Harvesting Sweet Potatoes

Time to find out what is under these big piles of leaves.  I planted these May 9th from my own slips.  They are in 25 gallon grow bags filled with fresh Moisture Control Miracle Gro Potting Mix and amended with Bone Meal and Garden Tone.   There were five slips in each bag.  I topped them with shredded leaf mulch and watered them Every Day.  Every Darn Day.  Even the rainy days.  Because sweet potatoes are tropical and they like a lot of water.  I know the approximate flow rate from my garden hose and I count seconds to meter the water.  These containers got a minimum of two gallons a day when they were fully leafed out.  On some of the hotter days the bag with the thicker foliage would begin to wilt and got extra water.

Despite being planted up identically, and receiving identical care, one bag produced about four times as much as the other.  I guess I will have to start actually measuring fertilizer and bone meal?  Because that would be the only variant, the amount that got poured on.

We dumped the smaller bag first and it was a bit of a bust.  I got five good tubers and a few little scraps.  When we dumped the next bag I was expecting more just because of the size of the foliage, but the difference was amazing!  I did not weigh them, but I know that my hod holds about twenty pounds when full.  We got about thirty to thirty five pounds of good sized, storable tubers.

...and a frog.  Who will have to find a new home.

Here they are all laid out as I sorted them.

I culled anything small or broken.

Now the tubers have to cure for a week or two to convert all of the starches into sugars.  This improves the taste and storage life.  They need to be in 85F degree heat and high humidity.  To do this I use a thermostat controlled heat mat and a jar of water.

This year my harvest did not fit in one Sterlite container.  I had to use two.

This morning we awoke to a good frost.  It was 37F in the garden, but the roofs were coated in frost and some plants got touched.

The Dahlias are OK for now.

But the Coleus are not.  I will be going outside to trim some things now.

The Coleus under the shade tree were protected and look better.  If they still look good now when I go out I am going to take some cuttings and put them under a grow light and see if I can create a few plants even if I have to take cuttings off of those in the spring.  Its worth a try.

We are going to be another frost tonight, and then next week is going to be cold and rainy. That will end the dahlias and digging and storing them will be the final gardening chore of the year.