Tips for Growing Sweet Potatoes

Here are some tips for growing sweet potatoes. The sweet potato is a flavorful and delicious vegetable and perhaps best of all is fairly easy to grow. Sweet potatoes even store well for extended periods of time. Whether you are growing sweet potatoes for the first time or have done it for years, here are some tips that may help you more successfully grow sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are grown from cuttings of a sprouted potato also called a slip. If a gardener is buying slips, choose the slips that have the 'hairiest' looking roots. Those small hair looking growths on the roots help to draw moisture and nutrients that the sweet potato will need to grow well. Sweet potatoes are commonly grown in mounds or hills. Place the mound or hill in an area that will receive abundant sunlight. Once the mound or hill has been prepared, work the soil to loosen it before planting the slip so that the plant can grow easily.

After the sweet potato takes off it will not need a lot of water, but a young plant will need moist soil to do best. The roots of sweet potatoes do not grow very deep. Because of this a gardener must weed very carefully when the plant is young. Pinch off weeds instead of pulling them to avoid disturbing the sweet potato plant. The sweet potato plant will eventually grow and block the sun from reaching the soil which will virtually keep weeds from growing. However, a gardener should work to keep dead weeds cleared away from the sweet potato plant to discourage insects that might harm the plant.

After about 3 to 4 months the sweet potatoes will be ready to be harvested. Pull up a plant or two to make certain that the potatoes look good. If they are ready to harvest cut off the sweet potato plants at ground level. Allow the sweet potatoes to stay in the ground for a day or two before digging them up. This allows the potato some time to harden so they will not be as easily damaged when dug up. Any sweet potato that is cut or badly bruised should be eaten quickly. Do not wash off the sweet potatoes before storing. The dirt can be brushed off but leaving the washing until you are ready to eat them. Store sweet potatoes in a cool environment. Sweet Potatoes should be stored loosely as the potatoes may start to rot if they are touching.