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

[reed]

Damned annoying ain't it? They do come around some after a few years. Nothing though on the scarified ones? How about the ones you dug up and soaked?

[Chris Morrison]

Yes the ones I dug up and soaked = the scarification trial.
These were replanted into pots, but have not yet sprouted. Perhaps not enough time in the ACV?
I will have to dig around and see if rotted out, or still rock hard( I suspect the latter)

[Richard Watson]

I dug around so many times trying to find ungerminated seed to no avail. Having used a soil/compost mix I reckon the seed has taken on the same colour and because the soil was screened its made up of small clods about the same size as the seed, like a bloody octopus hiding on the coral reef.

[Richard Watson]

Today is plant out day, I feel now the changeable spring weather has eased and the soil is warm enough.

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[reed]

Looks like you got a heck of a pot garden going on there. Your sweet taters look pretty good too! Your gonna take them out of the pots and plant in the ground?

[Richard Watson]

Most of those pots are trees for my forest planting.

Yes they will go into the garden, got a new bed ready yesterday.

[Richard Watson]

Another G1 seedling popped up, silly me mistook it for a weed and pulled it out -#*&%. I quickly potted it up hoping I didn't damage it to much

[Garrett Schantz]

I pulled up hybrid tomato volunteers out of pretty much clay soil before, bare root - they all survived. Seedling potato plants seem to take stress well the few times I have grown them as well.

[Richard Watson]

I pulled up hybrid tomato volunteers out of pretty much clay soil before, bare root - they all survived. Seedling potato plants seem to take stress well the few times I have grown them as well.

Its looking fine this morning, so, should be ok.

[reed]

Thought it was a weed, that's funny. I expect it will be fine though. When it comes to rooting and transplanting they are pretty bullet proof.

[Richard Watson]

A weed!!, it was underneath its older mate,

[reed]

They are a pain in the ass like that. Plant them thick cause you know a lot won't come up and the ones that do are all clumped together. I've often found little ones whose seed must have hitchhiked along with one that had been transplanted days or weeks before.

[Richard Watson]

You were right Mark, I left the pot with the un-germinated seed outside, yesterday I see one up and another seed sitting on top with a root poking out, thankfully the weather was damp so I put it over the soil, it should come up. That will give me four seedlings, shame its going to be a wet cool summer.

[reed]

I was wondering how yours were doing. Cool, wet certainly isn't the best but maybe if a few make it they will get more adapted.

[Richard Watson]

Wet strong La Niña summers like we are in at the moment are rare, so its not a summer like this one that we need them to adapt too, its the likes of next summer where earth should go through a El Niño pattern which are the more common, they are the warm dry summers which will be we will be looking to, just gota hang in there this summer and I'll take cuttings again to winter over. Dont even think Chris will do that well up north considering La Niña affect them even more than here, but you never know.