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Post by macmex on Jan 20, 2023 17:51:06 GMT
This seedling was grown out in 2022 from seed produced in 2021. The mother plant was Kaukura Sweet, and, I have some observations on the seedling here. Well, here it is, January 2023 and I finally got around to trying this one out for food. January is a good time for such trials, as even the slowest variety to sweeten up should have reached full sweetness in storage. I pulled the root cluster out of the paper sack and it looked much as when I put it in there, back in October.
I only removed one root for trial, baking it at work, for my morning snack. Upon pulling it out of the oven I thought, "This looks promising." The root was sticky from caramelized sugars which seeped out while baking.
I had to let it cool a bit though I was excited to open it up and try it. I remembered from last fall that though Kaukura Sweet has orange flesh, this seedling has white flesh (when uncooked).
I ripped the skin open and tried it while it was still rather hot. This is what I found (I think I took a picture after the second bite).
My first impression was that this one, cooked, is very similar to Brinkley White. The flesh looked more greenish than white. In the photo it looks more yellow than either white or green. The green hue is due to the sugar content. It has a pretty high sugar content. Taste-wise I found it moist and sweet; nothing to complain about there! The skin, while sturdy, was easy to tear and, as with any sweet potato which I personally enjoy, I just ate it, skin and all.
So, this one will advance to a second year of trialing. While the total weight in harvested roots wasn't impressive, the plant seemed to be quite constrained in growth habit. I see this one as a possibility for smaller gardens or containers. I also want to see if it behaves the same in its second season.
After the 2023 season I'll make a final decision on whether or not to keep this one going, and, if I decide to keep it, I might come up with a more permanent name.
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Post by macmex on Apr 22, 2023 18:17:49 GMT
I bedded a couple roots for further trial (3/25/2023) and they are now growing profusely in the greenhouse. Here's a photo.
Now here are some interesting observations/speculations: 1 It seems that seedlings are not completely stable the first year or so that they are grown out. I remember with Seedling #1 of 2021, how very excited I was about it producing bicolor roots. Yet in 2022, the violet hue in the core disappeared leaving roots which more closely resembled Grand Asia. This makes me remember, albeit vaguely, a comment from Tom Wagner about his Irish potato seedlings, that it takes a year or two for them to stabilize, and that during that time, even cuttings pulled from the same root may diverge, eventually stabilizing into distinct varieties. How can this be? I don't know! Yet I believe I may be seeing the same phenomenon in sweet potato seedlings. KaukuraX definitely has a different root, in every respect from its parent Kaukura Sweet. I find it notable, however, that its leaves are beginning to more closely resemble its parent's leaves than it did last season.
Here's a picture of Kaukura Sweet (the maroon leafed variety in the photo)
I cannot see much difference between them yet last summer I saw a big difference. KaukuraX had a greener leaf on top, only showing a dark maroon coloring on the underside of the leaf.
A I've noticed when I first obtain a new variety, its leaves may change in form from one year to the next. Hi Orange started out with different leaves than Red Wine Velvet, yet within a year or two it adopted the very same leaf shape as Red Wine Velvet. Vietnamese Red had one shape leaf at the start of the 2022 season and morphed into a more extreme ivy leaf pattern as the summer progressed. Now, its roots are producing heart shaped leaves!
This is a puzzler! Anyone have any ideas as to what makes this happen?
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Post by macmex on Jun 23, 2023 13:49:37 GMT
2023 has been a tough year for gardening, for me. We've had company and travel commitments which have kept me from doing much in the garden. This, coupled with some health issues have kept me from getting much done. At this point (June 23) I have only 1/3 of the sweet potatoes planted which I had hoped on. Additionally, I haven't had time to do the planting with drip irrigation or plastic mulch, which has been my custom in recent years. I have to settle for just getting them in the ground so as not to lose them.
KaukuraX isn't out with my regular sweet potatoes. So far, I have only planted it in the garden where I had Kaukura, last year. It is definitely not as dark in tone as Kaukura but I think it looks pretty nice. It'll be interesting if the vines are more restricted in size, like last year. I am also hopeful that they will produce those nice bunches of delicious, white fleshed roots, as they did in 2022.
This is a photo taken of a KaukuraX plant this morning.
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Post by macmex on Jul 19, 2023 13:31:00 GMT
Here's a mid July photo of KaukuraX in its garden. When compared to Kaukura Sweet, it is quite distinct, yet, I do think it looks nice.
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Post by macmex on Jul 26, 2023 14:45:24 GMT
Here are a few more photos. I'm really enjoying this plant. If production and root quality are as I expect, I'd say I have a keeper.
I planted some in with my regular rows of sweet potatoes at home. There they receive full sun all day long. They are even more red colored there.
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Post by macmex on Aug 8, 2023 16:21:55 GMT
Finally captured more of the uniqueness of this plant. The tones on the leaves are more variable than on Kaukura Sweet. I got this photo this morning and was pleased to capture this trait. Sometimes a photo misses it.
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Post by macmex on Nov 1, 2023 14:42:51 GMT
Here are some observations from growing this one in 2023.
1) This one does not have small/restricted vines. This year I observed 10' length vines.
2) KaukuraX did great as an ornamental planting. I got some great compliments on it.
3) The roots are not smaller than other varieties. This year they were the size of other regular type sweet potatoes.
4) For whatever the reason, KaukuraX has been the highest producing sweet potato for me in this season. It's been a terrible season due to rodent damage. The ones grown ornamentally were totally untouched by rodents. The ones grown at home, in with my other sweet potatoes were "touched" but not devastated by rodents.
Here's a picture of the yield from on plant in my garden at home.
Here's a picture of the harvest from the ornamental garden.These were in partial shade. They did get weeded regularly and watered whenever they needed it. I dug them on October 31, 2023 when it was really cold. We had two day's of very hard, cold rain before harvest. I hope they aren't too badly damaged.
The harvest from the ornamental garden was a real pick-me-up for me, as it was the only normal kind of sweet potato harvest I've seen this year. This is how it should be!
Look at the largest of the roots!
This beet shape seems most typical of this selection.
Now, I believe it's time to come up with a permanent name for this one. I don't believe I want to keep calling it KaukuraX. It would be better to give is a name more independent of it's origins. I'm open to suggestions.
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Post by macmex on Nov 30, 2023 19:38:18 GMT
Over at Green Country Seed Savers I posed the question of what to name this new variety. I do believe it merits a name and to be grown in the future. The name Kuwahi was suggested and I think it's a great name for the following reasons:
1) The original Kaukura parent was from the Treasure Island Series. They named all their varieties with place names from Hawaii, even though, it's my understanding the the genetic parents were not from there.
2) Kaukura and Kuwahi look somewhat similar.
3) Kuwahi is a place name in the Cherokee language and it was first grown near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which is the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
4) Kuwahi means "mulberry place." It just so happens that the mulberry is one of my favorite fruits, and I've been experimenting with mulberry propagation for some years now.
So we'll be referring to this one as Kuwahi (pronounced Coo-wáh-he) will be its name.
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