Propagation: sweet potatoes a bad companion for raspberries?

My companion planting guide says that ordinary potatoes are a bad companion for raspberries. My question is whether or not that extends to sweet potatoes as well? I know they are different species altogether, but not sure if closely related or not. Trouble is the best spot for my sweet potato bed is right next to my raspberry bed. I'm not planning on intercropping. Thanks.

 

Can't see them doing well together - raspberries need a cool-temperate climate, sweet potatoes need a subtropical climate. Somewhere that's cool enough for raspberries, sweet potatoes won't grow, and somewhere that's hot enough for sweet potatoes, raspberries won't be happy.

 

I'm aware of that--the heat's not the issue. I start my bed early and warm with plastic to get the needed heat. I've successfully grown sweet potatoes on Vancouver Island before, but before I put the raspberries in.

 

Decorative cultivars of sweet potatoes are often grown here. The main issue I see is keeping the sweet potato plants from twining up the raspberry canes, if the two are planted that close to one another. And you wouldn't be warming the bed etc. where you had raspberries.

 

I'd be so lucky for the sweet potato vines to get that long! The raspberries have their own separate bed about 1-3 feet from the sweet potato bed. The sweet potato bed will be warmed, the raspberry bed not There is a one-foot wide trench between the two beds as well. The bigger problem is that there is little available space in my garden where I get full sun during most of the day, and this is it. I have one other area but the soil there is very clay and needs a lot of work--bad idea for sweet potatoes. I've learned from past experience that sweet potatoes need as much sun as possible to get a crop up here--partial sun doesn't do it.

 

Hi Carmenia Farm! I'm trying to grow sweet potatoes for the first time this year. I've been growing slips from store-bought Beauregards since January (yes, that's right! it's taken a long time) and actually just potted them this morning. When do you transplant your slips to the garden? I was thinking the first week of June. Also, I was thinking of building a poly tunnel for them, and planting them in black rubbermaid containers with the bottoms cut out. I saw a great youtube video of a lady down south who grew hers like this and it seemed to make harvesting a bit easier as you can just lift the container up and they all fall out.

If you have any tips, I'm all ears!!!

Sorry, this is not really related to your original question about companion planting...

 

Hi Konachick, sorry for the delayed reply. I've always planted mine directly into the ground, having warmed the soil beforehand with plastic and even additionally putting a plastic tunnel overhead. The most important thing is that the soil temp can never go below 10C or its over. As well, you need about 20C soil temp for growth to occur. A good soil thermometer is critical, available from West Coast Seeds. Depending on the variety, you need a minimum of 90-110 days of full sun and the 20 degree soil temp. Beauregards will take about 110 days. A really good resource is the book Sweet Potatoes for the Home Garden by Ken Allan. Every time I reread his book I realize I can be doing more to improve my yields. Good luck with it.

 

Thanks Carmenia Farm! We won't be able to build our hoop house for a few weeks, so hopefully we have a nice September!