For the home gardener, how to grow sweet potatoes is a quick learning curve which gives a fabulous yield.
Sweet potatoes grow as an invasive vine/creeper and you need large space in full sun to have a good crop, but these tubers grow well in poor soil as well as good. So if you have some space to dedicate to this great tasting vegetable, do give it a try!
How to grow sweet potatoes – planting
First you make mounds in the ground – like little graves. Mine are about 1m square – just due to my spacing. You can make them longer if you have space.
Then take a vine that has some red on the end and a leaf on the other and wind it up. If you don’t have vines from a friend or previous crop, you can allow your organic shop bought sweet potatoes to sprout in a warm dark place. When they are sprouted you will plant as explained.
Plant it so that the red part and most of the stem is under the ground – I did two to a mound, but if your mounds are longer you can do more.
After a few months your vines will have grown to something similar as this picture below. You can leave them for as long as you want and the tubers will continue to grow and put down further vines.
After about 4 months you can begin to harvest them by digging them out carefully. The tubers can be quite deep down in the earth so do not give up hope.Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
Long term care
Do not discard the vines. Choose the ones that are the strongest for your next seasons planting. You should not plant the same crop in the same area twice, so find another good sunny spot and start the process again. You can now plant other nitrogen fixing crops like beans in this used area for the following season.
A simple and rewarding way how to grow sweet potatoes in your home vegetable garden. We have also found that growing potatoes is great in a home vegetable garden.
Quick Notes
When to plant: All year long unless you get snow in winter.How many plants: 10 plants is more than sufficient for the home veggie garden.
How long to harvest: 4 months
Successive planting: Every 4th week if you have the space for more than one planting.
SWEET POTATO RECIPE
Sweet potatoes can be mashed, roasted, baked…the ideas are endless.
We love to make potato gnocchi which can be adapted for sweet potaotes. Sweet potatoes are also perfect to add tobutternut soup