Dug up the sweet potatoes today.

[bobbi-j]

After two nights of killing frost, we decided to dig up the sweet potatoes. They turned out fairly well, I think, considering I had no idea what I was doing when I planted them. We ended up with about 2 dozen of them out of 6 plants. They started out well, but then my squash overtook their spot in the garden so I was surprised to get anything, really. Anyway, I have read that they now need to be cured in a place that's about 80* and around 80% humidity. A few weeks ago, I could have just left them out in the garage. Now, though, it's only in the 50's and 60's during the day, 30's and 40's at night. So my thought was a space heater and humidifier in the unused basement bathroom. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks,
Bobbi

 

[so lucky]

Ugh! I sorta forgot to do that with the second batch I dug. The first batch I just left outside in the shade, but now it is chilly and rainy. I have my sweet taters in a box downstairs. I guess I should bring them up here where it is a little warmer. Well, maybe not, since it has been a week or so. I read somewhere that you could use a space heater in a closed off room. Can't remember for how long.

 

[journey11]

I never got around to setting anything up for mine, but I think your plan sounds good. I left mine in the garage, which is humid, but wasn't quite warm enough. I'll plan better for next year. If I'd dug them sooner, it would have been warmer.

 

[digitS']

This reminds me of winter squash with requirements to cure them at such warm temperatures. The temperatures for sweet potatoes somehow make sense.

I knew nothing about this until I read what North Carolina State University had to say: (link) "a 10-day curing period with 80 to 85F and a relative humidity of 80 to 85%." Looks about the same for sweet potatoes.

My squash came close to this because of cutting them before frost and warm weather after the cold.

Steve

 

[the1honeycomb]

I keep mine in a basket in the kitchen. not really 80 degrees but we eat them fast enough that I don't get much spoilage.

 

[catjac1975]

I have great sweet potatoes. I have yet to be able to find the trick to keeping them from spoiling. I have enough to last the winter but, a month is what I usually get. Any help?

 

[baymule]

My sweet potatoes were a flop. I barely got a big bowl full. Some of them look more like fat fingers and while I was digging away, the dog snitched a few of them and ate them! A couple of meals and we'll be done.

@catjac1975 the past two winters I put the sweets in a laundry basket in a corner of the dining room. They kept until we ate them all and the past two years, I actually had a lot of sweets!

 

[catjac1975]

No special treatment Bay?

 

[baymule]

I washed the dirt off and let them dry under a tree. I brought them in a night because of the extreme dew and humidity and put them back out during the day. I did that for about a week. If it is already too cold, them spread them out on some newspaper in the house for a couple of weeks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You keep reading about how you have to have "ideal" conditions to cure or store sweet potatoes. You have to have "ideal" fruits or veggies to eat or preserve. Everything has to be "ideal". I don't have "ideal" conditions. I have conditions "I deal" with. I don't have perfect veggies or fruit so I cut out the bad parts and use the rest. I don't have ideal curing or storing conditions. My white potatoes and onions don't store well at all. Garlic and sweet potatoes do pretty well.

It's good to know what the "ideal" conditions are so you know what to target but just do the best you can. You can't do any better than the best you can. This article gives the "ideal" conditions to cure and store sweet potatoes.

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livestock/crops/sweet_potatoes/LSU AgCenter Horticulturist Discusses Curing and Storing Sweet Potatoes.htm

For sweet potatoes I rinse them off then dry them and cure them for a couple of weeks on drying racks made form half inch hardware cloth and 2x4's. Then I store them in a 2 foot cubed box in my attached garage. It might get a bit cool in there but it never freezes It don't get real hot either. I'll probably be eating off mine until April or May of next year. I was this spring. Onions and white potatoes, not no how, not no way.


Here is my harvest this year, at least most of it. I gave a crate of the really big ones to a local food bank and will probably give them some more when the second batch cures. The first two shots are the elevated racks in my workshop where the second ones I dug are curing. The third shot shows the ones I dug first already in storage.