Dug up the sweet potatoes today.

[thistlebloom]

You have a nice setup @Ridgerunner.
I haven't done sweet potatoes for a couple of years, but I sure do like to eat them. We just don't have enough sustained heat to get them going unless you use a greenhouse or a hoophouse.

With regular spuds I think a lot of the success in storage is due to not only good conditions, but a good storage variety. For me Bintje was the hands down winner for long storage of all the varieties I've grown.
My potato storage is less than ideal too, but the Bintjes were still firm and smooth skinned into April.

 

[buckabucka]

I almost think I posted about this before,......maybe on a different thread.
My curing method is rather strange. We have large south-facing windows, floor to ceiling upstairs. I put the sweet potatoes in very thick (light-blocking) black plastic bags right by the window. I leave the bag loosely open, and spray a little water mist in there. It gets hot in the sun. Whenever I think of it, I open and close the bag rapidly (that's my ventilation ) and maybe mist them some more. On cold nights, I pull the shades and drag the bags away from the window a bit.

This year, I will store them in the basement in an insulated room that has freezers running in it, so hopefully not too cold. All the other years (before we got our basement) I smuggled them into school and stashed them in the kiln, which was the perfect temperature with its vent to outdoors.

 

[catjac1975]

I had poor sweet potatoes last year and great ones this year. I have not figured out why. I thought it was a hot summer with a lot of rain that brought success. That is what last summer was like and the outcome poor. This summer was dry and normal heat- in fact we never installed our window air conditioners. We have used them every other summer for years. So I have not figured out the trick. I buy Northern sweet potato starts which have a shorter growing season than most-90 days I think.

 

[PhilaGardener]

@catjac1975 , I had great sweets last year and poor ones this year, but my explanation has been that this year we never got that heat that they seem to like (and I don't!)

I have a curing trick similar to @buckabucka 's approach. After washing and air drying them, I put the tubers in a box and then put the box in a black bag in a car that sits in a sunny parking lot all day. Worked great - I am still eating last year's O'Henrys! (Which is a good thing because this year I barely got back enough to start slips next Spring).

 

[thistlebloom]

Those are such creative curing ideas! You guys are so clever.
I will remember the car trick if I'm ever able to harvest more than a bowl full.

 

[so lucky]

Well, I guess I really messed up with the curing process. I harvested a total of 34 lbs of sweets, and only cured the first half in the sun. Wonder what the last half will taste like? Or if they will keep long enough to eat?
I like the black bag in the hot car method. That sounds like something I can do (next year)

 

[baymule]

If I did a black bag in a hot car, the sweet potatoes would come out already baked.