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Post by macmex on Aug 1, 2022 13:57:38 GMT
I didn't keep track of lineage on them, but here's a photo of the leaves of one of this year's seedlings. All of the seedlings seem to be pretty vigorous, with the exception of the one reddish colored Kaukura cross. That plant seems pretty restrained in its growth.
This one is much more vigorous.
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Post by macmex on Aug 3, 2022 13:02:16 GMT
I need to get a good picture of the actual leaves of this maroon cross sweet potato. The vine is not at all rampant. Last night I was weeding between rows and when I cleaned out some grass I was struck by the deep wine color of the stems of this plant.
Some of the leaves are maroon and some are green. Not sure what to think of it at this point.
A couple days ago I cooked and ate a Kaukura Sweet root (parent of this cross) from last year. It was just "okay." As a food plant I wouldn't rate it very highly. Hopefully this cross is better.
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Post by macmex on Aug 10, 2022 14:24:14 GMT
Here's a photo of the Kaukura Cross foliage. It's really tangled up in the limbs of adjacent plants, so it's difficult to get a good "global picture" of the entire plant. I believe older leaves are probably more green than red.
I'll be especially interested in the eating quality of its roots.
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Post by macmex on Oct 17, 2022 14:57:49 GMT
Notes on this cross as of October 15, 2022:
First of all, though derived from Kaukura Sweet, this one is not at all like that variety. It's very obviously a cross.
The leaves have a maroon tint to them on top, but are more green than red (see earlier photos).
The underside of the leaves, on the other hand, are brilliantly maroon in color!
I'm calling the cross "KaukuraX" for now. KaukuraX had a much more restrained growing habit than Kaukura Sweet. Overall, I'd say the plants only spread about 3' from their base. The vines were petite and easily overwhelmed by neighboring plants of other varieties.
I did not observe any flowers on KaukuraX.
The plant was so small that I wondered what kind of production it would have. Well, for its size, it did alright!
The roots were all closely bunched and well attached to the main stem of the plant. It was easy to dig and pull the whole bunch, just like a bunch of bananas, from the soil. The roots have bright red skin and white flesh. It will be interesting to see what their eating and keeping quality is like.
If the roots have good eating and storage quality, I will start some slips in the spring and grow at least 6 plants, all together, so they don't have to compete with rampant growing varieties. I could see this one being pretty nice for smaller gardens and containers.
As an ornamental I would rate it as just "okay." Ideally, I'd want the brilliant maroon on top of the leaf instead of underneath.
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Post by macmex on Oct 18, 2022 15:02:52 GMT
Here's a photo of the roots of another 2022 growout from seed. I have dubbed this one #1Experimental2022, as I can foresee having some confusion unless I come up with a naming system with the year in it.
This one almost certainly came from seed which June sent me. It appears to have thin red skin and white flesh. Leaves were heart shaped. Production was pretty good. I must wait about two months before trying a root, to test for flavor and texture. It is also of interest to me to know how well this one will keep. I'm not interested in preserving anything that doesn't taste good AND keep well. At this point, I'm hopeful with this one.
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Post by macmex on Oct 18, 2022 16:16:19 GMT
This is a picture of another seedling. I'm calling it #2Experimental2022. It has purple flesh and purple skin. The skin appears to be quite thick. Yield wasn't very good. Though I'll think on it a bit, I probably won't grow this one out again. I don't like really thick skin on a sweet potato as I generally eat them skin and all.
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Post by macmex on Oct 18, 2022 16:22:08 GMT
Here's yet another 2022 seedling. I call this #3Experimental2022.
White flesh and roots, this is the seedling with the really large leaves and long vines (see top of this page). It looks promising. I mainly need to see how it tastes after well cured and how well it keeps in storage. However, unless it's truly unique in some very desirable characteristic I may well let it go. I already have a number of excellent white varieties.
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Post by macmex on Mar 25, 2023 18:09:43 GMT
Well, I'm working on bedding roots for the 2023 season and organizing things. I ran across some experimental crosses I hadn't tried. Here are two.
#2Seedling2022 turned out as I suspected. It has the taste and texture, more or less, the same as Becca's Purple and a thick skin. I won't grow this one any further. It really doesn't stand out in any special way.
I finally cooked up a root from the KaukuraX2002 plant. This one will advance to another year of trials.
Though its skin is thicker than I prefer, the flesh was wonderful! It's moist, light yellow and very sweet. I can't describe it, but the flavor is unique. It's good. I'm going to try this one another year. I'm also thinking this one might be a good source for future crosses.
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Post by macmex on Mar 25, 2023 22:23:07 GMT
I got to #1Seedling2022 (red skinned) and #2Seedling (white skinned) and have decided to grow each out another year.
#1Seedling2022 surprised me. For some reason I expected that red skin to hide white flesh, but no, it was orange. I could only spare one small root from each, in case I did chose to grow them. I'm glad I did. #1Seedling2022 looked very tempting, right out of the oven. I had cut off a spoiled piece before baking it. Look at that surgery glaze!
This is what it looked like when I broke it open.
I tasted it. Yum! That was great! Well, that's it until the fall. Can't eat any more of these if I want to perpetuate it! Once I tasted it I had to FINISH it. #1Seedling2022 had a thin skin, deep orange, moist, surgery flesh and great flavor. It was really good!
#2Seedling2022 was good but very different. It had a moderately tough skin, though still plenty easy for me to eat. I at it skin and all and enjoyed it very much. It had white, dry, mealy flesh. It wasn't super sweet, but it was sweet enough I would never think of adding any sweetener. I was impressed. I like it. I'll try growing a few more this season.
If I recall, both of these came from seed sent to me by June, who frequents this forum. Thank you June!
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Post by amyinowasso on Apr 2, 2023 15:02:24 GMT
I don't know if you use spreadsheets for your records or not, but if your name for experiments STARTED with the year it would make it easy to sort a list by year. 2023-01, 2023-02. Then some abbreviation of what you think the cross was. Some notation whether it was slip or seedlings. Since you might also sort for that. This would be a Purple Red Velvet by Kaukura experiment. 2023SDLG-01-PRVxKAUK (seedling), 2023SLP-01-PRVxKAUK (slip). No, use KAUKxPRV, since that's your base experiment. This how my mind works. I can't wrap my head around something until I've made a spreadsheet.
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Post by macmex on Apr 3, 2023 11:46:39 GMT
I'm evolving in this area. Will mull over this new information. I can use a spreadsheet to some degree but definitely am not a spreadsheet person. Still, I do see the need for names which accurately reflect what I'm dealing with and include the year. That's for sure! Thanks Amy!
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Post by macmex on Jul 8, 2023 21:44:13 GMT
I've now had my sweet potatoes out for a couple weeks. It's July 8, 2023 and I'm weeding the row I planted on June 11. While weeding, I review what varieties I have planted, noting their differing characteristics. Here's a picture of #2Seedling2022. The leaves and stems of this one are light green and the leaves have a distinct shape. They're kind of elongated. 2023 will give me a good idea as to this one's productivity. I already know that it has a dense, dry, white fleshed root.
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