Makes sense to me. The Indians might have done it if they had sweet potatoes, but they didn't. Sweet potatoes came later with the slaves from Africa.

My best suggestion to you is make the corn spacing wide enough to ensure the sweet potatoes get enough light. From my experience six feet between hills in both directions would not be too much. Then again, Indians sometimes grew the squash sister separately from the corn and bean sisters.

Jim

Here is my take, and I don't have any proof of this whatsoever. Most of us are growing on very limited spaces. The natives here had lots and lots of room. For growing in limited space I would think you would be more successful growing your corn in one patch, your beans in another and then slip some sweet potatoes in some where else. Beans will climb up a corn stalk, but I have never seen any proof that the yield of either would be enhanced, especially the way we crowd our plants. Corn responds well to nitrogen, but the beans growing right beside it wouldn't provide any nitrogen to it. Believe me, sweet potatoes are fun to grow and given the right conditions will give you a lot of good eating, but I wouldn't rob them of any nutrient or sunlight by growing them under or on corn. They are not a very competitive plant, especially at the early stage of growth.. but, you could try it. You know, have some fun..steve

Steve's reasoning is right on the mark, judging from my experience with a three sisters garden last year. I would follow his advice.

Jim

Agreed.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Agreed.

Sweetpotatoes need a lot of sunshine and warmth.

Thanks everyone. I will make it an experiment. My corn will be in a small row, and I'll ber pollinating by hand if possible. I expect the sweet potatoes to have no problem finding their way out from under the small amount of corn and into the light. If it fails then at least it will have been fun. I'll let you all know how it goes.

I missed this thread, it came and went while I was in a computer-less mode (I guess that's why one is supposed to search before posting).

Wild, we can keep in touch on this and compare notes on progress. I am supposed to get my slips from sand hill. Where are you getting yours? You will be planting a lot earlier than me...

pnbrown and wild forager -

I posted in the other thread, but if you missed it: In Cuba, they are interplanting sweet potatoes and corn. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much information on it. Please post your results! I'm thinking about trying it in the future.

Bellatrix

There is a squash that tastes like a sweet potato.

http://cgi.ebay.com/squash-DELICATA-SWEET-POTATO-SQUASH-35-seeds-GroCo_W0QQitemZ140393568707QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20b01bd9c3

squash, DELICATA, SWEET POTATO SQUASH, 35 seeds! From GroCo

Any squash type of plant, even melons will do for the three sisters, but it's the corn you need to be specific about, you need field corn that makes corn meal flour and I believe hominy too.

Squash is not a substitute for sweet potato, IMO, hence my plan. I've tried all the so-called 'sweet-potato' squashes.

On this website:

http://www.tinkersgardens.com/vegetables/companionplanting.asp

It says corn and potatoes are good companions. I've never tasted the squash sweet potato, but thought you might want to try it.

I had very little luck with my 3 sisters garden, but I used the wrong kind of corn and really didn't know that much about growing it.

A little advice with the corn, don't let it show it's roots. Plant it in a 6 inch furrow, or ditch, then fill it in when the plant reaches 3 and 1/2 feet. You probably know that, but if not that is good advice.

I am going to try growing sweet potatoes this year for the first time, so I've been reading up on them. One thing that most growers seem to agree on is that their soil needs to be loose. They usually plant them in literal hills so when the tubers start to enlarge, they can have enough "elbow room" to push some of the loose, mounded soil aside (not to the point of exposure). If they are confined, they don't make very large tubers.

The U of HI says legume green manures should not follow sweet potatoes in a rotation schedule because the sweet potato inhibits nitrogen-bearing root node formation.

There was a RUMOR that they might grow here in the PNW. *rolls eyes*. I guess if I get my rear in gear, I may find out.

Sue

Sue, go to the sand hill preservation website. Glen Drowns has posted an in depth explanation of growing sweet potatoes in higher latitudes and elevations. It's all about "heat units" Unfortunately for you, the PNW is probably one of the least promising regions in north america, but you could do it with black plastic or fabric on the ground and a plastic tent as for early tomato production.

You will often see the hybrid variety 'beauregard' touted as the best for cool climates. My local CSA grew them last summer and they were pretty terrible.

Thanks for the tips! Black plastic, huh? Then you don't think the propane torch would be all that great? ;-)

I ran across a sealed bag of a clear but perforated plastic sheeting designed to make a poly tunnel with (melons are tricky here, too), and thought I might try that. But maybe black plastic over mounded soil, and the clear plastic over that... and heated inside with a blow torch...

Sue

Anyway, getting back to the OP, I agree that the corn spacing will need to be large for this idea. Maybe six feet between hills of three corn plants. Here the corn gets planted late may, the beans about a fortnight later, and I will set out the sweet potato slips in the centers in late june. As the corn leaves start to dry down in august perhaps the sweets will be thriving just right to fill in the gaps.