Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Planting sweet potatoes in cover crop

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Ken Bezilla" <kenbez AT hotmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Planting sweet potatoes in cover crop
  • Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 14:53:31 +0000


With fall coming up, I'm hoping to try out a technique for next year's sweet potato crop. I'm going to dig raised beds and sow them to winter rye and hairy vetch. Then next spring, around May 20 (possibly later if the soil temperature is too cool), I'll mow down the cover crop when it's flowering, and plant sweet potatoes through the cover crop stubble. My thinking is that the cover crop residue will help cover the ground for a couple months while the sweet potatoes are getting established, and that once the sweet potatoes start to sprawl they'll cover the decaying residue before weeds can emerge.

I've seen references to sweet potatoes being planted using reduced tillage systems, but haven't seen any details. So -- has anyone on the list tried this? Does it work well, or should I figure on having to do some weeding or mulching before the sweet potatoes take over their space?


Ken Bezilla
East Wind Community
southern Missouri

_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com




  • Planting sweet potatoes in cover crop, Ken Bezilla, 08/11/2002

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page