Are the sweet potatoes ready yet?

[wsmoak]

According to my notes I planted the Beauregard sweet potato slips on May 1. It's now three and a half months later, and the vines are still green and growing -- and some are still blooming with pretty purple flowers.

Are these like normal potatoes where you wait for the vines to die back? In that case I think it's going to be a while...

What do you wait for to harvest sweet potatoes?

-Wendy

 

[Greenthumb18]

I grew sweet potatoes last season, you have to wail until the vines turn yellow then you can start harvesting. I actually didn't get any blooms off my sweet potato vines last season, I bet they were sure pretty to look at.

Hope this helps!!

 

[dickiebird]

You can leave them in the ground after the vines die back, just don't let them freeze. I've been told this will enhance their flavor. I have not tried that!!

Last year was the first time I grew sweet potatoes and I dug them in early Oct.

THANX RICH

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can try digging into a hill to see if they are big enough to eat, but I would not. The flavor will be better if you wait until later. They'll keep growing too as long as it is hot, so size will probably be an issue. If you have several planted, you might want to see if some are ready to start eating on, but I'd personally wait until a lot closer to cool weather to dig them, expecially digging the bulk for storage. They will taste a lot better and be bigger. That may be a while in Georgia, at least late September, probably into October.

They are very tender to frost. If you get a frost, the vines will die immediately and the potatoes will start to rot real soon. So dig them before a frost. If you get hit with a surprise frost, immediately cut off the vines and dig them as soon as you can. I know. Not likely in Georgia soon.

Another thing to watch for. If it sets in wet and stays wet, I have had a lot rot in the ground. So if you get a couple of straight weeks where the ground pretty much stays soaked, you might want to start checking on them, messy as it is.

I remember cows, horses, and pigs really liking the sweet potato vines. If you have animals, you might want to offer them some vines when you harvest.

 

[vfem]

I see the farmers harvest their's here in September, we have FIELDS of it around where we live. I don't bother planting them because I'm not a huge fan, but when the farmers are done harvesting much of the community pulls over with grocery bags and digs around for the potatoes they missed. Usually there are yellow vines just strewn everywhere at that time, some still green. I don't ever see them let them die back completely.

Since we have similar climates, you probably have another month at least to get them.

 

[wifezilla]

I planted mine in June. I wont even think of harvesting until we start getting frost warnings. Last year I grew garnet sweet potatoes. This year I actually got some more suited for my climate. I have violetta and carogolds this time. The vines look great.

And while you can feed the vines and leaves to your critters, don't forget to pull off any tender leaves for yourself before you put the vines in the duck pen

 

[momofdrew]

My vines have been in since the end of May.. I dont have any flowers yet...should I be concerned???

 

[gone 2 seed]

I dug up a couple potatoes from under the mounds today and they are over a pound. Can they get too big? I have them drying in the sun and will store for 2 weeks before I try them. Those are the directions I found on an agriculture site.

Susan

 

[retiredwith4acres]

They will get sweeter the longer they are left, even after harvesting, sweeter the longer kept.

 

[pebbles]

This is my first time for sweet potatoes also. I have read several places that after you dig them up you are suppose to store them at 95 degrees for a week. Is this true? If it is true I figure I'll just treat the sweet potatoes the same way I treated my baby chicks in a brooder. Had to keep them at 95 degrees for a week too