This may be the wrong spot for this question, but anyone have any advice on how to cure sweet potatoes. I know the requirements, but nowhere in my house is 85 degrees with high humidity. I currently have them in plastic bags on a sunny windowsill, but it gets into the low seventies at night.
I have, in the past build a tent around my hot water heater and put them in there, but with kids in the house its not worth the risk now.
From what I understand, cooler temps can work, they just take longer. I’ve used my car, and put them in a tote with a seedling heat mat. Both seemed to work.
I have only kept it in the fridge for a week without wash. It only last 2-3 days after washing. I 'll give it a try this season to see if the natural enzyme will break down some of the inulin, prebiotics that your gut bacteria loves. Actually, that stuff is healthy, supposed to reduce fat surrounding organs from a BBC documentary I saw. One way to combat too much of inulin is ginger. Eat some ginger with the sunchoke relieves some of the bloating.
Like a mild chrysanthemum, easy and refreshing. It is pretty and yellow. The roots, sunchoke actually carry the same unique scent. After you finished brewing tea with the flowers, you can put it in compost to get the nutrients back.
I am not certain what nutrients it carries but it tastes good.
Sunchoke bears a lot of flowers. I plucked most of them until it was late in the season when there was no more flowers around but the bees still working.
What was the curing requirement that worked for you? I am planning to do this in the fall.
I tried putting them in a paperbag in the boiler closet which is typically 75-85F for a week. They all sprouted. I tested a second batch, different varietal, different duration and they also sprouted. (85F, high humidity for 7-10 days)
It may be too hot to put it in a tote in the car, especially for 7-10 days. How long did you put it in there?
I read somewhere people put them in a well ventilated place in the shade, out of summer sun. I am going to harvest mine in the fall so it may not be that hot by then.
In the car, just a few days cause it got as hot as 90. They were in a plastic bucket with a lid.
I can’t remember where I read it but there is a test to tell if they have cured enough, part of which is scratching the SP. When it no longer scratches easily it’s done. There is also an article floating out there that tells the time needed at various temperatures. The hotter the less time. Sorry to not give you the references, it’s been a long time.
Mine did always sprout by spring, as long as the sprouts were little, they were still fine, just a signal to eat faster!
Thanks, I 'll give it a try next time. I think the min. time is 7-10 days at 85F, high humidity. I am thinking may be dropping the humidity a bit to avoid sprouting but that may dry up the buds.
Has anyone tried saving the tiny potatoes which are a bit small to use for eating? I planted them this year and the productivity was pretty underwhelming.
This past weekend, I dug a couple potato beds which were near each other in the back yard.
Yellow Haze- planted from seeds from the Maine Potato Lady. 7+ lbs total in a 8x1’ bed (really half of a 8x2’ bed…), or 0.9lbs/sq ft. I think there was a bit of another potato near the end of the bed which pushed the yield/area down, or it could have been a pound per square foot.
Various leftovers from last year- a 11x4’ bed. 4 lbs, which equates to under 0.1 lbs per sq ft. But, it gets worse, as 8 sq ft were planted with larger purple potatoes, while the rest was much smaller (and in some cases tiny) potatoes. The part planted with the large purples was responsible for more than 70% of the total yield (in 18% of the area). That equates to just under 0.4 lbs/sq ft, leaving the small potatoes to yield 0.035 lbs/sq ft. That’s about 1/25 as productive (per area) as the purchased seed potatoes.
Now, one thing to mention is that the bed where I planted the leftovers in was newly dug, with sand, pine bark, turface, egg shells, etc all mixed in with the natural dirt, while the Yellow Haze was in an established bed that I’ve grown potatoes in for 4-5 years. But, that still leaves the relatively large purple potatoes out yielding the smaller seeds by a factor of more than 10 to 1.
The Yellow Haze also got mulched with straw, while I only added a bit to the leftover bed, as the growth was so slow/small that I was afraid to smother them.
Obviously, I don’t want to get that kind of a yield again (0.5 oz/sq ft vs 1 lb/sq ft). But, I am wondering if I can get some use out of the tiny potatoes. My current plan is to fall plant them, giving them the entire winter to start to root. Then, they can get an early start in the spring.
Nice looking spudletts! When I grew potatoes from seed the first few years the tubers were usually small to tiny but the size and yield would get larger each year, but I would plant the best tubers of the lot. But I think generally very small tubers will produce small yields. And, of course, varieties vary a lot. I do good planting about egg size seed, chosen from the best hills. The lesser sized go into a bucket in the root cellar just in case I run out of regulars by spring. Usually they end in the compost pile. But when you feel like taking the time cleaning them they’re real nice in bakes and soups. Cute, too! And canned, too, but that takes a LOT of patience cleaning.
I wonder if you could plant a handfull in a Hill? The yield from each may not be much but together might be decent without taking up much space.
Boil them up and feed to the chickens. If you don’t have chickens, I don’t know. If you had the patience to scrub them, they would probably be nice roasted.
