Sweet potatoes are grown from sweet potato slips.
Slips are the stems and foliage that sprout from already grown sweet potatoes.
Twist them off the potato, root them in water, then plant them.
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In three to four months, you should have some sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are always planted in the spring.
They are slow-growing and require warm temperatures to develop full-sizetubers.
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If you have a smaller garden, it’s possible for you to grow bush varieties.
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This helps the soil warm faster and keeps them well-drained.
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The vines will spread and fill in, so give them plenty of room.
They generally prefer full sun but appreciate some afternoon shade in hot, dry regions.
Soil
Sweet potatoes prefer soil that is well-drained but high inorganic matter.
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Sandier soil is preferable to dense, clay soil.
Water
Once established, sweet potatoes will tolerate growing in dry soil.
It’s best to keep it evenly moist with 1 inch of water given once a week.
The Spruce / K. Dave
Keep the plants moist, especially during dry spells.
Choose short-season varieties if you live in the northern part of the country.
Overfeeding tends to promote growth of foliage rather than tubers.
The best approach is to add compost to the beds before planting the sweet potatoes.
Alternatively, you could apply an organic liquid fertilizer to the soil prior to planting.
The part we eat is the tuberous root of this warm-weather perennial vining plant.
The edible and ornamental types are different cultivars ofIpomoea batatas.
Be sure to leave enough leaves to keep the plant growing.
you’ve got the option to dig up your tubers once the foliage starts to yellow.
If the foliage is hit by a frost, the tubers are probably still fine.
Be gentle when digging.
Sweet potato tubers grow close to the surface.
Their skins are tender and can be damaged and bruised easily.
Sweet potatoes are easy togrow in containers.
Start small plants you purchase in the spring or grow slips in pots.
Loosely fill a large container of any material with lots of drainage holes with high-quality potting soil.
A half-whiskey barrel is a good size.
Make a hole large enough to cover the roots of your plant or slip.
Water it thoroughly, and put the pot in a sunny spot.
Water it thoroughly at least once a week unless it rains.
you’re able to make a run at grow sweet potatoes indoors, but it is challenging.
The yield is often small after a four-month wait.
They require a lot of sun, heat, and water, which is harder to replicate indoors.
Propagating Sweet Potatoes
Propagate sweet potatoes with slips or by saving tubers for replanting.
Before the first fall frost, cut the vines to the ground.
Carefully dig up tubers with a shovel and gently brush the soil from the tubers.
Cover the box with a blanket to see to it no light reaches the tubers.
Many diseases can be avoided by choosing disease-resistant varieties and using certified disease-free sweet potato slips.
Mice can also be a problem, so be on the lookout.
Sweet potatoes are surprisingly easy to grow.
Since the vines root wherever they touch the ground, a few plants can easily produce a generous harvest.
Sweet Potato Production and Pest Management in Georgia.University of Georgia Extension.
