Anyone planting sweet potatoes?

[Greenthumb18]

I ordered a few sweet potato plants, and was wondering if anyone else was giving them a try. This is my first time trying to plant them. I don't know too much about how to grow them.

Thanks!

 

[lesa]

I will be very interested to see how you do with these, in NY. I love using the ornamental ones, and they grow like crazy. Do you think sweet potatoes will store well? I seem to remember you need to let them "cure" or dry out a bit, before storage. Keep us posted!

 

[jojo54]

I posted some info awhile back. Check out the info in the following thread.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=27287

I planted mine last year in a mound. You need to have workable soil fairly deep. Some people have tried tubs. I am thinking of having a raised bed for them in the future.

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[jojo54]

I will be very interested to see how you do with these, in NY. I love using the ornamental ones, and they grow like crazy. Do you think sweet potatoes will store well? I seem to remember you need to let them "cure" or dry out a bit, before storage. Keep us posted!

I cured mine last year in the garage with the wood stove going to bring the temp up. I didn't have the high humidity it suggests but covered them with sheets to help keep the moisture in. I also had pots of water on the stove. I then stored them in containers filled with hay so keep them separated. I kept them in a basement closet (not the cold room - it was too cold for them) I think I may use shredded paper this year because some of the hay was not dry and those potatoes started to get moldy. Dry straw would be great but I didn't have any. The potatoes kept until spring although some did sprout so it could have been cooler for them.

They tasted great and were nice and sweet!

 

[hoodat]

I ordered a few sweet potato plants, and was wondering if anyone else was giving them a try. This is my first time trying to plant them. I don't know too much about how to grow them.

Thanks!

The most important thing to remember is that they need LOTS OF ROOM. They form dense mats of vines that will shade out weeds and aren't very buggy.
You need loose well drained soil and as much heat as you can get. They will need lots of water but can't stand to be waterlogged. That's why you need well drained soil. If they get too far out of hand they can be cut back but it's better if you don't have to. If you have to cut them back remember that the leaves and tender shoots make great greens. In some places they are grown more for the greens than the potatos.They don't need much fertilizer. They will grow even in poor soil. Too much fertilizer makes the tops spread out over too wide an area.
Be sure to harvest before even a light frost. If the plants get touched by frost the potatos won't store well. They should be stored at least a week or two before you eat them. Storing makes them sweeter.

 

[ducks4you]

After I get from my weekend out-of-town I'm gonna just try putting a few from the store into the ground. THIS year, my Potatoes and over 2 ft high (hilled NOW) and gorgeous!! This has got to be a good year for root vegetables.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I build up a mound probably a foot high or so and plant them about 12" to 14" apart in a row. I usually have to cultivate a couple of times, but once they start running they pretty much form their own living green mulch. They do spread out a lot. Everywhere they touch the ground they will send out roots.

They are a warm weather crop, not doing well in cool weather. This is another one that the soil needs to warm up before you plant them. Maybe using a black plastic mulch will warm the soil and help yours grow? Which varieties did you get? Some are quicker maturing and would probably do better than others in your area.

Sweet potatoes are not like the white potatoes. You do not have to mound the ground up as they grow. White, Irish, Idaho, what ever you want to call them, set potatoes above where the seed potato is. Not so with sweet potatoes. I mound up before I plant them to give them looser soil to grow in and form potatoes in but the main reason is that it is easier to dig them.

You are a long way from storing them, but sweet potatoes like to be stored in low humidity. If I remember right about 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit is about right. Never let them freeze!

Good luck with it. Sweet potatoes can be a very good crop to grow.

 

[Greenthumb18]

Thanks everyone for the replies!! I appreciate it
I'll be sure to keep all that in mind when i get them planted.

 

[wifezilla]

I have 3 in old feed bags, 3 in a Little Types toy box and 1 planted in the ground. Not sure I have enough growing days to pull this off, but I have plenty of heat and the vines are pretty

 

[curly_kate]

I grew them last year for the first time, and we had a ton of them. We had tubs with the bottoms cut off to give them more room. This year, they are in a nice, deeply dug bed with more room for them to spread. Do they ever spread!! I cured them a couple of weeks once I dug them up, and we just had one for dinner last night. So yeah, they keep really well!