I know I'm joining the party a bit late. But, we are gearing up to get our first garden in, this year, since we moved to TX (zone 9a) & moved to our little farm in January of 2015.
We grew a small plot of sweet potatoes, in PA with great success. We had very rocky soil, so dug 12" deep trenches, which we put a layer of sand, a layer of hay, compost mixed with peat, screened soil & organic dry fertilizer & kind of mixed it up before planting our slips. We didn't know how to do our own slips, and could only get 25 slips at the local garden center.
We didn't have a lot of room, since we were using two 20X20' Community garden plots. So we just did three 15' rows 2' apart. Three of our slips died, so we had 22 plants that did well. Since this was our first attempt, we were pleased with the outcome - about 75 pounds.
Here in NE Texas we have 6-8" of sandy loam on top of clay. With all the rain we have been getting, the clay seems to be continually soggy. We dug a 10X12' garden for winter vegetables, with a digging fork. The clay was too wet & heavy to turn. So we just mixed some of our compost, which we started last summer, into the top 6 inches of dirt.
I saw something online, that looks interesting, and we thought we would try it this year & I'm wondering if anyone has ever grown sweet potatoes this way?
Start with 4 6' posts in the ground. Build a raised bed that is 4'X4'X6" with dirt in it. Plant your slips. When the runners grow add a layer of boards to the posts using screws. Fill straw around the runners, leaving leaves exposed. Let them grow. Add boards, straw & repeat. When ready to harvest, remove the boards & reach in to the straw to get the potatoes. So, essentially you end up with a tower of potatoes.
I would think watering would be from the top & you could remove a side board to check for moisture level.
From what I read, potatoes form on the stems when they are covered with straw.
