Sweet potatoes are a vining plant that spreads over an area about 7 feet wide. They are normally planted in-ground with spacing of about a foot between plants. They can easily be grown in a container by sticking a growing sprout into the soil and adding some water. They do NOT grow like potatoes which are in the solanum family. Here is a picture of a row of Okinawan purple sweet potatoes growing.
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You are so kind, and I really appreciate the offer!!! But I think those are regular purple sweet potatoes or yams. They look too smooth to be ube. Ube is more rough and bumpy looking.
Thank you, again, though! I truly appreciate your going out of your way to check for me!
The yellow skin purple yams are excellent plain boiled with a firm texture similar to certain squash or chestnuts.
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For reference:
Got it in a trade from a person who got it at that market, and he referred to it as the market did. Iâm not too disappointed, my main focus was bulbil-bearers (which it is), and I do have the other one. Both types are brown outside, with different shades of purple under-skin. The inner pulp is white on my so-called Ube, which probably means itâs not really an Ube, or maybe itâs a low-quality one.
DNSV is not particularly glutinous. Mushy perhaps, though not as watery as some alatas Iâve had. Nutty perhaps⌠Vanilla-y? Hmm⌠maybe if my tastebuds squint? 
I usually eat all my yams mashed and buttered, so some subtleties might be missed except at first taste (and itâs been a long while since I had that first unseasoned taste). I think it would work in desserts, but despite the internal color, I doubt itâs synonymous with the true Ube.
My yams usually start sprouting between March and May, and harvest time ranges between October (at the absolute earliest, usually itâs December) and February. Theyâre harvested once the vines die back, though they can be harvested from a green vine if need be.
Sometimes (particularly if using a cut âseed pieceâ off a tuber) the planted yam will sprout not long after planting. Often, though, itâll just sit there in the soil, lying dormant until itâs good and ready to sprout. If you can get it to sprout in December, then that seems like a reasonable time frame to produce it. Bear in mind, the longer the season, the better the chances of it developing rich pigmentation. An early harvest might lead to a pale yam.
*Edit: Forgot to mention regarding the photos, the so-called Florida Ube is the reddish-skinned pale-pulped one on the left side of the clothes dryer; DNSV is the deep purple one on the right. And in the photo of the plate with an avocado in the background, thatâs mashed DNSV on the plate, with mashed white alata and a touch of mashed YautĂa in the right corner.
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ic, at a different store I once found 3 different purple sweet potatoes. They all tasted good to me.
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Iâve never bought plants off of ebay before, but I found this listing for ube plants:
Live Purple Yam Plant | 12" - 16" Vine | Dioscorea alata | Khoai Mo | Organic | eBay
What do you think? Does it seem legit? Who knows if it is ârealâ ube or not, but the picture of the root looks right at least. Does the vine look right? Would a 12"-16" plant grow harvestable tubers before November or so (when we usually have first frost here)?
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Looks legit! I got my DNSV from eBay. Itâs a great source, but you gotta develop a good eye for the real deal vs scams, and botanical names will get you further. I try not to buy from sellers with less than 98% rating, although I do look at the supposed reviews to see if itâs warranted.
From here to November youâll probably get harvestable tubers, but between growing it in a pot and the likely need to prune back that first growth (as I had to do with my DNSV, which was mailed as a vine), setting back the growth, you may end up with pale / mostly white tubers. Donât let that trouble you; my DNSV produced white the first year, deep purple afterwards.
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Thanks so much! Fingers crossed I get something good!
Purple Sweet potato taste test. I steamed both on a low-medium
On the left it purple skinned purple fleshed. Tastes like a delicious sweet potato. Has the starchy sweet potato foundation and the flavor I can only call purple.
On the right white skin with purple core fading to white. Taste like candy. No starchy undertones at all.
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Nice!
Iâm planning to get some ârealâ ube off ebay (weâll see how it goes). But Iâll definitely try some of the other purple sweet potatoes the next time I go by the H-mart! Even if theyâre not the same, they still sound really good.
when you say the white/purple one isnât starchy, do you mean itâs sort of like jicama? (meaning, sort of crisp and sweet, and not fluffy like a normal starchy potato)
No, uhm,
The purple skinned purple/purple the best I can describe tastes a little like Taro, it has a little starchy flavor like a white potato or sweet potato thatâs been boiled and not steamed or baked.
The white/purple is a lot smother not crunchy at all. You would think it was potato paste if you didnt see the skin still on it.
If I was making a desert I little sugar could help the purple/purple get from sweet root to confection but adding sugar to the white/purple would be like adding sugar to sugar.
I live in Wisconsin and have had no trouble whatsoever growing ube. Yes, it dies back because of our winters here (brutal). But if you lift the bulb or grow them in 5 gallon buckets, you can overwinter them in your garage or basement and put them back out there to grow. I grew them from bulbils one year and by the end of the season, they were eight times the size (the bulbils were the size of a babyâs fist, btw.)
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@T-Flor : Would you have any interest in sending me some bulbils for trade or postage?
If I grew some in a big pot, could I harvest the bigger roots to eat, and leave the smaller roots in the pot over winter in a garage or basement to grow for the next season? Or would I harvest all the roots and grow from bulbils every year?
Thanks for any advice!
Hi:
A good source on Etsy is PURPLEGARDENbyEvaine. She is pinay and Iâve never had any problems.
If you grow in a large pot, youâll harvest bigger roots. They need room to grow and a sunny spot in your yard where the vines can be trellised or can grow up some trees or a fence. I am in 5B where winters are brutal, but summers are very warm and humid and thatâs when they thrive. Iâve dug out some nice size ube (about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide) in just one season and some smaller 4-inch tubers, which is about average. Iâve never gotten to the point where I got bulbils big enough to plant, however, but I started with bulbils and/or tubers that were given to me by friends on the West Coast where Iâm originally from.
Overwinter them in the garage or in the basement and cover with a burlap or rice sack and make sure critters, like mice, or other basement bugs canât get to them. You wonât necessarily need to water them because youâre trying to mimic a dormancy period, so youâll want your overwintering spot to stay cool and dark. They might start sprouting again, but I just cut them back if they do. Eventually youâll want them to sprout and stay sprouted because if you live in a place where spring doesnât really start going until mid May, at least youâll have a head start.
If you can keep them growing for at least 6 months, youâll have a decent harvest the first season. They will be bigger the next season if you overwinter. Personally, I donât want mammoth-sized ube (lol) nor do I grow them that big, but Iâve seen some as big as watermelons from other growers.
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You likely got dioscorea alata, just the white kind. They come in different colors. If you got it from someone who isnât experienced in what we Filipinos call ube (which should be purple), they didnât know that what they were giving you wasnât the traditional Filipino ube (purple). Usually, you can tell what the resulting yam (ube is a true yam and not a sweet potato, which are often called yams in the U.S.) is from the bulbil. If the bulbil is purple or mostly purple it will yield a purple ube.
Hello! I just joined and came across your [old-ish] post - I just bought [hopefully the real deal] ube from an online vendor - Ouriquesfarm [.com]
Maybe take a look and see what you think? Iâd be curious to see if you think itâs the real thing!
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Welcome to the forum, you dont have to mask links here.
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Ordered ube bulbils from etsy. Gonna be wyuld.