are very stiff rather than mellisonant , and have tough , bark - like skin . They are often prepare and mashed into a buckram spread .
Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A ( in the form of beta carotin ) , vitamin B6 , vitamin atomic number 6 , K , and fiber . Orange flesh sugared murphy are fertile in beta - carotene , while purplish cherubic Irish potato are richer in anthocyanins . Both are phytochemicals celebrate for their role in human wellness and disease prevention . While their glycemic index and glycemic load is not as high as that of “ Irish ” white potato , you ’ll still want to enjoy clean destiny . This is especially important if diabetes is a worry . you may read more about sweet white potato nutrition fromHarvard University .
develop your own sweet potatoes is relatively loose , and can be extremely rewarding . They can be grow in the land , in raised bed , or in large containers .
The sweet potato is a warm weather condition harvest and will require 85 - 120 days to mature . According to the Virginia Tech Planting Guide , in our industrial plant hardiness geographical zone , 7b ( which the USDA change in November of 2023 ) youcanplant sweet potatoes in mid to late April . Since you will be planting a rather frail “ teddy ” , you ’ll require to protect them if the terror of frost arises . However , since you may harvest as late as October , you may want to waitress a small longer . You could imbed as deep as June , and still have plenty of time for them to grow before harvest time . They develop well in light sandlike stain , but will spring up well in clay grime amended with organic issue . design on become a soil test in your garden at least every three years . you may find out information about soil testing at the end of this article .
If you are ready to grow sweet potatoes , start by working in some honest compost . If you do not have sandlike soil , you ’ll desire to mound the stain where you wait to plant . This will help warm up the soil more quickly , but it will also give the potatoes an easy place to mature , and help to provide good drain . set the graft ( called miscue ) in rows 3 feet asunder with 8 to 12 inch between plants in the row , at a deepness of 3 to 4 inch . Water in transplants , and keep them well hydrated while they establish their stem .
There are many elbow room to obtain slips . ( Slips are basically a rooted stem of the sweet-scented potato plant . ) you may buy them from a reputable rootage , but when you propagate your own , you ’ll recognise exactly what you are getting . There are several shipway to maturate seraphic murphy elusion .
One way is to obtain sweet potatoes from a food market stock . The number will depend on how many plants you want to grow . Some grocery stores bid several varieties , which will allow you to try out with something new . I paint a picture you purchase constituent scented potatoes . A local store that differentiate in organic garden truck had 5 different varieties from which to opt . Pick tater with an obvious top and bottom . The top will be pointy , and the bottom will be flatter . Potatoes can produce more than 30 slips , but plan on 8 - 10 good , healthy mooring from a single potato . To make the slips , wash the Solanum tuberosum and push 4 toothpick in the sides of the potato a little more than halfway down the spud . set the potato in a jar of water . The bottom part of the potato should be well submerged . get it sit in a sunny window . Do n’t be discouraged . It could take a few weeks for them to start pullulate . Some cultivars will sprout more promptly than others . Give them fresh weewee at least once a week . When the sprout come forth , let them remain on the potato until they are a few inches long . Then , carefully vellicate off the stalk , allowing a piffling of the potato to add up off with the stem turn . Place the stem in body of water and let it root . Surprisingly , they will begin to produce roots in a solar day or two . Continue until you have enough root stems ( or slips ) to institute in your prepared distance .
Another manner to disperse your own slips , is to buy those same murphy , but this time , slice the murphy in half lengthwise . Place the spud , abbreviate side down , in a tray filled with soil . Nestle it down firmly in the soil . Be sure to irrigate it as needed . Once the sprouts emerge , follow the directions above to make the slip .
to boot , there is a third method for obtaining slips . I choose this method as it is the gentle . When I reap my unfermented potatoes , I save some of the goodly vines from the angelic potato sort I desire to propagate . I prepare a large flower pot with filth and I plant the relieve vines . Be sure there is a saucer because you will demand to water it every week . Also , as it develop you may contain it jolly by curling the vine back into the sens . About two weeks before I am quick to embed the sweet potato slip , I cut the vine into section . Cut just below the leaf node ( where the leafage emerges from the stem ) and remove that folio from the root . This is where the etymon will emerge . Be certain to leave a leaf at the other end of the stem to help the parapraxis photosynthesize . Place these cuts in water and watch the conjuration ! beginning should seem in just a day or two . While this can be an well-off elbow room to raise slips , it does require caring for the potted plant life from harvest time through some 2 hebdomad before planting fourth dimension . It does take space to keep the pot in the home , but I find it well worth the time and space .
If you choose to start your own slips from purchase tater , you will recover a number of cultivars available . This retiring class , I grew 3 different cultivar . I grew the ever popular Beauregard , which is by far the most pop sweet white potato in the US . It is middling uniform in shape and size , it is resistant to disease , and it ’s credited with saving the honeyed potato diligence . The Beauregard has lustrous orangish flesh , and is sweet and high in wet subject . It bestow itself to a kind of saucer both sweet and savory . However , not much can outwit a roasted Beauregard sweet murphy with butter . I find it a worthful plus to curries , soup , and salads alike . Additionally , the leaves of the sweet potato vines are ordinarily abundant , and completely comestible . Look online for recipe .
Covington and Jewel are equally loved , orange - fleshed sweet Solanum tuberosum cultivar that can replace Beauregard . In fact , there are many cultivar of orange - fleshed sweet potato . you’re able to take about some of themhere .
I also grew the cultivar Garnet . This is an interesting angelic potato with a reddish - purple skin and cryptic red - orange flesh . It is also sweet , but it has an earthy flavor that is more complex than other orange - fleshed sugared white potato . I will be growing Beauregard and Garnet sweet white potato again this class .
The third odoriferous potato cultivar I grow this preceding summertime was a over-embellished variety . There are a number of violet sweet potato varieties . The University of California take note these four varieties :
Stokes — These are violet on the exterior and in spite of appearance . These are wry and not very sweet . I grew this last year , and we did n’t love it . While it ’s high in the antioxidant anthocyanin , I favor to get mine from blueberries .
Okinawan — These are also bed as Hawaiian fresh tater . They are beige on the outside and purple on the interior . Apparently , they are more or less creamier than Stokes . I have not seen this kind in the store where I buy my organic mellifluous potato .
Murasaki – – These are also known as Japanese sweet white potato vine . They are Purple on the outside and creamy white on the interior . I purchase one of these for multiplication . I ’m activated to sample it .
Ube – – Although UC lists this as a variety of sweet potato , they note that it is in actuality , a yam plant . evidently , it ’s brownish on the outside and purple on the interior , and is used in desserts .
Additionally , there are livid sweet potatoes , which are white both in spite of appearance and out . There are several miscellanea or cultivars , however , there is not much lit available regarding white sweet tater . I ’ll be growing some this year , but I do n’t know what variety I chose from the store , as they are not labeled with cultivar or variety .
If you ’d rather bribe solecism , learn with reputable seed companies or organizations for the variety you desire .
Once you have choose your varieties , propagated and plant your slips in your prepared bed , and they have start to produce , what ’s next ?
The sweet potato is a vine , and it can produce a deal of flora affair . You ’ll require to keep these vine from bond to the soil . At every foliage node there is a likely plant . The vine attempt to spring up new plants all along the vines . provide this process will take zip by from the mother flora , result in inferior sweet potatoes . The resolution is to visit your plant at least once a week , and pull the vine from the soil up to the female parent plants . Then , be sure the sweet potato get from the mother plants are well breed by dirt .
Unfortunately , there are often arrangement working against your efforts . There are a few fungous diseases that can affect your plants , but most of the form or cultivars available today are developed to be tolerant to fungal diseases . roundworm , however , are microscopic , thread - same nematode worm that live in some soils . They can cause tooth root knots . which can cause damage to your fresh potatoes . you could read more about itfrom NC State , here .
The biggest adversary I and many other gardeners nerve are voles or other gnawer , and deer . Do n’t worry if you have moles ( they are not rodents ! ) because they deplete grubs and insect . The vole , however , often use the mole tunnels for traveling , and they eat roots ! PMG ’s Nancy Bolton wrote a great article about voles and moles which you could readhere .
If you have deer , the only thing you may do to dissuade them is to erect a good fence . They will eat almost anything you constitute . SeeDeer , Deer , Deer !
If you have been successful in maturate sugared Irish potato , you ’ll postulate to harvest them . you could leave them in the ground until frost imperil . You could reap them after a light frost , but if you choose to save the vines for next yr , Robert Lee Frost will damage the vines .
When moil the sweet potato , be certain to give a wide moorage around the female parent plant with your power shovel . Dig deeply , but cautiously . Brush the soil aside and take away the scented potatoes . If your dirt is rich with constituent subject , it should n’t be too difficult to move most of the soil by hand . pose the sweet spud out and let them dry out a bite . move out large deposits of soil , but do not set about to remove all the land at this stop . The skin are very sore , and you ’ll take chances damage them . I set mine lightly in expectant plant crate with lots of ventilation system , and let them sit down in the shade for a day or two to dry . This will earmark the skins to dry out and toughen up a bit . Then , I brush them softly to get most of the grime off and put them back in the crateful for storage . Do n’t wash off them until you ’re ready to utilise them . Some gardeners lay them on newspaper on the basement floor . They want to be leave in a tender , humid environment for a week or two to heal . Curing allows the starches to convert to natural sugars . This is what puts the “ sweet ” in sweet spud . Read more about heal sweet potatoeshere .
Whatever you decide to grow , have playfulness with it . Learn as you go , and do n’t hesitate to ask for advice . If you discover me , or another vegetable gardener , you ’ll probably find someone who fuck to babble about vegetable horticulture . Try something Modern every year . Most significantly , bask your prison term in the garden and your bounty on the table .
If you are have issue with your plants , you ’ll desire to give in a dirt sample distribution , or if you have questions about gardening , you’re able to call or e-mail the Master Gardener Help Desk , Piedmont Master Gardener Help Desk .
Featured photo : Gena Breakiron
SOURCES :
Soil Testing Information
Piedmont Master Gardener Help Desk
originate Sweet Potatoes - University of Maryland
VA Tech extension Home vegetable planting guide
Information about Yams - Britannica
Clemson Univ- Home and Garden information - scented potato
NC State University Sweet Potato Varieties
University of California Purple Sweet Potatoes
PMG - The Garden SheNC State University – cure Sweet Potatoes .
Penn State - Parasitic Nematodes Explained
white potato vine , Sweet Potatoes and Yams - What ’s the difference ?
Sweet Potato History -LOC
Brief History - Sweet Potato
