Post by macmex on Aug 12, 2021 19:19:06 GMT
Mid summer is a hard time for a sweet potato forum. Planting is finished and harvesting has yet to begin. I can harvest some leaves and tender shoots as a potherb to go with meals, but other than that, there is not much to see. And yet a lot is going on under those bushy plants and it's easy to neglect them right now, when in fact, there are good reasons to be diligent in watering.
Sweet Potatoes are "Drought Resistant," but require moisture to produce.
Sweet potatoes are extremely heat tolerant. Maybe "tolerant" isn't quite the right word because they don't just tolerate heat, they LOVE it. Here in Oklahoma, mid July through mid to late August are our hottest months. Some years we've had over 100 degrees F. for 40 days or more. During this time it is normal to receive almost no precipitation at all, to the point that many trees will actually start dropping their leaves due to stress. Sweet potatoes handle this kind of heat extremely well. In fact, I'm pretty sure they put on the lion's share of their crop during this time, provided they receive... WATER!
Without water they won't die. They may not even wilt, but instead of putting on a hefty root crop the sweet potato plants hunker down to weather the drought. Their roots will put on very little weight and their skins will thicken to conserve the moisture they contain. This is just an guestimate, but I'd say, in our climate, irrigation DOUBLES the harvest.
It's important to learn ones own climate, conditions and adapt.
In our climate and with our soil conditions, even under plastic mulch, if there is no irrigation, the soil will become super parched, powdery dry and hard as rock. Up north many use plastic mulch and opt out of drip irrigation. There, they still achieve good crops, but this is because of having more moderate temperatures and more abundant rain. In Oklahoma (any part of it that I know of) one simply must irrigate.
This is a picture I took of a Brinkley White sweet potato, at harvest last year. For some reason this entire variety missed out on irrigation, right at a strategic time in its production cycle. Almost every root looked like this. They had grown, stopped growing, hardened and then suddenly got hit with renewed moisture coupled with warmth for growing larger roots. The roots almost literally exploded in place, healing like you see in the photo. While still usable, they were difficult to prepare. The skins were tough and it was hard to get them out of their skins. I've never before had this problem to such a degree and am puzzled about why it hit this one variety and not those on either side of it, in the row.
If you grow sweet potatoes in a HOT climate, count your blessings. Heat is probably the #1 factor needed for truly large yields of sweet potatoes. The next factor, though, is water. So while it's hot, remember to water very regularly.
In a really hot climate water regularly, irregardless of precipitation.
During the growing season I SOAK my sweet potato rows once a week. I use T tape (drip tape) under plastic mulch, but any way one choses to water should work. When we lived in the desert, in the 90s, we used flood irrigation. Every two weeks I inundated our garden under at least an inch of water. This worked great.
In Oklahoma, growing under plastic and under such a very hot summer sun, I don't care if we get 4" of water the day before I schedule to water. I go ahead and water because I've found, under our conditions, the water just doesn't adequately find its way under that plastic mulch unless I pump it in there.
Short waterings don't "do it" with drip tape.
For several years I used to run the irrigation on my drip tape for say, two hours, watching the leaves and vines of my sweet potatoes perk up, before shutting it off. But at harvest time I discovered that the water hadn't adequately soaked the far end of the rows. The far end of each row always had a paltry, shriveled little crop of roots. So now, I put that irrigation on once a week and that, for at least 8 hours before turning it off. This has given great results.
Sweet Potatoes are "Drought Resistant," but require moisture to produce.
Sweet potatoes are extremely heat tolerant. Maybe "tolerant" isn't quite the right word because they don't just tolerate heat, they LOVE it. Here in Oklahoma, mid July through mid to late August are our hottest months. Some years we've had over 100 degrees F. for 40 days or more. During this time it is normal to receive almost no precipitation at all, to the point that many trees will actually start dropping their leaves due to stress. Sweet potatoes handle this kind of heat extremely well. In fact, I'm pretty sure they put on the lion's share of their crop during this time, provided they receive... WATER!
Without water they won't die. They may not even wilt, but instead of putting on a hefty root crop the sweet potato plants hunker down to weather the drought. Their roots will put on very little weight and their skins will thicken to conserve the moisture they contain. This is just an guestimate, but I'd say, in our climate, irrigation DOUBLES the harvest.
It's important to learn ones own climate, conditions and adapt.
In our climate and with our soil conditions, even under plastic mulch, if there is no irrigation, the soil will become super parched, powdery dry and hard as rock. Up north many use plastic mulch and opt out of drip irrigation. There, they still achieve good crops, but this is because of having more moderate temperatures and more abundant rain. In Oklahoma (any part of it that I know of) one simply must irrigate.
This is a picture I took of a Brinkley White sweet potato, at harvest last year. For some reason this entire variety missed out on irrigation, right at a strategic time in its production cycle. Almost every root looked like this. They had grown, stopped growing, hardened and then suddenly got hit with renewed moisture coupled with warmth for growing larger roots. The roots almost literally exploded in place, healing like you see in the photo. While still usable, they were difficult to prepare. The skins were tough and it was hard to get them out of their skins. I've never before had this problem to such a degree and am puzzled about why it hit this one variety and not those on either side of it, in the row.
If you grow sweet potatoes in a HOT climate, count your blessings. Heat is probably the #1 factor needed for truly large yields of sweet potatoes. The next factor, though, is water. So while it's hot, remember to water very regularly.
In a really hot climate water regularly, irregardless of precipitation.
During the growing season I SOAK my sweet potato rows once a week. I use T tape (drip tape) under plastic mulch, but any way one choses to water should work. When we lived in the desert, in the 90s, we used flood irrigation. Every two weeks I inundated our garden under at least an inch of water. This worked great.
In Oklahoma, growing under plastic and under such a very hot summer sun, I don't care if we get 4" of water the day before I schedule to water. I go ahead and water because I've found, under our conditions, the water just doesn't adequately find its way under that plastic mulch unless I pump it in there.
Short waterings don't "do it" with drip tape.
For several years I used to run the irrigation on my drip tape for say, two hours, watching the leaves and vines of my sweet potatoes perk up, before shutting it off. But at harvest time I discovered that the water hadn't adequately soaked the far end of the rows. The far end of each row always had a paltry, shriveled little crop of roots. So now, I put that irrigation on once a week and that, for at least 8 hours before turning it off. This has given great results.