Where are you locatedIm experimenting growing sweetpotatoes , any tips would be very welcome
I have only grown a house plant from a sweet potatoes but here is some information I looked up to help you out:
Good luck.
- Sweet potatoes are grown from slips, which are sprouts that are grown from stored sweet potatoes. ...
- You can also grow your own slips to plant in the spring. ...
- Store these potatoes in a well-lit room with a temperature between 65° and 70°F. Keep them there until about 90 days before the last spring frost date.
Unlike regular potatoes, which grow best when the soil is cool, sweet potatoes like it hot! They are tropical plants that are very sensitive to cold weather. In warm climates, many gardeners plant sweet potatoes about a month after the last spring frost, when both the air and soil are dependably warm. The plants produce lush vines that make a pretty ground cover, so they are a great crop for beds that adjoin areas that are difficult or tiresome to mow.
Soil , Planting And Care
Sweet potatoes prefer a loamy, well-drained soil that is not too rich. Ideally the pH is between 5.8 and 6.2, although they will tolerate a more acid pH to 5.0. Before planting, mix in a 1-inch layer of compost and thoroughly dampen the bed. In heavy clay, grow them in raised beds amended with compost and sand; potatoes in clay are sometimes thinner and oddly shaped. Good root development depends on there being plenty of air space in the soil (good aeration). They are the ideal crop for areas with sandy soil.
Sweet potatoes are so willing to grow that plants accidentally dropped on the ground will take off and grow if the soil they land on is warm and moist. Plant sweet potatoes about 12 to 18 inches apart, and allow 3 feet between rows so the vines will have plenty of room to run. When setting out sweet potatoes in very hot, sunny weather, cover the plants with upturned flower pots for 3 days after planting to shield them from baking sun.
In the North, it’s a good idea to cover the soil with black plastic or black fabric mulch about 3 weeks before planting to warm the soil.
Give your sweet potato plants lots of room to roam.
Sweet potatoes produce long vines that need plenty of space to grow.
Sweet potato vines will soon cover a large area. Thoroughly weed your sweet potatoes 2 weeks after planting by pulling them gently; if possible avoid deep digging with a hoe or other tool that disturbs the feeder roots that quickly spread throughout the bed. These give rise to your sweet potatoes. Water weekly. Water is especially important as plants grow and roots spread.
Historically, sweet potatoes have been a poor soil crop that produces a decent harvest in imperfect soil, but will do much better with a little fertilizer. About 2 weeks after planting, feed plants with a balanced organic or timed-release fertilizer that contains potassium (the third number on the fertilizer label), such as 5-10-10. Use about 2 cups 5-10-10 per 30 square feet (a 10-foot row). Gently scratch the fertilizer into the soil surface. Then mulch over the soil with an inch of grass clippings or another biodegradable mulch. Continue weeding and adding more mulch for another month. After that, sweet potatoes can usually fend for themselves, though they do benefit from weekly deep watering during serious droughts.
Or, simply feed with a liquid plant food, like Bonnie Herb & Vegetable Plant Food. Apply at planting, then every couple of weeks as the plants root and grow.
Troubleshooting
Deer love to nibble tender sweet potato leaves, so you may need to deter them with floating row covers. Japanese beetles and other leaf-eating insects may cause light damage, but sweet potatoes are so vigorous that they usually outgrow foliage pest problems. More troublesome are pests that might attack the tubers. In Florida and some other southern states, sweet potato weevils are a big problem, often ruining the harvest. Wireworms and nematodes can also attack sweet potatoes.
You may have heard of a fungus disease called scurf that is very destructive to sweet potatoes. It is soil borne and nearly impossible to get rid of once the soil is infested. Fortunately, you can avoid scurf by always planting certified, disease-free plants such as those sold by Bonnie.
In late summer, sweet potatoes often produce flowers that resemble those of morning glory, a close botanical cousin.
Harvest And Storage
Compared to other sweet potatoes, Beauregard matures early, about 90 days after planting. They are usually ready to harvest just as the ends of the vines begin to turn yellow, or just before frost in the North. To avoid injuring tubers, find the primary crown of the plant you want to dig, and then use a digging fork to loosen an 18-inch wide circle around the plant. Pull up the crown and use your hands to gather your sweet potatoes. To make digging easier and get the vines out of your way, you can cut some of them away before digging. Harvest before frost because cool temperatures can reduce the quality of the potatoes and their ability to keep.
Don’t wrap sweet potatoes in aluminum foil when cooking because that causes them to steam. If you bake them without wrapping, they will caramelize.
Sweet potatoes are not very sweet when first dug, but they are fine for sweetened pies or casseroles. They need a period to sit and “cure” to bring out their sweetness. Shake off soil, and then lay the unwashed sweet potatoes in a warm (80°F to 90°F), well-ventilated place for about 10 days. A shaded table outdoors and out of the rain works well. As the sweet potatoes cure, any scratches in the skins should heal, and the flesh inside will become even sweeter and more nutritious. This is very important, as fresh, uncured potatoes do not bake as well. After 10 days, move your cured tubers to any spot that stays cool and dry, but do not refrigerate or store below 50°F. Cured sweet potatoes will keep for up to 6 months when stored at around 60°F with high humidity; a basement is ideal, though an air-conditioned storage room or pantry will do, too.
After harvesting, brush soil from potatoes but don’t wash them. Sweet potatoes that cure for several weeks in cool storage will taste the sweetest.
well kammy i found this recipe as i to have not eaten or tried sweet potato leaves
have found a couple of links for you to view
http://www.homegrownfoods.com.hk/recipe/stir-fry-sweet-potato-leaves
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/sweet-potato-leaves-recipe-zb0z11zwar.aspx#axzz35AZcczkB
hope this helps
I am a little bit slow with responding. Thank you, kammy and StrawBerryRunner. I would like to add this recipe here, as it was explained to me by my friend. It has that special Filipino touch to it.Really this is news to me...how do you prepare the leaves of the sweet potatoes for consumption. Share your recipe with me...would love to try this one.