Planting depth: Plant 7 cm deep. Plant spacing: Plant the tubers or slips 20 cm apart. Growing details: The tubers can be planted directly in the soil but it is better to produce sprouts or 'slips' that are then planted. To start your own slips, place the tubers on a raised bed or in a box in a warm, sheltered spot.
Sweet potatoes grow down deep in soil, so your container should be at least 12” deep and 2 feet across per plant. Any smaller than these dimensions and you will end up with smaller sized yields.
You can buy slips or grow your own by placing a sweet potato in a tray filled with potting mix. Half bury the tuber in the mix and mist or water regularly to keep the soil moist. Sprouts will grow and root over the next couple of weeks.
The sprouted section of the sweet potato (a slip) can be removed from the sweet potato, placed in water to develop roots and then be planted. Alternatively, you can cut the section containing the slip away from the sweet potato and plant both the slip and a piece of the sweet potatoes directly into the soil.
Sweet potato roots continue to grow until frost kills the vines. Roots can be left in the ground for a short while; however, a hard frost can cause damage to roots near the surface. Chilling injury also results to roots when soil temperatures drop to 50°F or lower, and this can result in internal decay in storage.
The best time to plant sweet potato plants is after the ground is thawed and after the last spring frost date has passed. If the ground doesn't freeze in your location, then the best time to plant is usually a month after your last spring frost date.
Best Fertilizer For Sweet Potato Vines
Sweet potato vines thrive best when a balanced slow-release 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 fertilizer is applied. Use either organic or non-organic fertilizer since this plant will not produce an edible crop.
Sweet potatoes can be planted year-round, but will be easier to grow if they are started in the warm spring weather.
A: We recommend a 15- 20 gallon container to grow sweet potato plants. The larger the container, the easier it will be for growing edible sweet potatoes. A half whiskey barrel is approximately 16 gallons, and makes a fine choice as a planter.
Sweet potato greens are the edible leaves of the sweet potato vine. Though widely eaten throughout Asia & Africa, they are less well known to most of us in the U.S. The good news is they're edible and delicious, high in Vitamin C and B6, and they thrive in the summer heat, unlike all the other leafy greens we crave.
If your sweet potatoes are already cooked, storage is fairly simple. Put your cooked sweet potatoes in a shallow container such as a GladWare® Container or a GLAD Food Storage Zipper Gallon Bag and place in the refrigerator for short-term use.
Sweet potatoes generally mature in 85 to 120 days. Check root size after 80 to 85 days because they don't stop growing and can start to split when overgrown. Digging is easier if you cut the vines off first.
Sweet potato vine is fast-growing reaching heights of six to twelve inches with a spread of one to three feet. It has dark green or deep purple, heart-shape, lobed leaves.
The top of the sweet potato produces slips, while the bottom produces roots. Commercial slip growers plant the mother sweet potato horizontally and bury it completely, so they don't worry about which end goes up, but planting horizontally takes space most home gardeners don't have indoors while growing slips.
Newly planted sweet potato slips will need to be watered daily during their first week outside. Watering every other day during the second week will help establish plants. Once the plants are established, sweet potatoes can be watered once a week.
The other essential is rich, well-draining soil. Mixing in compost or rotted manure before planting is a must. Other than that, sweet potatoes need little else while they're in the field. If the soil is fertile, Jordan said, there's no need to fertilize.
It has been found that chicken manure increases the productivity of sweet potatoes, applied alone, or combined with chemical fertilizer (Rós, Narita, & Hirata, 2014).
Short-season sweet potato varieties
Beauregard (90-100 days): orange flesh, extremely high yields. Bush Porto Rico (110 days): sweet, red-orange flesh, baking favorite, high yields, compact for small gardens.
Sweet potatoes need at least 1 inch of water per week to grow well. Watering is especially important during the transplant, establishment and root development period. Stop watering the sweet potatoes three to four weeks before harvest to prevent tubers from splitting.
Soil and Spacing: Sweet potatoes prefer a fertile, well-drained, loose, deep, slightly acidic, fine sandy loam or very sandy soil. A soil pH of 5.5-6.5 is perfect for better growth. Develop problem soils by adding compost/well-rotted manure and organic matter, prior to planting.
The long vines of sweet potatoes can overrun a garden. In early to mid-September, feel free to cut them back by 25%. This simply makes the plants easier to deal with when digging.
Sweet potatoes must be cured after harvest and before they are stored. After digging, allow the roots to dry for two to three hours. Don't leave them out overnight where cooler temperatures and moisture can damage them. Once the surface is dry, move them to a warm, dry, and well ventilated place for 10 to 14 days.