The 2015 Harvest

I had planted out my first Beauregard slips in the first week of May 2015, having assumed the risk of frost had passed. They were planted in open ground on my allotment. 

I was wrong. 

We had a patchy air frost the first week of June which obviously set the plants back a bit. I did think I was going to lose the plants for a time, but thankfully they survived.

At the end of June I planted out my remaining Beauregard slips together with the Evangeline plant from my friend, Jenny. The Murasaki, Bonita and Burgundy slips were planted out in the first week of July that year. They were all quite late going in the ground as Jenny had received them very late. All were planted in open ground on my allotment. 

It was a difficult growing year in 2015, with that late frost setting things back plus it was never particularly warm apart from one short period. So I had a feeling the sweet potato harvest wasn't going to be the best. As late summer turned to early autumn, it was clear the plants were still behind schedule so I covered them with plastic to make a polytunnel of sorts to give them a bit of warmth for longer

I dug the plants up towards the end of October 2015. The harvest wasn't the best, but it wasn't a complete disaster as I had tubers of each variety that could be used to grow slips for the following year. 

So here goes....the 2015 harvest!

Beauregard. The first plants yielded a few decent sized tubers but only about a kilo in total. 

The ones I planted a bit later were all skinny

The remaining plants from Jenny had little chance of success really as they arrived so late from Suttons Seeds.

Evangeline

Bonita

Murasaki 

And finally Burgundy which was a failure 

So what did I learn this year?

For starters sweet potatoes need their long growing season and they need warmth if the summer isn't a scorcher like 2014. So I think going forwards l'll cover them early on. Covering them will also protect them from a rogue late frost!

Joanna