slip one’s mind some of these delicious , easy - to - grow veggies into your garden this year .
Sweet potatoes are tropical plants related tomorning glories . They require a long , tender develop season to mature , which is why they are a southern ducky . However , quicker - mature varieties make it possible to spring up sweet potato in northern garden with a forgetful growing time of year .
Traditional varieties of gratifying potato postulate ample garden space , as their vines often cover several foot of flat coat , but there are bush varieties that are well suitable to minuscule gardens .
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
Here ’s how to institute and grow sweet potatoes in your garden .
Dean Schoeppner
Where to Plant Sweet Potato Plants
select a spot in full sun to plant sweet potatoes . They will grow in less than full sun but not get as well . Your planting land site should also have well - debilitate soil , or your sweet potato source may rot . If your stain is poorly drained or rocky , grow your sweet potato inraised bedsor big container . These plants often spread widely , so be certain you have fair to middling planting outer space .
Do n’t plant sweet-flavored potatoes in the same spot two years in a row . Ideally , wait at least three years before planting gratifying potatoes again in the same blot . rotate your crops is key to preventing soil depletion of nutrients and interrupt pest and disease wheel .
Scott Little
Credit:Scott Little
How and When to Plant Sweet Potato Plants
seraphic Solanum tuberosum are very sensitive to cold , so wait to plant slips ( sprout ) of angelical potatoes until the soil has warmed to at least 65 ° farad , usually about three to four weeksafter the last frost . Space slue 12 to 18 inches aside in course 3 to 4 foot apart .
In areas with cool summers , cover the planting expanse with sheets of black charge plate and plant the elusion through slits in sheets . The charge plate will warm up the dirt and speed ontogeny . If you see nights with cool temperatures , cover newly imbed slips overnight with a charge plate pot or row covers .
Sweet Potato Care Tips
Light
The more sunlight you have for growing sweet potato , the better . The best is a lower limit of 6 hours offull direct sunper day . Sunlight improves aboveground outgrowth , which transform into boom belowground tubers with inscrutable color .
Soil and Water
Although angelic potatoes grow intimately in sandlike soil , anywell - drained garden soilwith a pH of 5.8 to 6.2 is fine . To improve drainage , enrich the soil with constitutional matter to a profundity of 8 to 10 inch before planting .
Water newly planted slips on a regular basis until they are established , then allow for about 1 inch of water per workweek . Reduce water 2 to 3 weeks before harvest to trim down crack of the sweet murphy hide , which causes storage issues .
Temperature and Humidity
sweet-flavored potatoes love hot atmospheric condition and grow best in temperatures between 65 ° atomic number 9 and 95 ° F . They thrive in areas with high humidity , but they will also put up average humidity .
Fertilizer
The best time to add fertilizer is just before plant . Because odoriferous potato plant are not labored tributary , working compost into the soilat planting clip will usually leave sufficient nutrients . instead , add a slow - release organic fertilizer to the soil before planting . Do not over - fertilize , especially with atomic number 7 , as this will lead to excess leafy growth at the disbursal of make tuber .
Pruning
Do n’t prune the cherubic tater vine — the leaves are necessary to invent solid food hive away in the tuberous roots . If your vines cast further than you desire , lightly lift them and direct them to rise elsewhere .
Pests and Problems
cervid are fond of sweet-scented white potato leaves and cursorily decimate a planting . If you have a high deer universe , protect the plants with fence or netting .
Few other pests cause meaning problem , although favorable tortoise beetle , aphids , and a variety of caterpillars sometimes feed on the leaf . In some areas , wireworms and tooth root gnarl nematode worm damage the source and tubers .
Fusarium wilt and black scurf are potential fungal diseases of sweet potatoes . Fusarium wilt causes leaves to deform yellow-bellied and vine to wilt . scented white potato infected with black scurf develop attack black splodge on the sweet potato . The honest disease prevention is to plant certified disease - free slips , choose resistant motley , and turn out your sugared potato patch each year .
Credit:Scott Little
How to Propagate Sweet Potato Plants
Unlike the unconstipated potato , which is a tuber ( a modify stalk ) , the sweet potato works is a tuberous solution . This difference is significant in how new plants are started . To plant potatoes , you simplycut a Irish potato into piece , each with a couple of eyes , and establish it . Sweet tater are grown from slips , which are rooted staunch that come from the germinate end of a sugared potato . Growing skid is not hard , but it does take some clip ; you may also purchase slips either by mail parliamentary procedure or from your local garden center .
Togrow sweet potato slip , purchase a level-headed , untreated sweet potato and localize it lengthwise in a container of potting soil or backbone . Cover the lower half of the sweet-smelling potato with pot soil . Keep it dampish and strong . Within a few hebdomad , shoots will start to sprout from one remainder . When the shoot are about 6 inch long , break them off the sweet potato and place the low-down conclusion of the slip in piddle , where it will form roots .
One sweet potato will usually produce 10 to 20 slip . If you have a long , warm season , you may take stem cut off mature plants and place the cutting in water system to root for a second planting .
Credit:Marty Baldwin
Marty Baldwin
Harvesting, Curing, and Storing Sweet Potatoes
Harvest your sweet potatoesin the fall when the conditions begins to turn cooler and vines begin to wither . Aim to harvestbefore your area ’s first frost — a light Robert Frost wo n’t normally damage the antecedent , but a hard frost may injure roots near the soil airfoil .
expend a garden fork to lift the sweet white potato and brush the soil from the beginning . discredited stem should be separated for immediate use . Undamaged roots can becured for storageby placing them in a warm room ( 80 ° F to 90 ° F ) , ideally with eminent humidity , for five or six days . cure heals small scratch and starts the spiritual rebirth of starch to scratch , which ameliorate sapidity . If kept in a dark space where temperatures stay between 50 ° F and 60 ° fluorine , cured sweet white potato can be stored for several months .
Do n’t store sweet potatoes in the refrigerator , whether from your garden or the food market depot . Warmer is better than cooler to protect the flavor . look to wash out cherubic potatoes until right before preparing them .
Types of Sweet Potato Plants
Beauregard
' Beauregard ’ is an old favorite with cherry skin and mysterious orangish , moist , sweet flesh . It is a heavy producer and disease - resistant . 100 days maturity
Georgia Jet
‘ Georgia Jet ’ has bright orangish flesh and excellent flavor . It is a good option for gardeners in cooler region because it stomach cooler temperatures than most varieties . 90 days to maturity date
Bush Porto Rico
‘ Bush Porto Rico ’ bring about heavy yields on more stocky plants , so is well suited to lowly gardens . Its flesh is scarlet - orange . 110 day to maturity
O’Henry
‘ O’Henry ’ is a tan - skinned variety with creamy - yellow , somewhat ironic flesh with a finespun flavor . It produces practiced yields of very large ( sometimes cantaloupe - size ) fresh potatoes . 100 days to maturity
Murasaki
‘ Murasaki ’ is a pop Japanese variety with purple skin and teetotal , cream - colored flesh with a rich , nutty flavor . 105 to 120 day to maturity
Frequently Asked Questions
Though often used interchangeably , fresh tater and yam are unlike plants . sugared potatoes are tropical tuberous roots and members of themorning gloryfamily , A yam is a tropic tuber more closely come to to a lily . Its tuber has stiff , light - colored flesh and scaly tan skin . Yams are mainly cultivate in westerly Africa , the Caribbean , and South America .
Ornamental sweet murphy , farm for their colorful leaves as an annual ground cover or container plant , make tuberous roots but they are broadly of poor quality for eat . A few new varieties are being market asedible decorative sugared potatoes . ' Treasure Island Kaukura ' , for example , produces tasty , orange - fleshed roots on vine with deep purple leaves .
seraphic potatoesgrow well in containers , but to harvest a reasonable crop , you ’ll postulate a large batch ( at least 24 in wide and 12 inches deep ) with honorable drain holes . A half whiskey barrel take with well - enfeeble potting mix works well .
