Sweet potato in Tas

18 years ago

Do you think sweet potato would grow in Tassie? We are close to the ocean so don't get very heavy frost. Is anyone growing them here?

Cheers

Linda

Featured Answer

DerbyTas

18 years ago

Yes Linda
A few people do...they just get them from the supermarket and plant them
cheers
Peter

Comments (12)

shepparton
18 years ago
How well do they grow in Tas? Are you growing the kumara variety? Orange skin and orange flesh?

I tried last year in sunny Shepparton. Planted a sprouting tuber in good sandy soil. A rather thin vine grew up to 2 foot but by winter it died and guess what, no potato!
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cosmicgardener
Original Author
18 years ago
I didn't try because I ran out of space, but I now understand that the best way is to use slips from a sprouted tuber and plant them. Haven't tried that either. I don't want Kumara because the GL (Glycemic Loading) is very high in Kumara - more than ordinary spuds - but sweet potato ( the orange kind) is excellent.
Might try some in January when I've got more space.

Cosmic
mfwoodbridge
18 years ago
Cosmic,

I always understood Kumara to be the orange sweet potato. At least in New Zealand and Polynesia where the name comes from. I've never seen white or purple ones labelled Kumara...
Mind you our local fruit shop labels oca "Maori sweet potato", which could hardly be more confusing as they are not from New Zealand (any more than Kiwifruit are), are not related to potatoes, and aren't really that sweet...

Cheers,
Manuel.
cosmicgardener
Original Author
18 years ago
Yes, that was my understanding but I'm now seeing a Kumara (purplish skin white inside) marketed that way. This is similar to the Yam that we ate in Ghana. We also ate Casava root which was excellent but I don;t see it marketed as that. The sweet potato with red/yellowish skin and orange inside is marketed as ' sweet potato'. I suspect it might be a bit like Pawpaw versus Papaya! I tried Kumara (purple skin white inside ) one night and it sent my sugar levels sky high.

According to the International GI and GL tables:
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas, Australia ) has a GI of 44 per 150 g and a GL of 11 which is good.
Sweet potato (Kumara) (New Zealand) no genus given as GI 79 GL 20 which is bad. Yam on the other hand has a GI of 40 and a GL of 13. Cassava has a GI of 46, GL 12 for 100 g. So its very confusing when trying to buy stuff that is the right one. So may are erroneously named. I hope somebody sorts it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to batatas
Meralyn
18 years ago
Does anyone know the G.I of the N.Z. Yam. The ones that are Red, Yellow and Peach in colour, are wrinkled and about the size of a large finger. Maybe someone knows of a G.I. chart that has the N.Z. Yam on it. As I am a diabetic it is quite important to know whether it is High or low G.I. as most of the potato family is high G.I. thank you. P>S. They are very easy to grow hear in the very South of New Zealand, so should do fine in Tasmania.
cosmicgardener
Original Author
18 years ago
According to my source the NZ Yam ( peeled and boiled) yields a GI of 35 +-5. The study was done on two studies and the other one yielded 25+-5 while the Canadian grown Yam yielded 37+-8. The mean of all three yielded 13 GL. The African Yam ( Dyscoria species) is 66 GI and 23 GL. I'm not familiar with the different species.
Linda
Raven_On
18 years ago
I have asked our resident N Z market gardeners and they say that it is too cold here in Tas for kumara.Could be worth an experiment though with a few warmer summers coming up.
I found a sweet potato in the supermarket that had tan coloured skin and purple concentric circles.What a buzz ! Still tickled by the discovery.
anakei_36
18 years ago
In NZ all varieties of sweet potatoes ( ipomoea batatas) are called kumera no matter what the colour. The common and cheaper variety is white with a purple skin and often discolours black when peeled. The more recent and expensive are the red and gold. I wouldn't have thought that Australian kumera would have such a different GI rating as NZ kumera as they are essentially the same plant, though possibly of a different variety. Perhaps its the gowing conditions.
Kumera require a long growing season of at least 150 warm/hot days and warm nights, with the optimal temperature being between 21 -30 C. Does that sound like Tassie? You could just grow the vines for the leaves which are edible as well.

Oca or NZ yams are a different family altogether, oxalis tuberosum. Its not related to the potato in any way.
adsl5766_tsn_cc
15 years ago
Hi, I have been growing sweet potatoes in Tasmania for a couple of years and they have grown well. There is actually around 100 or so different varieties of Kumera grown in the Asian regions. I only grow the golden and red varieties to date. I keep a few kumera from my harvest for my own slips for next season.
wizzer
13 years ago
Hi. I was recently Diagnosed with Diabetes. I am interested in growing sweet Potatoes, But know very little about them. We grow a veg garden & have tried to grow them with sweet potatoes from the supermarket without any results. Can you tell me how to go about getting seed & how to go about growing them. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Gilbert.
greyim
13 years ago
Red skinned/ white flesh sweet potato I have tried unsucessfully so far Devonport... havent found any kumera red/yellow flesh...