I was inspired earlier this month by a post from Northland Backyard Gardener. Her son Connor was growing his own kumara slips by putting kumara in water suspended by toothpicks. The post then went on to explain that once the kumara have sprouted and grown some foliage, you take each sprout (with a little kumara attached), put them back in water to develop roots and voila! you are ready to plant.
I've grown kumara in our garden for the past four years and have had some good results. I have purchased the slips from a local nursery and they have been great, but I love the idea of starting my own. So this year, thanks to Connor and his Mum, I am having a go.
Here are my emerging sprouts - think they need a bit longer yet which is fine as the weather is still not quite warm enough to plant them out and also the spot where I intend to plant them is still inhabited by broad beans!
This did bring back a memory of my Mum putting half a kumara in water and growing a gorgeous hanging pot plant each year - I think it may have been a trend in the 70's/80's, anyone else remember it?
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