How to grow potatoes in Zone 9.
Sweet Potatoes varieties in South AL at Azalea Yams in Daphne, Al.
COVINGTON
This sweet potato was developed at NC State and released to growers in 2005. It accounts for 20% of potatoes grown nationwide and is known for it superior storage life and exceptional quality. The ‘Covington’ is a beautiful, slightly larger sweet potato that tends to be more uniform in shape and size than the ‘Beauregard’. The flavor of baked Covington’s typically outshines the competition and has been rated very well by standardized and informal taste panels.
ORLEANS
Developed by the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station in 2005, the Orleans is a consistent hitter. This orange-fleshed, light rose-skinned cultivar is similar to ‘Beauregard.’ It gives us great pack out and you the bright orange nutrient-rich flesh you’re looking for. Our buyers appreciate the uniformity of these potatoes. There’s nothing like driving by a field of Orleans sweet potatoes – it is almost enough to make us say geaux tigers…but not quite!
O HENRY
We are delighted to bring you white sweet potatoes this year. O’Henry sweet potatoes have a thin, off-white to light tan outer skin and a white to creamy yellow interior flesh. Their unique flavor is reminiscent of nuts and honey- while baking it fills your kitchen with the aroma of sweet, warm honey. O’Henry plants grow in a cluster like fashion and have heart-shaped leaves which are edible as well. somewhat dryer in texture, these potatoes soak up more delicious butter when mashed and hold up well for sweet potato salad.
From a FaceBook Post – W H Hancock potato shed in May of 1974. These baskets are full of freshly dug potatoes from the field outside of Foley. There were potato packing sheds all over S Baldwin County back then. Most were located near Hwy 59 and the long gone RR Tracks. Thousands of potatoes were planted every January & February.
The LSU AgCenter still has an active sweet potato breeding program under Don Labonte, Tara Smith and the staff at the LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase, La. Developed at Louisiana State University in 1987, Beauregard is the most commonly grown commercial cultivar in Louisiana and may be the world’s most popular sweet potato. It is favored for high yields of uniform, copper-skinned potatoes with sweet, deep-orange flesh that keep well in storage. Several cultivars have been released from the LSU AgCenter breeding program during the last 10 years, including Evangeline (gaining in commercial planting), Orleans, Bayou Belle, Bellevue, Bonita and Murasaki-29. By Dan Gill, horticulturist with the LSU AgCenter here.
