I know it's too early for Sweet Potatoes, but I've never grown them before and I want to be prepared! So, any of you experienced with them, can you please fill me in and the how & where of Sweet Potato cultivation? Also, what varieties are your favorites, and what are your favorite suppliers? I was looking at Sand Hill Preservation's catalog, and they seem to offer a lot... Any thoughts welcome!

Thanks!
Ada

I started my own slips from a potaro i bought at the store. I used the toothpick and quart jar method. I put 3 toothpicks around the potato and placed it in a jar of water with about a 1.3 of the potato out of the water and let it grow.

I then broke off the vines(slips) and planted them in the garden when it was really warm. and kept them well watered so they would develope roots. Once rooted they can stand some drought conditions.

I was told by a lady that grew them when she was young to harvest them right before the first frost. Once a frost hits the vines it will travel into the potato and have an off flavor and less storage time.

I did have some nice size potatoes with my first crop.

Also theey will spread out pretty far. probably from where they emerged it was a good 6 feet coverage or maybe more.

Sweet potatoes grow best on sandy loam but they will grow in any soil as long as it is well-drained. The quality of the sweet potato crop will vary depending on what kind of soil they grow in. Sweet potatos like slightly acidic soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5, but I get good crops in improved sandy soil with a pH around 7 to 7.4. The nice thing about sweet potatoes is that they do better in poorer soil than in richer soil--they actually don't do that well on rich soil with high levels of organic content in the soil, so put them in an area where you have poorer soil. I did have to improve my small band of sandy soil for them because it was pure sand. And, if all you have is rich, heavy soil, they'll be OK as long as it drains very well. If it doesn't drain well, put them in a raised bed.

Sweet potatoes simply must have warmth so you cannot plant them until all danger of frost has passed. The ideal time to plant them is when your soil temperature reaches 60 degrees about 2" below the soil surface and stays there for at least 3 consecutive days.

You can grow your own slips or you can purchase them from Sandhill Preservation Center or sometimes you see them in nurseries and local feed/seed stores. Many varieties are available and every variety I've ever tried has produced a good crop here. If you purchase them from a region different than our own, be sure they will ship them at the right time. You get a larger crop from an earlier planting than a later one--so planting as soon as the soil is in the 60s will give you a maximum yield. The varieties I usually see in stores here in southern OK and in northern Texas are "Centennial", "Jewel" and "Beauregard".

Although sweet potatoes are somewhat drought-tolerant once established, they will grow best if you keep their soil uniformly moist but not sopping wet. Because they make beautiful, lush foliage, you may see some wilting during the hottest part of the day. If they do not recover from that wilting around sunset, they need to be watered. I get around the wilting issue by planting mine on the edge of the garden where they get morning sun until about noon or 1 p.m., then dappled shade from a pecan tree during the hottest part of the day, and then late, late afternoon sun from about 4 or 5 p.m. to sunset. Under those conditions, they seldom wilt here and the plants still get enough sun to set a good crop.

Sweet potatoes take a long, long time to reach harvestable size With most varieties, you ought to have at least some potatoes at "eating size" about 110-120 days after planting. You can harvest some of those and eat them then if you want (in the same way you take "new potatoes" from an Irish potato plant but leave the rest to mature). Sweet potatoes don't really "ripen"--they just get to a harvestable size so you can leave them in the ground and let them get bigger and bigger as long as you harvest them before your temperatures begin to drop below 50 degrees in the fall.

Harvesting mainly means digging them and letting them dry for a few hours before putting them in a location that will allow them to cure for a couple of weeks before they go into long-term storage.

I've never had pest problems with sweet potatoes, but some people have issues with the sweet potato weevil or with nematodes.

Dawn

There are a number of ways to sprout them. I personally prefer to sink an entire sweet potato about 3/4 of it's depth in a flat of potting mix. I keep this moist, warm and in light, and it sprouts within a couple weeks.

As the slips (little stalks/stems) reach about 5 or 6" I often break them off and transplant them into potting mix on their own. This causes the sweet potato to sprout more vigorously.

DON'T plant your slips outside until nights are consistently warm. You won't gain anything by doing so. In fact, I suspect you'll have a smaller harvest than if you waited until later, even weeks and weeks later, if necessary. Sweet potatoes want HEAT to really grow. Glenn Drowns of Sandhill Preservation Center is probably one of the most dedicated sweet potato growers I know. He has commented to me that on occasion he has received a sweet potato sample (slips) just before a late spring cold spell hit. He got a couple slips out and had to wait a MONTH before he could plant the rest. These later slips went in quite late by conventional standards. Yet they produced better than the ones which had endured the rain and cold.

Last year I put in a row of sweet potatoes (three varieties), really late, on July 18. They produced usable roots by fall. One variety, called Brinkly White actually produced REALLY WELL! But generally I want to get my sweet potatoes in by early June. Last year most were in before June.

I hill up earth, in rows, about a foot high, where I'm going to plant sweet potatoes. I know not everyone does this. But my theory is that this causes the young plants to REACH for moisture when the first heat hits. These first roots are the ones which will develop into the best sweet potatoes.

It is not necessary that a sweet potato slip have roots when planted. One can actually cut up a section of vine and plant the segments, on the top of the hill, and they will root and grow, even if they don't have roots to begin with. I use a tool to make a hole and push the slip in, on an angle, until only the top couple of leaves are above ground. Slips root within about 3-4 days.

I also prefer to flip my sweet potato vines, in order to keep them from rooting and forming small sweet potatoes away from the row. But again, this is my custom. I know some who don't do this and they swear that they get great harvests.

I agree with Dawn about moisture. They are very drought resistant. But it seems that root growth very nearly grinds to a halt during the hottest part of the summer, unless they receive some water.

Sweet potatoes are one of our very favorite crops. They are a staple in our diet. Home grown, and properly handled, they are usually superior to store bought. Plus, these days, one can save a lot of money by growing them.

Be sure to harvest before a really cold spell in the fall. The roots are best if they can be set out in a very warm location, for a couple days before being stored for the winter. Do not store them in a cold environment. They do best above 40 F. We've stored them in the house, at room temperature and only noticed that they start sprouting around February.

George

Let's be remembering Dawn's men, as I bet they are busy with fires right now. Pray for rain!

George

Thanks for all of the information and the starting tips; I know where to head now! And, George, what a great photo! It's helpful to put a visual in back of the starting information. And, they are beautiful. :-)

Ada

Thank You,
Nelda1234

Hi. Welcome to the Oklahoma Forum. We love having guests!

I don't think it makes a difference. Sweet potato slips grow just fine either way.

If you can't find sweet potato slips easily in your part of the country, there are lots of places where you can order them online.

If you want to grow an heirloom type of sweet potato, Sandhill Preservation Center has a great selection. I know George mentioned Sandhill and Glenn Drowns above. I'll link them below. Like George, I've found sweet potatoes produce much better if planted once the soil temps and air temps are really warm and the cold nights are history.

Good luck growing sweet potatoes.

Dawn

On the Indiana forum we are all chicken crazy!! :) We all have chickens and are always talking about our "girls".

I have 95 "girls" and 9 more coming in May! They are raised organically (except licence), I cook for them and bake them organic bread and grow organic wheat grass in the house for them! We on our forum Love our Chickens!! :)

Most Sweet Potatoes produced commercially in the U.S. are grown in the southern states, but this particular variety is more cold-tolerant than most. This gem will grow well in both the northern and southern states. It is recommended that when planting in the northern states, that you plant on a raised ridge of soil and that you cover the ridge with black plastic a week or so prior to planting. This warms the soil in preparation for the young plants and enables you to plant earlier, resulting in less shock and more abundantly fruitful plants.

You may also find that you enjoy the ornamental aspect of Sweet Potato plants. The Georgia Jet has a heart-shaped leaf tinged with a deep burgundy color. A close relative of the Morning Glory, they grow as trailing vines and can quickly become an attractive ground cover. You can just as easily grow them in your kitchen window in a mason jar, though you will not produce Sweet Potatoes in this manner. The Sweet Potato itself is a root rich in Vitamin A with a subtly sweet flavor that is enjoyed as a side dish with just a dollop of butter, as the main ingredient in a tasty casserole or baked into a pie for a scrumptious and wholesome desert.

You pull the sprouts off the potato and plant the sprout, which is referred to as a slip. Some people plant the slips directly into the ground at that point, but I like to stick them in a flat of potting soil and let them develop some roots first. Some people stick the slips in water and root them that way, but when you do that, the continuous moisture can lead to disease if they're left in the water more than a very few days. By rooting them first, the slips are less likely to struggle if it is hot when they're set out. (They adore heat, but not before they have at least some roots).

Dawn

George

The sweet potatos that you gave me at the Spring swap are growing very well! I lost the white one to some sort of varmit. Can't wait to see the prizes soon.

Laura

Here's a link to the Internet site of "The Current," a Green Country publication. Right on this page is a link to an article, on sweet potatoes, which I did for them. The article also contains links to both Duck Creek Farms (Gary's outfit) and Sandhill Preservation Center, which you already know.

Bt the way, I suspect this link will only be good until April. After that I could email it to whoever might be interested.

I have mine started, indoors, now.

George

http://www.currentland.com/