Your comments and tips

16 Mar 17, Sandy.G (New Zealand - temperate climate)

Hi there, I bought a bag of mixed kumara & in it was 5 varieties & 1 was a purple fleshed purple kumara. I think its maybe a relative of potato.. as I am allergic to nightshade family & on eating 1 of these set my tongue and throat tingling, spat it oit and rinsed my mouth out.. any ideas!?

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17 Mar 17, Ken (Australia - temperate climate)

Potato is a member of the Solanum (nightshade) family while kumara (sweet potato) is a member of the Ipomoea family which includes other plants such as Morning Glory, a totally different Genus.The purple 'kumara' may have been a knobbly potato packed with the others by mistake.

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09 Mar 17, Lhatso (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

Hi do you know where I could buy the purple sweet potato that is purple flesh in side the skin as well.This variety is Grown in Japan

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09 Mar 17, John (Australia - temperate climate)

Log onto - www.kumera.co.nz for a list of varieties. If you contact them they should be able to help you. Sweet potato is very easy to grow from cuttings. Just put cuttings into a jar of water and they will soon grow roots, then plant them. All the best.

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09 Feb 17, eric pearson (Australia - temperate climate)

Do you cut the end of runners off

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09 Feb 17, John (Australia - temperate climate)

You certainly can cut the runners back. Kumera/sweet potato is a member of the same family as the blue flowered Morning Glory vine and needs containing to stop it spreading. Do not cut it back too hard as the leaves are also feeding the plant. the runners will form more sweet potatoes where they are in contact with the ground and can form roots. You could also put a stake in when you plant them next time and tie all of the growth to the stake then at the end of the season cut the growth off, let it dry and use it for mulch or compost. Trust this helps.

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16 Feb 17, Africanaussie (Australia - tropical climate)

You can eat the tender shoots like spinach!

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29 Dec 16, Robwyn Mugg (Australia - temperate climate)

When is the best time to plant sweet potato for Adelaide, S.A.? I have grown them in the past and only got a few as Curl Grubs ate the rest of my produce, they were planted in a raised bed.

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26 Nov 16, Sherry (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate)

Where can I buy NZ Kumura to grow in my garden?

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24 Sep 16, Kay (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I have planted slips that I grew about 2-3 months ago, The slips are in soil, in large plastic tubes with holes in the bottom & sides to drain as much water I can. We have had soooo much rain, & I checked the top & bottom soil. The top soil is dry, but the bottom soil is very wet. Should I leave them to do what it automatically do itself to grow, or remove the soil & slips & start again? I dug to bottom of the vines to see how they have been growing. The slips have lots of roots.

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