Sweet Potatoes 'Marjoke'

The ‘Marjoke’ variety is a delight for both the palate and the eye! This 2017 selection blooms all summer with beautiful lilac flowers with a dark heart, making it suitable even as an ornamental plant. It's a plant with fine stems and leaves that stay low to the ground. The tubers have a remarkably beautiful, dark red skin, and the white flesh is very flavourful. It’s one of our most beautiful and delicious selections. You'll harvest sizable tubers, so the yield is good, and the variety is very well-suited for outdoor cultivation without cover.

This well-known tuber crop has been cultivated for over 5000 years in South America, but this important carbohydrate source is now spread throughout the (tropical) world. Besides the (cooked) tuber, the leaves are also very popular as a spinach substitute! In Northern Europe, cultivation is becoming increasingly feasible in the summer: plant them on "ridges," which are covered with black foil or Bio Fibre Mulch for warmth. The "starter plants" you purchase can be propagated by cuttings during growth, quickly creating a bed full of plants. If purchased later, place the plant(s) in large pot(s) and propagate with cuttings for next year. The plant will survive indoors in a bright and not too cold room. We supply selections that have been cultivated in our region for several years.

Our active grower is constantly looking for the best Sweet Potato varieties for open ground or for the greenhouse. He offers us young plants in May-June and tubers in November, from which you can grow beautiful plants yourself.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE PLANTS?
If you haven't grown plants yourself from a tuber in winter (see below), we have young plants available from May to plant out (after the last chance of night frost). The fast-creeping plants need space; plant them 40 cm apart and 80-90 cm between rows. Large raised beds are beneficial for soil warmth and thus for yield. Regular watering is very important during dry periods; professional growers often use drip irrigation. Harvest no later than before the first night frosts.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH SUCH A TUBER?
Just put it in the ground outside? No! The cultivation is a little different from growing seed potatoes. It's a fun indoor activity, in a warm spot. (From May, if the weather is warm, it can also be done directly outside.)
You need a propagator with a high lid; you can also use any container or pot that can accommodate one or more tubers horizontally. In the latter case, it is wise to make a frame over which you stretch plastic for warmth and moisture retention.
Place the tubers (horizontally) 2/3 submerged in cocopeat 809620-seed-compost-cocopeat-briquettes.
Keep it well-lit, moist, and warm; the tuber will produce many shoots. After 5-10 cm of growth, you can break or cut these off close to the tuber and directly insert them into a pot or swollen Jiffy-7 tablet. Each cutting will root very easily.
There are also other methods, for example, in water; just watch this video on YouTube.

Names:
Latin: Ipomoea batatas
Dutch: Zoete Aardappel
Also: Bataten
English: Sweet Potato