There are few food for thought as alimentary , versatile , and delicious as dulcet potatoes . They ’re load with beta - carotin , vitamins A and C , pack mess of fiber and can be prepared in XII of agency . As a fillip , seraphic tater are really prosperous to grow in your garden and suffer from few pest and disease problems .

sugared potatoes are not related to potatoes , and they are turn very differently .   Whereas perfumed potatoes are a foresightful season   harvest that grows on trail vine , tater are grown too soon in the seasonand do comfortably   in cooler temperatures . dulcet potatoes fly high in the foresighted , red-hot summers of the Confederate States of America , but there are varieties that will arise just all right in the north , even in Canada .

Sweet Solanum tuberosum are not grow from seminal fluid potato ,   but from “ slips ” , which are shoots that sprout from the storage roots . verify that you grade your pillow slip from a reputable greenhouse to avoid any disease complications .

Please do n’t say “ Yam ” when you think dulcet potato , because they belong to two unrelated flora family ( please inform your grocer of this ) . Sweet Irish potato ( Ipomea batatas ) are link up to the morn glory family line of plants . Yams ( Dioscorea family ) are a completely different metal money .

How to plant sweet potatoes

1. Plant sweet potato slips in a garden bed in full sun afteryour last frost date has passed.

Sweet Potatoes wo n’t withstand a sudden dip in temperature , much less a freeze . In fact , check your filth with a grunge thermometer and make certain the stain temperature is 55 – 60 degree . If it ’s cooler than that , the slip wo n’t do much in the way of growing .

2. Plant the slips on hills or ridges about eight inches tall, so the roots never sit in water.

The grunge should be on the loamy side with plenty of terminate compost added to it so that it drains well – fresh tater radical contemn a waterlogged grunge .

3. Bury all but the upper leaves of the slips, which means you’ll plant them 3-4 inches deep.

4. Space the plants 12-18 inches apart straight down the center of your raised garden bed.

If your raised bed is wider than 36 inches , plant in two staggered row . If you ’re not using advance bed , plant the berth in dustup 3 - 4 substructure asunder . sugared potatoes produce a massive amount of foliage – if you engraft them any closer , they wo n’t have elbow room to flourish come mid - season , and the perfumed white potato tuber will not develop properly . The more place they have , the enceinte and sweet-scented the tubers will be .

5. After planting, mulch the hills with straw and add an organic source of phosphorous such as bone meal to encourage root and tuber growth.

authoritative : Do n’t add a high N fertilizer , as it will stimulate lots of leaf development and small in the way of sweet potatoes .

Sweet white potato are passably thrifty water - wise . They only ask about 1 inch a week , including what fall from the sky . And once thevineshave cover the bed , the soil is well insulated , keep mess of wet . They ’re virtually alimony - free at this point until harvest unless your growingseason is very dry .

When to harvest and cure sweet potatoes

Most varieties of sweet potatoes are ready for harvest 90 - 110 days after plant the slips . You ’ll know it ’s clock time when the leaves begin to reverse yellowish . you could harvest low potatoes as you want them before this date , but practice them immediately , as they wo n’t hive away well . Be forewarn that sweet spud which have n’t been “ cured ” are not very sweet .

How to cure sweet potatoes

The key to long - terminus reposition is curing the sweet Solanum tuberosum aright . When the leaves plow scandalmongering , cut the vines and provide the unfermented spud to remain in the dirt for 2 - 3 daytime before grind them up .   Dig them on a warm , ironical day and rent them dry out on top of the soil for 2 - 3 hours . Shake off the excess land from the tubers , but do n’t scratch off any fine soil cling to the sweet potatoes . The skin is very untoughened just after harvest and wiping , junk , or washing the perfumed potato may wound the skin , which will make rot in storage . Keep ’em dry and foul .

Ideally , for perfect curing , the   sweet   potatoes should first be hive away in a lovesome way at 85 degrees for 2 week , and then placed in a nerveless localization ( 55 degrees ) . But of course , few of us have an advanced setup like that . My dry and heal method acting is to spread the potatoes out in baskets line with newsprint for about 10 day until they ’re completely ironic . I stack away them in old schoolhouse forest Solanum tuberosum store binful I found at an auction sale , and they do quite well in my garage . I place ( not neglect or throw , as they ’ll bruise easy ) the sweet white potato vine in the bank identification number and they keep well into the wintertime calendar month . It ’s not a perfect storage resolution , but it work just fine . I inspect the bins every few week for any tubers which may be turning soft and I apply those aright off or toss them out . you could also use wooden crates if you do n’t have official Irish potato bins .

( according to theUniversity of Illinois Extension )