Slip some of these delicious, easy-to-grow veggies into your garden this year.
Tropical sweet potato plants are related tomorning gloriesand are very easy to grow.
They require a long, warm growing season to mature, which is why they’re a southern favorite.
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
Here’s how to plant and grow sweet potatoes in your garden.
They will grow inless than full sunbut not produce as well.
Your planting site should also be well-drained, or your sweet potato roots may rot.
Credit:Scott Little
If your soil is poorly drained or rocky, grow your sweet potatoes inraised bedsor large containers.
These plants often spread widely, so be sure you have adequate planting space.
ensure the soil has warmed to about 65F, usually about three to four weeksafter the last frost.
Credit:Scott Little
Space slips 12 to 18 inches apart in rows that are 3 to 4 feet apart.
The best is a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun per day.
To improve drainage, enrich soil with organic matter to a depth of 8 to 10 inches.
Credit:Marty Baldwin
Temperature and Humidity
Sweet potatoes love hot weather and grow best where temperatures range between 65-95F.
They thrive in areas with high humidity, but they will also tolerate average humidity.
Fertilizer
The best time to add fertilizer is just before planting.
A slow-release organic fertilizer can also be added to the soil prior to planting.
If your vines wander further than you want, lift them up and direct them to grow elsewhere.
In some areas, wire worms and root knot nematodes can cause problems underground.
Fusarium wilt and black scurf are fungal diseases that may infect sweet potatoes.
Fusarium wilt causes leaves to turn yellow and vines to wilt.
Sweet potatoes infected with black scurf develop rounded black blotches on the sweet potato.
This difference is significant in how new plants are started.
Cover the lower half of the sweet potato with potting soil.
Keep it moist and warm.
Within a few weeks, shoots will begin to sprout from one end.
One sweet potato will usually produce 10 to 20 slips.
Use a garden fork to lift the sweet potatoes and brush the soil from the roots.
Damaged roots should be separated for immediate use.
Curing heals small scratches and starts the conversion of starches to sugars, which improves flavor.
Don’t store sweet potatoes in the refrigerator, whether from your garden or from the grocery store.
Warmer is better than cooler to protect the flavor.
Wait to wash sweet potatoes until right before eating them.
It tolerates cooler temperatures than most varieties and matures in about 90 days.
Its flesh is bright orange and has excellent flavor.
Its flesh is reddish-orange, and it matures in 110 days.
O’Henry
OHenry is a tan-skinned variety with creamy-yellow, somewhat dry flesh with a delicate flavor.
It produces good yields of very large (sometimes cantaloupe-sized) sweet potatoes in about 100 days.
It takes 105 to 120 days to mature.
A yam is a tropical tuber more closely related to a lily.
Its tuber has starchy light-colored flesh and scaly tan skin.
Yams are mainly cultivated in western Africa, the Caribbean, and South America.
What manyAmericans call yamsare in fact sweet potatoes.
A few new varieties are being marketed asedible ornamental sweet potatoes.
Treasure Island Kaukura, for example, produces tasty, orange-fleshed roots on vines with deep purple leaves.
A half whiskey barrel is an excellent choice.
Use a well-drainingpotting soil.
