Japanese Sweet Potato (Satsumaimo)

Still getting a handful of Japanese sweet potatoes (Satsumaimo) every other month. I left these outside to cure for about a month and they were quite sweet. I have some white Satsumaimo outside curing and believe it just about time to bring them in. They should be tasty. 

Japanese Sweet Potato (Beni Imo)

I planted these Japanese Sweet Potato slips (Beni Imo) on 1 December 2022. These are a white variety, but when baked they will become a beautiful purple inside. 

I removed the vines and set them aside for replanting. 

I flipped over the container to make it easier to remove the tubers. They were quite large, but about half were rotten. We had a typhoon at the beginning of the month and had a lot of rain, which I suspect caused the tubers to go bad.

These are quite large. I placed them outside in a shaded area to cure. 

Japanese Sweet Potato (Beni Imo)

I planted these Beni Imo slips last December and harvested today. I got 1kg (2.5 lbs) of Sweet Potatoes.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Purple and White Satsumaimo)

I harvested white and purple Satsumaimo last week and got two pretty good yields. 

Japanese Sweet Potato (Purple Satsumaimo)

I planted these Satsumaimo slips on 6 October of last year, which makes them about nine months old.

Someone on my blog asked if 6 inches was deep enough to grow sweet potatoes and I said yes, but the more soil you have the better the container can retain moister and the tubers will not crack. Also, a deeper container will allow the tubers to grow larger, but this container has about 8 inches of soil and my tubers were fine, but had some cracks. 

The first thing I do is remove the vines and set them aside to make new slips for planting.

Clean container ready to flip.

Press down the soil and pick out the tubers. When complete, place the soil back in the container and mix in some fertilizer and mineral pellets.

Using the vines set aside earlier, make some slips and plant them as deep as possible. Water well for the first 10 days. You will see many of the leaves dry up, but that is fine. As long as the slips survive they will grow new roots, leaves and produce tubers.

I always weight my bounty. I got 3kg (6.6 lbs) of tubers, which is a pretty decent amount for a small container.

Lastly, I place the tubers outside in a cool dry spot to cure for 10-14 days. These are the Japanese sweet potatoes that turn yellow when cooked and are usually super sweet. I can't wait to try them.

(08/20) Seven days later the slips are growing well. They just need a lot of watering the first 10-14 days to take root. I have some blank spots where the slip did not make it, so will fill them in later.

Japanese Sweet Potato (White Satsumaimo)

These Sweet Potato slips were planted on 17 March (2-weeks ago) and are starting to grow. Sweet Potato clippings grow roots extremely fast. A cutting placed in water will start producing roots in a matter of days. It has been raining nearly everyday which is a great time to plant slips. 

Japanese Sweet Potato (White Satsumaimo)

These Japanese Sweet Potato slips were planted on 30 July 2021 making them seven and a half months old.

Step 1: Remove the vines and set aside for new slips.

Step 2: Flip over the container. Some Potatoes visible. 

Step 3: Press through the soil and remove all the Potatoes.

Step 4: Add fertilizer and nutrients to the soil and place back in the container.

Step 5: Using the vines set aside, clip the ends and plant in the soil as deep as possible. Water well and add an updated label in the soil.

This container produced 2.7 Kg (6.8 lbs) of Potatoes, which is average.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Beni Imo)

 

These Japanese Sweet Potatoes (Beni Imo) were planted on 24 January 2021, which was about 10 months ago. I did not take a picture of the vines since they were pretty dried up.

I flipped over the container, pressed down the soil and removed the potatoes.

I did not get as many potatoes as I hoped for. I need to go back and see how many slips I planted, but I suspect not many. 

In the end I got 706 grams (1.5 lbs), which is less than average. 

I placed the Potatoes in a cool dry place to cure for 10-14 days.

I will not grow Beni Imo this time, but instead I planted 10-12 Purple Satsumaimo slips. The soil had no pests or other noticeable problems, so I added 20 kg (22 lbs) of fresh soil and 3 kg (6.6 lbs) of fertilizer to this container. Tomorrow I will add some nutrients to the top soil specialized for potatoes. 

Japanese Sweet Potato Flowers

 

My Japanese Sweet Potato plants are flowering and they are so pretty.

Japanese Sweet Potato

I originally planted these Japanese Sweet Potato vines on 1 January and harvested them in late September and replanted new slips. In just a month they have grown so much. These are a white Beni Imo, but taste almost identical to white Satsumaimo. The leaves of this variety of Sweet Potato are more ornamental and will continue growing them in the front of my house.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Purple Satsumaimo)

I harvested Japanese Sweet Potatoes from a container I planted on 2 February, which was a little over 8 months ago. I got 2.1kg (4.7 lbs) of tubers, which is average; however, I thought they were going to be larger. Perhaps I did not have enough nutrients in the soil, plus the soil was quite dry due to the lack of rain. I added fertilizer, nutrients and some fresh soil. I will try and water them more and see if that makes a difference.

Japanese Sweet Potato (Beni Imo)

Last night I harvested another container of Japanese Sweet Potatoes. This variety was Beni Imo, which is a dark purple verity indigenous to Okinawa, Japan. I planted them on 12 January and harvested them on 7 September, which makes them a little over eight months old. I harvested a container of Beni Imo about two weeks ago and planted purple Satsumaimo slips instead of Beni Imo, but planted Beni Imo slips in this container. This container yielded 1,715 grams (3.8 lbs) of tubers, which is not bad considering this was not a large container. 

 

Japanese Sweet Potato (Beni Imo)

These Beni Imo slips were planted on 1 January and harvested on 22 August, which means they were neary 9 months old. I have another container of Beni Imo and will not plant Beni Imo slips in this container again; instead, I will plant standard purple Satsumaimo slips.

I turned over the container and could immediately see tubers.

This container produced some pretty nice sized tubers. Well worth the 9-month wait. Also, I got one purple Satsumaimo (haha). A vine must have crossed over from another container. It is at the bottom right. 

2kg (4.6 lbs)

Need to lay them out in a cool dry location to cure for 10-14 days.

Added some new soil (10kg), fertilizer (4-6 hand fulls) and some nutrients specific for potatoes, carrots, Onions and other similar vegetables. Then I made slips from purple Satsumaimo vines I have in another container. I will harvest these next May.

These slips have grown quite well in just two weeks. I moved the container so the vines can grow through the rails of my second floor balcony. They will hang down to my first floor and provide a little shade, while at the same time get lots of sun. 

Japanese Sweet Potato (White Satsumaimo)

I planted these white Satsumaimo (Japanese Sweet Potato) slips on 26 November or roughly 8-months ago. I used to harvest them after 6-months, but the tubers where not as large as I wanted, so now waiting 8-months.

Step 1 - cut all the vines and set them aside. The tips will be used to make new slips.

Step 2 - Move the container to an area where the container can be flipped over and the dirt pressed down. It is best to do this while the soil is dry. Less messy that way. 

Step 3 - Press down the soil and sift through the soil to find the tubers.

Step 4 - I always weight my bounty to track how productive the container was. For this container I got 2.3 kg (5.1 lbs) of tubers.

Step 5 - Re-energize the soil for the next planting. I added a new bag of cheap garden soil (10kg/22lbs) for some organic content and minerals, two hands full of nutrients specific for potatoes (Potassium, Nitrogen, Phosphorus) and 4-5 hands full of fertilizer (more organic content).  The same soil can be used for several years, as long as the soil has not been infested by some sort of pest or fungus.

Step 6 - Make and plant slips using the vines set aside earlier. I cut the tip of a vine about 8-9 inches long. Remove all the leaves except the top 3-4. Plant the slip as deep as possible. Try and not allow the leaves to touch the soil. I plant the slips about 5 cm (2 in) apart. In my case, I was about the plant 17 slips in this container. 

Step 7 - Water well and water everyday for the next week. Japanese Sweet Potato slips will begin to root in 2-3 days and by 7-10 days they will have a pretty good root system.

Step 8 - Place the tubers outside in a dry cool locations for 10-14 days to cure.

(08/07) I cooked one of these tubers today. It was sweeter than expected. I usually use white Satsumaimo in lew of yellow potatoes, but not sure if I can use these since they are too sweet.