Sweet Potatoes
From Open Source Ecology
Temperature
- Around 60 degrees fahrenhait ideal
Sunlight
Water
- During the first 2 weeks after planting, spray each plant with 10 seconds of water from a garden hose (1/2 diameter) at 50psi or equivalent volume of water.
- After the first 2 weeks, spray each plant similarly as before but once a week if the weather has been dry.
Planting Timing
- Plant after any risk of frost.
- Planting with frost coming later is situationally ok because the water inside a grown sweet potato causes a moderating effect that enables the plant to last in the cold longer than it would normally as a new split.
- Beauregard sweet potatoes are harvest-ready in 90 days.
- Centennial sweet potatoes are harvest-ready in 100 days.
Planting Material
- Sweet potatoes grow from splits, thin root-like things.
- If you cut a sweet potato in half then submerge it in water, the splits will grow.
Spacing
- Plant sweet potatoes 2-4 inches below the topsoil surface
- Plant sweet potatoes 12-18 inches apart in rows
- Plant the rows at least 2-3 ft apart
How to Plant
- Till the ground to loosen the soil
- Make holes in the soil in rows and put the splits into them
- Cover the holes with soil and lightly tamp them