Yams or Sweet Potatoes

Sweetpotatoes (all one word) is the correct name of the variety of orange fleshed tuber that most of us love for cooking. We call them yams, but apparently that's a derivation of a misnomer.

And did you know that the time to start thinking about sweet potatoes is in January? I certainly did not know this; but I hasten to add, as a novice veggie grower, I find it pretty fascinating.
If you want to grow these orange-fleshed tubers, you'll want to find or grow sweetpotato "slips" from sweetpotato varieties that grow well in Canada with our shorter growing season. You need "short season" sweetpotatoes.
Scroll down and see below for ordering good slips from NB, or for more links to info. on the Canadaian suited short-season sweetpotato varieties we need this far north. Although fun to watch in a glass, apparently store bought yams are the wrong variety for our climate, and are typically treated to reduce sprouting.

Yams in pots on your patio?
What a great idea!
One of the topics that got me interested in reading "The big black binder" of Digs veggie clippings was to follow up on questions about sweetpotatoes. So I took some notes from an article originally from B.C. Gardener Magazine (2001 by Linda Gilkeson) on growing Sweetpotatoes in B.C.. Seems like we could grow them in pots on sunny patios, and enjoy them SO easily at home. I'm going to give it a try if I can get some organge-fleshed sweetpotato slips together. Meanwhile, here are some highlights of the article: fabulouso!

1. Grow slips in the first week of February. You can make your own slips from untreated organic varieties, or order slips in January (see below). To grow slips in future years from harvested and stored crops, plant the sweetpotato on its side in moist peat with 1/3rd exposed. After 5-6 weeks on top of a warm spot like a water heater, you'll see dark reddish shoots at one end. Move it to a sunny spot, perhaps a south facing window.

2. In mid-April, gently dislodge slips from the tuber and plant them in four inch pots. Place back in the sunny window.

3. Mid-June plant one plant per 3 to 5 gallon black plastic pots in a misture of compost, well-rotted manure, peat moss and soil. Plant five inches deep. Add bone meal and wood ashes (sweetpotatoes love potassium and low nitrogen) and be sure and screen garden soil to get rid of wire worms before adding. Dress with a thick layer of mulch to retain moisture.

4. Place pots in the hottest part of the garden, against a rock wall, or on stone patio which can reflect heat. Each plant will grow to become a thick vine with dark green leaves.

5. In the last week of September, turn over the pot and harvest several large, and many small sweetpotatoes. The small do not keep as well, so eat them first.

6. To cure the sweetpotato for storage, spread to dry in sun for a few hours and then bring inside to cure for 10-14 days. keep in a dry, cool, but not cold, storage area, and use throughout the winter.

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More info:
This book by Ken Allan is apparently very worth having for Canadians who love sweetpotato home growing:

The book and the organic slips for February planting in Canada can be ordered from:
Mapple Farm
Email: wingate@nbnet.nb.ca
129 Beech Hill Rd
Weldon, New Brunswick E4H 4N5 (Canada)
Phone: (506) 734-3361

Information on slip source - Mapple Farm:

A grower of unusual but useful certified organic (OCIA) planting stock: Short-Season Sweet Potato Slips, a select list of 7 Distinctive Tomatoes, Jerusalem Artichokes, Chinese Artichokes, Egyptian Onions, French Shallots, Horseradish, Snow Pea Shoots and more. Paper Catalog Cost: Free in Canada.
Also sells SweetPotato handbook (recommended) by Ken Allan

More questions about sweetpotatoes?

Where did "Yam" come from when referring to Sweet Potatoes?
What family do sweetpotato types belong to?
Good recipes for this veg?

Growing Sweetpotatoes in Canada

Specific Canada growing sweetpotato information

Basics of raised bed Sweetpotato growing

This research thing is fun!

And do please click on COMMENTS below, if you have any stories, tips, tricks or recipes for this favourite veggie! I Yam what I Yam, but so are you!

:>)
Best
Jen