thinking of growing sweet potatoes, could use some input

[the1honeycomb]

I always plant my sweet potatoes in containers! they really go crazy, and I don't know if I could dig that deep to get them. the vines get very long but when they get too long I trim them. the leaves are edible like lettuce. I put them in Salad. and trimming the vines doesn't seem to hurt anything! put the trimmed vines in water and you can have more starts!! when the potatoes are ready i just dump the container and collect my prizes!! I have several planted now and they seem to not want direct sunlight. I've given them partial shade and they are growing like crazy

hope this helped Good luck

 

[bobbi-j]

Thanks Ridgerunner and Honeycomb. I have a little greenhouse that we just put up this year, so I'm going to put one in there, and a few in the garden just to see what happens. It will be an experiment. If I get some, great! If not, well, I guess I won't plant them next year. Honeycomb - how big of a container do you use? I got them planted - I had 10 plants, so 8 went in the garden, one in the greenhouse and one in a container (I think a tree came in it) on my deck. Let the growing begin!

 

[the1honeycomb]

I use anything bags from mychicken feed, 5 gallon buckets, the storage containers from wal mart, I get them at the good will for 1-2 $ I just don't like to put them in the ground because they grow deep. I had one that grew through the hole in the container and was a good sixe under the container!! surprise and then the next year it was a volunteer

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most sweet potatoes form right under the center of the plant, but sometimes they send thick roots out quite a ways from the plant center. If you see a root about the size of a pencil going out, carefully follow it. There is a pretty good chance there is a sweep potato at the end of it. Sometimes those can be pretty big. I've had some roosts like that go at last 3-1/2 feet.

If you cut one when digging, don't worry. Leave it in a well-ventilated place for a while and it will heal itself. I've had some cut clean into last as long as undamaged ones.

Digging them can be a challenge. When I plant them, I mound up a hill maybe a foot tall or more. Since most develop in that, those are not too hard to dig. But yeah, some will be remote.

 

[bobbi-j]

Most sweet potatoes form right under the center of the plant, but sometimes they send thick roots out quite a ways from the plant center. If you see a root about the size of a pencil going out, carefully follow it. There is a pretty good chance there is a sweep potato at the end of it. Sometimes those can be pretty big. I've had some roosts like that go at last 3-1/2 feet.

If you cut one when digging, don't worry. Leave it in a well-ventilated place for a while and it will heal itself. I've had some cut clean into last as long as undamaged ones.

Digging them can be a challenge. When I plant them, I mound up a hill maybe a foot tall or more. Since most develop in that, those are not too hard to dig. But yeah, some will be remote.

A question about mounding - I'm not quite sure how to do that. You don't put the dirt right up against the stem, do you? When I planted them I did mound the dirt (not a foot high, though, maybe a few inches) kind of around the stem but not touching it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't bury the entire plant, but yes, I bury most of the stem.

 

[buckabucka]

I have been so busy I haven't been on here much, but just found this thread. We grow sweet potatoes every year in the hoop house, although we grew them before that by rigging up covers.

My sweet potatoes tend to sprout at the end of winter. Sometime in May, I bury a few in pots of sandy soil and let them grow. The slips should not have a lot of roots, less is better. I tend to start them too early.

If anyone missed the growing information on Sandhill's site, I highly recommend reading it, some good info there. http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/pages/sweetpotato_catalog.html
Also, keep in mind that Sandhill is a big operation with a small number of staff. When I order from them, I send it off realizing I might get sweet potatoes, and I might get a refund. One year they sent the slips in July, and I still got some to grow.

Continental Red isn't my favorite, but it sure grows well here. I also like Georgia Jet and a purple one with white flesh.
Happy growing!

 

[bobbi-j]

Hmm, OK. I will get out there and do some more mounding, then! I didn't know if it would rot the stems or something.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Additional roots will grow from the stem. If a leaf node touches the ground when the vine is running, it is likely to root there. It's also possible a sweet potato will develop there, not for sure but possible.

You don't even need roots on the slips. If you have a long slip and cut the last 6" or so off and bury a couple of leaf nodes, just plant that. If you keep the ground moist it will grow. Now it will be later than the rest so unless you have a nice long growing season it may not produce very well, but it will produce if the growing season is long enough.

Sweet potatoes are really easy to grow in the right conditions. They require the ground to be warm when they start and they require a long warm or hot growing season.

 

[buckabucka]

I read somewhere (not sure where) that if the sweet potato vine starts putting down roots at various points where it touches the ground, that it will greatly reduce the yield. Is this true? I've always tried to prevent it from rooting along the vines because of this, but it may be unnecessary.