Vegetable growing guide
Sweet potatoes
Ipomoea batatas
Sun
Full sun
Season
Warm
Maturity
90 to 120 days
Water
Moderate
Soil pH
5.5 to 6.5
Spacing
12 to 18 in
Planting sweet potatoes
Plant slips, not seeds, three to four weeks after the last frost when the soil is warm. Slips are sprouts grown off a tuber, and they root quickly in warm ground.
Planting details
- Spacing: 12 to 18 inches; vines cover the bed completely
- Bury slips up to the first leaves
- Cure roots 1 to 2 weeks in warmth for sweetness and storage
Growing requirements
Sweet potatoes want heat, full sun, and loose sandy soil. Go easy on nitrogen: rich feeding produces a jungle of vines and skinny roots.
Harvesting and care
Dig before the soil cools in fall, lifting carefully because the skins bruise easily. Cure the roots at 80 to 85 degrees F for a week or two, which converts starch to sugar and sets them up for months of storage.
Common mistakes
- Planting slips into cold soil, which stalls or rots them
- Heavy nitrogen feeding, which grows vines instead of roots
- Skipping the cure, which leaves roots bland and quick to spoil
Companion plants
Give sweet potatoes their own run along an edge or a dedicated bed, since the dense vines swallow anything low growing nearby.