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Grow sweet potato: is a tropical, warm-season crop, and a perennial plant originating in the South America. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and complex carbohydrates. Sweet potato contains beta-carotene, which is easily converted by the body into vitamin A.
Types: sweet potatoes are broadly divided into two categories: those with moist flesh and those with drier flesh. Moist-flesh varieties are often referred to as “yams” which are botanically different.
Soil: well-drained, sandy, or loamy soils provide the best environment for storage roots to develop. Planting sweet potatoes in heavy clay or rocky soil will result in misshapen sweet potato roots. Soil that does not drain well may result in lower yields and rotten sweet potato roots. Sweet potatoes are fairly tolerant of a wide range of soil but will grow best in soils with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Sweet potatoes benefit from soil with organic matter. If you add animal manure to the soil, be sure to add it well before planting to allow for decomposition.
Starting potatoes: sweet potatoes are produced from vegetative stem tip cuttings, or “slips.” Slips are produced from sprouted sweet potato storage roots saved from the previous year’s crop. Slips may or may not have roots when they are cut. A good sweet potato slip should be firm, green, and 8 to 12 inches long, preferably with one or two leaves. You can produce slips at home or purchase them from a reputable vendor. To produce slips, buy healthy, disease-free sweet potatoes from a local market. Scrub them clean and then cut them in half. Suspend each half over a jar of water by inserting toothpicks so that half is submerged in the water. Place the sweet potato near a window for warmth and sunlight. Over the next few weeks, shoots will form on top.
Transplanting: sweet potatoes should be grown in ridged rows 12 inches wide and 8 to 10 inches tall. Plant after soils have warmed and all danger of spring frost has passed. Sweet potato slips can be transplanted from early May through June. Plant slips with the cut end down 4 to 5 inches deep and 9 to 15 inches apart. Rows should be 3 to 4 feet apart. Planting slips farther apart in a row will often result in an earlier harvest or larger sweet potato roots.
Planting: 8 weeks before you plant slips, place smaller sweet potato roots from the previous year’s crop into hotbeds and cover with 1 to 2 inches of soil. You can also plant sweet potato roots in raised beds, cover with 1 to 2 inches of soil, and cover the entire bed with black or clear plastic mulch. Plastic mulch should contain a 2-inch ventilation hole every 4 linear feet of plant bed. Plant beds should remain between 75 and 85°F. Remove the plastic mulch when shoots begin to emerge from the soil (approximately 2 to 4 weeks after bedding). Slips are ready to cut when the growing point of the shoot extends 9 to 13 inches above the soil surface.
Fertilization: check the soil test results to determine how much nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), and potassium (K) is needed. Test results will include recommendations for fertilizer application rates. In the absence of a soil test, apply 5-10-10 fertilizer. Incorporate prior to ridge formation and planting.
Care: sweet potato plants require full sunlight to fully develop. Plants should receive at least 8 hours of full sun each day. Sweet potato plants are vines, and they trail along the ground. Sweet potatoes are extremely heat tolerant. They can also tolerate light frosts as long as the soil temperature stays above 55°F. In a mixed vegetable garden, avoid planting sweet potatoes near taller vegetable plants with more upright growth habits. Taller plants typically block sunlight from the low-growing sweet potato vines. If space is limited, plant sweet potatoes on the south or west side of taller plants to allow for more direct sunlight.
Watering: sweet potatoes are tough plants and are generally considered to be drought tolerant; however, the best quality and greatest quantity of sweet potato storage roots are produced when plants receive timely and sufficient watering. Plants should be watered immediately after they are transplanted in order to allow roots to form on slips. Maintain even soil moisture during the first 2 weeks after planting. After plants are established, sweet potatoes should receive approximately 1 inch of rainfall or irrigation per week.
Weeds: the best way to control weeds in the home garden is by shallow hoeing, hand removal, and mulch. A layer of mulch 1 to 2 inches thick should suppress most weed and help maintain even soil moisture during the growing season.
Harvest: unlike most crops, sweet potatoes never truly ripen or reach a stage of maturity. Young sweet potato storage roots are formed within the first 2 weeks of planting and continue growing larger. Sweet potato varieties differ in days to maturity, but most range between 90 and 120 days. Sweet potatoes should be harvested in the late summer to early fall before soil temperatures drop below 60°F. Carefully place a shovel or garden fork into the ground far enough away from where the vine enters the ground to avoid cutting through the sweet potato storage roots. Use the shovel or fork to lift up each individual hill. Excessive skinning or abrasion will shorten the time roots can be stored and may cause roots to spoil or shrivel. Harvesting sweet potatoes when the soil is dry will result in increased skinning and should be avoided if possible.
Curing: cure sweet potatoes immediately after harvest. Place them in an environment with temperatures of 80 to 85°F and 85 to 90 % relative humidity for 7 to 10 days. Curing helps to heal wounds that occur during harvest, preventing shriveling and reducing the risk of rot during storage. Curing also makes the sweet potato more palatable by converting starches to sugars and improving aroma and texture.
Storage: under the right conditions, properly cured sweet potatoes can be stored for months. Sweet potatoes should be stored in a dark, cool place. Temperatures should remain between 55 and 60°F. Remember that sweet potatoes have tropical origins, and a raw sweet potato should never be stored in the refrigerator. When stored below 55°F for extended periods of time, roots can experience chilling injury, resulting in hard cores when they are cooked. If roots are stored above 60°F for extended periods, sprouts may begin to appear from the top of the root.
Source: http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/growing-sweet-potatoes-home
