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Sweet and firm, the Bayou Belle is great for baking or roasting. On average, it’s ready to harvest between 90-110 days after planting. It is resistant to Fusarium root rot and wilt as well as soil rot, and intermediate to resistant against root-knot nematodes. This particular variety is considered highly resistant to Rhizopus soft rot. These red-skinned to garnet sweet potatoes open up to reveal deep orange flesh. While these main varieties thrive in the warm and almost tropical conditions of the American South particularly Louisiana and North Carolina, there are varieties that have been bred specifically to tolerate cooler and shorter days in the north. For the intrepid gardener looking to grow varieties in the far north of the US, or in containers or poor quality soil, there is most likely a variety that will suit your needs. However, these varieties dominate shelves due to their ability to grow tasty and large amounts on commercial farms. With varieties like Beauregard, Covington, Garnet, and Jewel dominating what’s available in grocery stores, it’s easy to believe there are only a few varieties. The different types of sweet potatoes with orange flesh are the most common kind on the market. Orange Sweet Potatoes There are hundreds of sweet potato varieties to choose from. Good Products At Amazon For Growing Sweet Potatoes: Overall, the sweet potato takes first place in the nutritional department. This explains the vastly different levels of nutrition delivered by each. While sweet potatoes come from the morning glory family, potatoes come from the nightshade family along with tomatoes. Sweet potatoes come from a completely different family than the potato as well. Most yams are Dioscorea species, not Ipomoea. Their ad campaign tried to market the delicious and sweet orange-skinned sweet potato and keep it separate in the minds of customers from other white or yellow sweet potatoes. But don’t let those advertisers keep you confused. Once enough roots have been established, bury the root end in soil up to the first set of leaves and wait 3-4 months for some of the most delicious and nutritious foods around.ĭue to a marketing campaign in the mid-1900s, orange sweet potatoes are often mislabeled as yams. These slips are cut off from the sweet potato and placed in water, allowing roots to grow. Sprouts called slips grow from last year’s roots when kept in the right conditions. Unlike most plants gardeners are familiar with, sweet potatoes aren’t commonly started by planting seeds. While this type of sweet potato won’t kill you, they are not usually grown as food and they may just turn you off to eating sweet potatoes. Most sweet potatoes are grown for food, with varieties such as Japanese, Garnet, Jewel Beauregard, and Covington all grown to suit different growing areas, light and temperature requirements, and of course, taste! There are also sweet potatoes that are grown for their gorgeous vines. Now grown throughout the world, Ipomoea Batatas has almost 7000 known varieties. While the crunchy version served with aioli may be new, these versatile sweet potato varieties that range in color from purple to cream-colored to orange and red have been a nutritious and tasty food for almost 5000 years. Sweet potato fries burst into popularity a few years ago, but sweet potatoes have been a staple food for quite a long time.
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