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For gardeners who are search togrow their own food , sweet spud can be a satisfying crop . They bet pretty in the garden bed and , if hive away aright , can keep for up to a yr . Because there ’s an abundance of delicious sweet potato recipe , from traditional baked dishes to cherubic potato fries , having sweet potatoes on hand can make for variety and colour to the dinner party table .
Growing them does take a measure of forbearance , as most reach maturity only after about 4 month . However , they are well worth the wait . Find out below how to grow sweet potatoes so you’re able to draw the advantage in your garden .
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Growing Sweet Potatoes at a Glance
Common Name : Sweet potatoScientific Name : Ipomoea batatasHardiness geographical zone : zone 8 to 11Soil : Loamy , quick - draining with pH 5.8 to 6.5Light : Full sunWater : Regular , at least 1 inch per weekFood : scurvy - N fertilizerPropagation : SlipsSafety : parting can be toxic
Sweet Potato Characteristics
plenteous in potassium , calcium , roughage , carotenoid , and vitamins A and C , angelic potatoes are one of the manysuperfoods you could grow yourself . This amazing vine has been cultivated in Peru since 750 B.C.—possibly earlier , with some archaeological record suggesting it was grown as a food source between 2500 and 1850 B.C. It is a adorable vining plant that , collapse enough space , looks beautiful in the garden .
Contrary to popular feeling , the yam plant and the odoriferous potato plant are two entirely different plants , though both are glean for their tubers , or roots . The genus Tuber themselves are different . The yam ( Dioscorea spp . ) is the genus Tuber of a tropical vine native to Africa , Asia , and the Caribbean . more or less sweet than a angelic potato , it has rasping brown or dark skin with purple , cherry , or lily-white human body .
The sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas ) is a distant congenator of the morning resplendency and even produces pretty empurpled flowers not unlike a morning glory . fresh Solanum tuberosum tubers typically have jaundiced , pale orange , deep orange , red , or purple hide , with the flesh ranging from pale jaundiced to cryptical purpleness — though the most ordinarily consumed varieties are orange .
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Because the plant is so attractive , the sweet potato vine is also grow for cosmetic purposes . It ’s popular inhanging basketsandwindow boxesbecause of its trail quality and decorative foliage that ranges from empurpled to smart chartreuse .
Recommended Sweet Potato Varieties
Planting Sweet Potatoes
take this beautiful plant in avegetable garden is aesthetically pleasing , but they involve lot of way to spread . bush sweet potato variety are more compact , but some vining sweet potatoes can straggle to 6 feet or more .
When is the best time to plant sweet potatoes?
Sweet murphy season accept place during the tender month . Plant slips ( which are sprouts maturate from other sweet potatoes ) in tardy leaping , 3 to 4 weeks after thelast spring frost . Soil temperatures should consistently be above 65 degrees Fahrenheit , and overnight temperatures should not dip below 55 degrees . This can be challenging for gardener in northerly or high - altitude clime with short grow seasons , so it might be best to choose a variety with a short harvest flow , such as the 90- to 100 - day varieties .
Where can sweet potatoes grow?
Sweet white potato should be originate in a gay garden plot that get 8 to 10 hours of sun a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . They require well - drain , loamy filth . A goodloamy soilis made up of a balance of sand , silt , and clay and has excellent drainage . This is perfect for sweet potatoes , which favor soil moist but never doughy . If garden filth is heavier , it might be better to embed sweet white potato vine slips in a raised bed or make fire rows for them in your odoriferous potato garden . This will help keep the land temperature warm as well .
How do you plant sweet potatoes?
Because sweet white potato are temperature - sensible , they should ideally be planted on an clouded day with temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit . If the grunge is not enriched with alow - nitrogen , high - phosphorus fertilizerwhen planting , utilise an tantamount fluid fertilizer after following these odoriferous white potato planting step .
Can you grow sweet potatoes in containers?
Growing seraphic potato incontainersis entirely potential . Start with a sort that expect less space , like Porto Rico , a bush sweet potato change that grow poor , more compact vines . The container should have mess of drain . Some gardeners usefabric container for growing potato , which offer lots of aeration to the roots . Keep container - grow odorous potato in a warm station with full sun . Be sure the soil stay evenly moist , but verify plant life do not sit around in water .
Watering Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes needregular water , but they can address ironical dirt once found . Regular , thoroughgoing waterings are necessary after planting slips until they become established . Once established , sweet potatoes take about 1 column inch of water per week , count on the atmospheric condition .
Water sweet murphy plants in the evening or other morning to be certain the leaves dry out off during the day . Stop water in the last 3 to 4 week before harvesting mellifluous Irish potato , as watering during that time can cause tubers to split .
Fertilizing Sweet Potatoes
Thebest fertiliser for potatoesis also the best fertilizer for odoriferous potatoes . The simple fashion to feed fresh tater is to work a downhearted - nitrogen , high - morning star fertilizer ( 5 - 10 - 10 ) into the soil before planting the slip . However , some gardeners prefer to add a liquid or water - soluble fertilizer at planting time and then every 4 to 6 weeks during the growing season . As with watering , bar fertilizing closer to the fourth dimension of harvest home .
Pruning Sweet Potatoes
Avoid clip angelical spud vines at all , since the folio bung the tubers and will help industrial plant grow a racy harvest time . If the vine become unruly , the good thing to do is to seek to develop them onto atrellisor back into the garden bottom .
Propagating Sweet Potatoes
Sweet white potato are disseminate from sprout grown from other sweet potatoes hump as slips . Most gardener either corrupt slips from a garden center when planting season comes around ororder them online . Because sweet potatoes take on average 100 sidereal day or more to mature and necessitate soil temperatures above 65 degrees Fahrenheit , buyers should keep this in judgement when timing on-line orders .
Slips can also be propagated from goodish cherubic potatoes , which is an economical approach since a single sweet potato can make around 50 slip sprout . The sweet potato propagation process is fairly dewy-eyed and not unlike sprouting a white potato , or even anavocado pit .
Safety Considerations
Although sweet potato genus Tuber arenot toxic to pets , the sweet potato vine can be poisonous , peculiarly to Arabian tea . Unripe gratifying potatoes are unsafe for dogs to use up , though they can eat fully good , fix odoriferous potatoes in temperance .
Potential Pests and Diseases
Unfortunately , sweet potatoes are not resistant to several fungi and pests . The good preventive footmark is torotate your crops . Avoid planting sweet potatoes in the same spot class after year , as fungi will pass along on in the grime . take care for disease - tolerant smorgasbord , and buy your slips from a reputable agriculturalist .
Sweet potatoes can fall prey towhiteflies , wireworm , grub , root - knot nematodes , and flea beetle . Perhaps a bigger problem than insect are several usual fungus , with fusarium wilt , white rust , sweet potato scurf , radical decomposition , and black putrefaction being the most common fresh Irish potato fungal diseases . Unfortunately , the only viable alternative is to destroy infected plants .
Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
harvest home sweet potato roots can be satisfy . Once the territory is loose enough , the fresh potato vine pulls up easily , revealing a drawstring of several beautiful fresh Irish potato at once . Do n’t scrub potatoes after harvest ; just shake off or brush off teetotal scandal cautiously . hold off until you are ready to run through the genus Tuber to wash it , since the wet will shorten its ledge lifespan .
When is the best time to harvest sweet potatoes?
Ideally , reap sweet potatoes before temperatures drop to 50 degree Fahrenheit or dispirited . sweet-smelling potatoes are warm - season plant that will grow until frost kills the vines , so they should be harvested as presently as this happens . If the ancestor stay in the primer too long after cold temperatures , they will molder .
How do you harvest sweet potatoes?
Although angelical potato can be harvested as soon as they search big enough to corrode , you ’ll jazz sweet potatoes are ready to harvest when the vines and leave-taking get sour yellow . This is around 100 days after planting , but this will calculate on the potpourri .
How do you cure sweet potatoes?
Cure sweet-scented potato tubers before storing them to aid them inure off . They ’ll form a 2nd skin that will keep them secure from nicks and bruises , and they ’ll develop a unfermented feeling . The challenge is finding a place to cure them .
How do you store sweet potatoes?
Always stack away sweet potatoes in a coolheaded , dry , dark area . Place them in a wooden box or basket in the back of the pantry if it stays cool enough , or in a stem cellar or basement . Do not store them in the refrigerator , where wet and cold air will make them to spoil quicker . Many gardener wrap their sweet-scented potatoes in newspaper and then place them in a wooden box .
Sweet Irish potato can also be frozen and stored for up to a yr in the Deepfreeze . They must be strip down , moil , and cooked completely first . Slice the sweet potatoes and tally a little lemon succus to aid preserve semblance , then store them in Deepfreeze - dependable bags .
Looking for more healthy food to grow ? learn out our guides on growingpotatoes , pumpkin vine , andcarrots .
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Photo: istockphoto.com
Photo: istockphoto.com
