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Post by reed on Oct 19, 2017 21:16:07 GMT -5
hm reed , just saw your comment. Do the secondary roots really take away from the main ones? Seems like they would aid in making the plants drought and insect resistant...is there any research on this? I can't say from my own experience. I'v recently done a lot of reading about sweet potatoes, mostly related to breeding but in the process came across that bit of info more than once. Would be an interesting and fairly easy experiment to find out.
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Post by mskrieger on Oct 20, 2017 12:02:43 GMT -5
Yet another research experiment for yonder season. Hm
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Post by paquebot on Oct 23, 2017 19:13:16 GMT -5
MsK, sweet potatoes have been well-researched. Reed is close to right. One thing that some commercial growers have done is flip the rows. That is, they go along one side and flip the vines over to the other side. That prevents any vines from taking root. After a few weeks, everything from the other side is flipped back.
Martin
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Post by mskrieger on Oct 25, 2017 12:54:42 GMT -5
Thank you, paquebot. Do you know if that research was done in irrigated fields, or dry?
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Post by paquebot on Oct 25, 2017 18:56:09 GMT -5
Thank you, paquebot. Do you know if that research was done in irrigated fields, or dry? That's not any research but facts which resulted from growing sweet potatoes for hundreds of years. That would have been long before irrigation and would apply to the species as a whole.. Martin
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Dec 6, 2017 2:11:52 GMT -5
so is this growing of sweet potatoes in pots a worthwhile method?
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Post by paquebot on Dec 6, 2017 2:34:19 GMT -5
so is this growing of sweet potatoes in pots a worthwhile method? I doubt if anyone can say yes or no since there are so many variables. If I say 18" minimum, someone will ask why not 17". OK, fine with 17". Then if 17" is OK, how about 16"? NO! Why not? And the game continues. Go to your local produce store. Look at the sweet potato tubers. There may be some as long as 10". That area in which they were formed could well have been pure sand, sawdust, or even metal shavings. Doesn't matter to the plant as the roots were all below that. Below the tuber is where there must be enough nutrients to have produced that tuber. It ain't going to be done in a couple inches. What more can I say? Martin
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Post by reed on Dec 6, 2017 5:06:51 GMT -5
Like a lot of things the exact science of it remains to be determined but yes it is worthwhile. I don't know an ideal size or an ideal variety to match it with but I do know the containers can be smaller, much smaller, than I thought at first. I also haven't done any trials to compare yield of the same variety grown both ways so lot of work still to be done.
This year I had plants in very small, three to five gallon pots that produced good sized roots but they need to be on the ground or on top of the soil in a much bigger container like mine were this year. Then the feeder roots can grow out the drain holes and on into the ground while the nice storage roots are in the pot so don't move the pots once the plants are established. Also if the pots have side drainage holes bury them to prevent having to water too much.
I saw a couple in smaller pots where a longer root made a right angle when it it hit the bottom of the pot so guess I'd say around ten gallons would be a good minimum size for the container but much smaller also works.
I think I had one in about 40 or so where additional storage roots grew off the feeder roots in the ground under the pot. They and the others on that plant were puny but fortunately it also bloomed very little so the trait didn't get carried on in my seeds.
[add] I just thought, maybe you are talking about having them completely contained, as in the feeder roots have no access to the ground. If that's the case I guess you might need larger pots and or take special care to ensure your growing soil has all the right nutrient content. There are several videos about it on YouTube.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 8, 2017 22:22:03 GMT -5
Growing something in a pot with bottom openings to allow roots to get out is not exactly container growing. Instead, it's just another form of a raised bed. If the roots can get out to find nutrients and water, it can be a 6" pot full of only sand. My 18" suggestion is assuming that the container is all there is and may be sitting on cement. That depth cam hold enough soil for sufficient nutrients and water. I grow carrots in 15" to 18" inch deep pots and grow some varieties which may get a foot long. However, the pots are set into the ground several inches and the drain holes allow the roots to get down into the soil below.
Martin
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Post by reed on Dec 9, 2017 5:42:56 GMT -5
I never thought of that, growing that way they're just in little raised beds. My big pots are cattle feed tubs and 55 gallon drums cut in half. Those may be big enough but even at that size the roots still exit the drain holes into the ground if it's available.
It sure makes harvest easy though, just dump them out. It lets you examine the entire plant intact so you can see if the roots develop close to the base or if they want to wander.
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Post by paquebot on Dec 10, 2017 14:45:56 GMT -5
Sweet potato roots have been recorded from 15' to 17'. Good reason why they can produce well in dry areas. Here, I start with at least 8" mounded row. The mound not created until soil has been tilled and amended to 8". That's where the plants are going to be looking for nutrients. The mound portion is whatever can be scraped from both sides. Doesn't need to have any nutrients since there will never be any feeder roots there. Twice I have also planted them in a 3' wide wire compost ring about 18" deep. It's over good soil already so I can imagine the roots having lots of fun. No need to dig the tubers as they nicely just lift from the material.
Martin
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Post by reed on Jan 12, 2018 9:57:14 GMT -5
paquebot , the power company sent workers back out to completely clear the lines, not just trim, they took out everything within 20'. They also had a new grinder machine that produced a much finer product, it is little bigger than sawdust. They gave me a mountain of it. It's still real fresh but ground so fine it will be decomposing soon. Do you think it, mixed say 50/50 with soil would make good sweet potato mounds?
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Post by paquebot on Jan 15, 2018 23:43:10 GMT -5
Reed, I saw one of those a couple years ago and would love to see it used on Christmas trees. Instant compost except that a big pile of that might ignite. I envy you as I have to make it. I run pine boughs through a mulching mower at least 3 times to get it down to that. Yes, that 50/50 mix would be suitable for not only sweet potato mounded rows but also for regular potatoes. Being small like that, it will quickly break down to humus which won't compact. Winning situation for both types of potatoes.
Martin
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Post by reed on Jan 16, 2018 12:27:57 GMT -5
It is an amazing machine, limbs plenty big enough for firewood are reduced to fine shavings. I think it's ok for now as cold as it is but I'm gonna have to get it used up or at lease spread out before spontaneous combustion reduces my mountain to an ash hill. I should probably start hauling it into the garden while the ground is still frozen. That way I can use the truck instead of the hand cart.
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Post by paquebot on Jan 16, 2018 21:29:17 GMT -5
Should not combust unless there was a lot of green in it. Only time that I saw it was with ground up Christmas trees. Went by the pile in the morning and the steam wasn't quite the right color. Came back in the afternoon and small smoking piles were spread out to cool. That pile was probably 25' high when it ignited.
Martin
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