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sweet potatoes as a companion plant to Asparagus- opinions!!!
Jordandaisyhilton
Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
I've recently come into some sweet potato slips and now I'm trying to figure where to put them in my very over full veg plot!! I have an arch that I'm going to grow the vines up so I'm not too worried about space for those, it's just finding a space on the edge for the arch base and the tubers!! There are 2 beds I have in mind, one is my Asparagus bed and one I use to grow tomatoes/peppers. I'm leaning towards the Asparagus bed as I have quite a bit of space between 2 roes and I've been trying to think of a cover crop I can grow between them, I know that the sweet potatoes will result in a large vine so I've been thinking it will work well to suppress weeds between the Asparagus and I can kill 2 birds with one stone, my only concern is that the Asparagus roots may not like being disturbed by tubers growing close by. What are your thoughts??
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Of the two options I'd go for between the tomatoes and peppers ... or I'd grow the tomatoes and peppers in big pots (as I do with some of mine) and give the sweet potatoes their space.
On the other hand I have friends in the far south west of the UK (very good gardeners) who struggled for several years to get a crop from their sweet potatoes, even in a polytunnel, and have declared them to be 'not worth the bother'.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Bob Flowerdew is my guru when it comes to inter-cropping and companion planting and he said that tomatoes and asparagus are good companions that help each other. So I duly intercropped the two one year - the asparagus were earthed up on ridges and the toms planted in the dips. I had the best tasting tomato crop ever and the asparagus didn’t suffer. I didn’t get the chance to repeat the experiment as I moved and don’t grow asparagus here.
So you could try growing your tomatoes in-between your asparagus, leaving their space free for the sweet potatoes?
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/asparagus
Sweet potatoes prefer a rich, well-drained but moisture retentive soil. That would make them incompatible companions. In the UK they also do better under cover as they need extra warmth to do well.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/sweet-potatoes
They were planted out in improved soil with a cold frame over the top to keep them warm while they got established. I then gave each plant its own obelisk to support the leaves - ipomea/bindweed family so it will sprawl if not given a climbing support.
Regular watering all summer and some extra feed. Very healthy looking plants.
Come harvest time, one plant produced 2 good sized tubers. One plant produced 3 thin tubers which were riddled with slug damage. The third had rotted tubers.
All in all a waste of time, space and water. As they're cheap enough to buy here I let others grow them now and keep my veg beds for things I cannot get here such as purple sprouting broccoli and cavolo nero, things I can store well such as garlic and onions, squashes I can't buy easily here such as Crown Prince and plants I want to eat when they're young and tender or taste better freshly picked - broad beans, salads, courgettes, broccoli - plus soft fruits that are expensive in the shops.
You need good soil, lots of water and lots of warmth to get a good crop of peppers, so of you grow those successfully you may have a chance with the sweet potatoes. You have the slips already, so what’s to lose by trying? Good luck!