Pnbrown, Where did you get the slips for the Japanese Purple. I need to plant some of those next year. I have heard of them, but I have never seen them before, in person, online of course. The funny thing about your post is not needing fertilizer. I would agree with you. However, I was in such a hurry this spring to get the hills made, drip tape down, plastic covering it, that I forgot to get fertilizer in the ground. I spoke to a Sweet Potato breeder, in Africa, use to live here in Kansas, he said I would probably be ok without it. I looks like he is right, but I won't forget that next year. Jay

When I lived in SD in the 80's, Murphy Canyon was just outside my back fence, and I planted some Filipino sweet potatoes there on the hillside. They naturalized, and had no problem surviving the "winter"; I did have to irrigate them in Summer, though. They spread gradually, as some of the vines rooted where they touched the ground. I can't say whether the small tubers would get larger; I would dig up every other hill in the Fall, and the surviving hills would fill in the space again. Never had to replant.

Well, I'm struggling to keep up with all the things "I have to get done." But I did dig another two varieties of sweet potatoes this last Saturday. One (Cordner, not to be confused with Cordner's Red) didn't do well at all. Here's a picture: It looks almost as if it was overloaded by nitrogen. But I don't believe I did anything different in the part of the row where Cordner grew. On either side of it were varieties which did exceedingly well. The other, Grand Asia did amazingly well. The roots were mainly very large, and there were A LOT of them. This variety is similar to the native sweet potato we knew when we lived in HIdalgo Mexico, which was called "Camote Morado," translated, "Purple Sweet Potato." I am cooking one of them now in order to say how they taste. Camote Morado was drier than most American cultivars and if not cooked just right, it wasn't very sweet. But when cooked slowly it could be sweet and very delicious. I requested Grand Asia from Duck Creek Farms, last year, because we miss the sweet potatoes we had in Mexico. The largest root of Grand Asia weighed in at 4 lb, and that was from a late planting! Here's a picture of Jerreth holding two clusters (from two plants) of Grand Asia.

Never know until you try. In south Georgia they will often over winter under ground and produce viable sprouts. I would expect to taste like an non cured sweet potato, but I have not tried one.