Ipomoea batatas - breeding of Sweet Potato - Camote - New Zealand

[reed]

Looks kinda familiar, is it red in the evenings, sometimes with a nice brown layer at the bottom?

[Chris Morrison]

Hi Mark, at what stage do you typically harvest the seedheads?
As Richard has shown you, I have 1 lol,
hoping for many more, but interested to know when you pluck these, as I guess they may be of interest to feral birds/vermin?
Cheers

[reed]

Hi Mark, at what stage do you typically harvest the seedheads?
As Richard has shown you, I have 1 lol,
hoping for many more, but interested to know when you pluck these, as I guess they may be of interest to feral birds/vermin?
Cheers

It's best if they can dry down to nearly to the point of shattering. They'll make a little cracking noise as you crush them and the seeds fall out. The seeds should be black or dark brown. That said, they will also finish up fine inside,  in fall when it's getting cold I've often just cut the stem and they finish up fine in water in a warm window.

Cool damp weather slows them down and can make some mold or drop off before maturing. Hot damp weather can make them sprout premature inside the capsule.  I've never had any critters bother them except when a rabbit sneaks in and eats the whole plant.

Below are what they look like when all the way dry and ready. If they are not quite there yet and your worried, cut the whole little stem to take inside.

[Chris Morrison]

Many thanks Reed.
A long ways to go in our season yet, so fingers crossed for native flowers and seedheads also.
Cheers

[Richard Watson]

Chris your mutant clone (forgotten what we called it ) that flowered so well in the tunnel house, it went out into the garden and stopped growing anymore, looking at it yesterday there's still no signs of regrowing them. no flower buds yet on Okinawan and one other Camote seedling. The rest have flower buds just waiting for summer to arrive as its been colder than average in the last few weeks. Looking at the computer models next week sees a strong anticyclone parking up over and or both sides of NZ, so that means that thankfully being inland away from cooling sea breezes there will be a hot days coming up, that should give the clones a kick up the arse.

Looking up ventusky https://www.ventusky.com for next week they are way out in there predictions, as much as 10degC

[Chris Morrison]

My 'EFR' native mutant is setting up flower buds now, as is my Okinawan, so you should be not far away Richard, as you have both.
Mass of flowers coming to hopefully 'mate' with the 'immigrants' :-)
Have had no luck posting pics here, but plenty on the FB group.
Or feel free to repost Richard.
Cheers

[Chris Morrison]

OK, so BB Cuzzie has a pod now :-)

[reed]

Chris your mutant clone (forgotten what we called it ) that flowered so well in the tunnel house, it went out into the garden and stopped growing anymore, looking at it yesterday there's still no signs of regrowing them.
Looking up ventusky https://www.ventusky.com for next week they are way out in there predictions, as much as 10degC

Not sure what you are dealing with there so this might be any help but often for me a new cutting takes off better than an older plant. They aren't like most other plants, they do better as a new cutting than as a transplant. Just a single little root sprout on a stem or even none at all if it's watered good a few days takes right off. Anyway if the plant is big enough to sacrifice a stem or two you might give that a go.

What do you mean by ventusky being "out", that it is wrong by that much? I'v never used it to watch temp but it is pretty darn good at tracking hurricanes.

[reed]

OK, so BB Cuzzie has a pod now :-)

YEA! sweet potato seed capsules and pictures!

[Chris Morrison]

Yes I think on this site, your first few posts cannot add pics? Must be a security thing - anyways all sorted now :-)

[Richard Watson]

Oh good work Chris, another one

[Chris Morrison]

And here is the garden set up, camotes at foreground, Okinawan next row, then native NZ hard red mutant codenamed  'EFR'.

[Chris Morrison]

Hi Mark, see below the first seed pod 'G1', is a little crispy now, and the stem is starting to yellow a little, I suspect it may fall off in a week or so? Should I leave in place and collect if/when it sheds?

[reed]

That one doesn't look quite right, the little individual stem should be drying along with the capsule. And neither one should drop off, it should stay on the plant until dry. A fully mature capsule pops open and drops the seeds rather than falling off the plant.
I believe for that one I might cut the stem back as far as I could and take it in to finish drying. I'd set it on a plate or something to catch the seeds if it shatters open on its own.  It might not shatter open on it's own at all and if not, I'd let it dry all the way before trying to open it. The seeds are kinda fragile if not fully dry, completely dry they are like little rocks. A full one has four seeds but sometimes there might just be one. 

[Chris Morrison]

Ok, thanks, will monitor, Cheers