Your comments and tips

07 Aug 16, la potager dreamer (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Im looking to have a go at growing purple kumera. My fatherinlaw would cut them in half flat side down in saucer of water to get it sprouting then plant. Which is best horse or chook manure?

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27 Aug 16, Gerard Plant (Australia - temperate climate)

It's best to use dried out cow manure, which has been broken up into a almost powdered state and dug into the soil below where you are going to put the sprouts, before planting. You can do this by putting the cow pads into a cement mixer with a few old 1/2 bricks and tumbled for 1/2 hr or so, or just using a shovel on a hard surface. Concrete path etc. Just bust them and pulverise as best you can. Don't use fresh manure under any circumstance. Horse manure is pretty useless and has too much acid, while chook manure is best just laid on top of soil around the plants after a good showing of leaf from the runners. Best to use something like Organic Life or Dynamic Lifter, chook manure that has been treated. So every time you water, the nutrients will just seep into the soil at an even rate. A small sprinkling of garden lime dug in with the cow manure is a good idea too. If you ever come across the original white sweet potato, plant them too. Much better texture and taste, than the purple. Anyway....best of luck !

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31 May 16, Dennis wallace (Australia - temperate climate)

grew sweet potato for the first time, vine grew really well over past 20 weeks, producing lots of vine but sadly no tubers not 1 very disappointing .what did i do wrong?.

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03 Jun 16, Elizabeth (Australia - temperate climate)

I grew some this year, a friend of mine told me to fertilizer them ever 2 weeks and I gave them a bucket of water every night for quite a while, they are a little small but look to harvest them about a months time.

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02 Dec 15, Genevieve (Australia - temperate climate)

I live in Sydney and have been planting Kumara (red skin and white inside, as well as white skin and light purple inside) for the last 5 years. The leaves change shape and they are ready to harvest ( approx 3 months after they have been planted). Plucking the young leaves for greens doesn't seem to bother the plants. You can wrap individually in newspaper and store in an airy place and they have been known to last at least 5-6 months this way. The leaves don't go yellow much, the fruit in the ground are just re-sprouting.

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16 Nov 15, Yvette Lama (USA - Zone 9b climate)

While recently visiting family in Auckland, New Zealand, we enjoyed the white flesh kumara...It was delicious!!! Looking for it here in America, specifically Southern California, has proven to be very difficult!!! We have orange flesh sweet potatoes, but nothing like the yummie taste of the white flesh kumara!!! Anyone here in the USA know where we can find it? I would LOVE to add it to my vegetable/fruit garden.

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19 May 16, Gary (USA - Zone 9b climate)

For a white-fleshed sweet potato in southern California, look for "boniato." It's a variety much used in the Caribbean. I don't know if it's the same variety as is grown in NZ, but give it a try.

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02 Nov 15, John Matthews (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi I'm in tamborine Brisbane I would like some real Nz kumara that is red on the outside lemon on the inside,if you have any spare could you send me some quite willing to pay freight and pay for them. Regards John (A kiwi missing his kumara)

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25 Apr 16, John Yarwood (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi John, i'm another Kiwi called John and really stressing for proper kumara, i don't like this sweet potato here it isn't even close to proper kumara, did you manage to get hold of any plants at all, i live in Park Ridge South not far from you at all, like to get in touch with you, thanks mate.

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10 Jun 16, Janet (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

i have a crop of kumara growing from some i purchased in Woolworths (though not seen often, but they have some at present) I cut the top off one, let it dry a bit and then put in small amount of water, grew several runners, which i then planted out. I did put some sand in the garden bed though, as I always remember my dad telling me the Maori used to grow their kumara in the sandhills. Seems to have worked well.

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