Last season’s heat in combination with a few tweaks we made to our bed preparation system yielded good results for us here in North Augusta.
We grew eleven of our varieties bred in the region, along with five conventional varieties. This provided an opportunity to compare yields and marketability (no cracking and round, oblong shape). We’ll share more about the results soon, but Covington was the overall winner, which isn’t surprising since it’s the most commonly grown commercial sweet potato in the region.
We also held a taste test of the top 10 performers. There was no consensus on the best tasting, but Red Velvet was consistently top-rated.
Overall, the results have indicated that we were perhaps being too sentimental about a few of our varieties. We’ll be culling a couple, and using some for cross-pollination in the breeding beds.
Our sweet potatoes grown from true seed last year yielded five worth growing out again in 2025. The search for the perfect sweet potato continues.