Like the unrelated Irish potato , sweet potato will burgeon forth in the spring and can be used to farm a new vine . However , you do n’t plant the genus Tuber , only the sprout , which are know as slips . Many gardener who like perfumed potatoes have been growing the same plant for yr and pass them on to young generation .
How To Grow Sweet Potatoes
Sweet tater are tropic plants that typically do well in USDA Zones 8 and 9 . With heedful preparation and time of year extend techniques , you may also be capable to grow them in colder zones and still get a decent harvest time . Not really grumpy about soil , they ’ll produce better if the soil is rich and loose so it drains well . Regular water – especially in dry area – helps check a better crop .
Sweet Potato Varieties
Jewel is probably the classic mellifluous spud , with Cu skin and bright orange form . But these are also uncommitted :
Choosing Tubers for Slips
Sweet potato genus Tuber will not set about to split dormancy until spring . Tuber of any gratifying potato variety can be used to start slips . select a tuber that see steady and plump , not shrivel . Avoid any that have nick or cuts , as the wound may mean the tuber has been infect with bacteria . Also avoid any that have blackened or gray-headed areas that might suggest mold or other diseases .
Timing Matters
You should have a bun in the oven that it will take about six weeks for your pillowcase to sprout and be ready for planting . Sweet potatoes are very frost - sensitive , so you should n’t engraft them until at least two and sooner four weeks after your last expected frost escort . It ’s best to drift on the side of caution , and start your slip - arise outgrowth about eight weeks before the last expected frost date .
Starting the Slips
In increase to the tuber , you require a meth jar and some toothpicks – the sturdy kind that are round and deep in the middle . replete the jar – a pint canning jarful is a good choice – three - quarter full of water . Insert toothpicks around the middle of the odoriferous potato so the water stratum make out up about three inches on the bottom ( pointed ) half . Place the jar in a sunny windowpane .
Growing the Slips
Most sweet potatoes will startle to sprout almost directly if they have been torpid long enough . you’re able to expect to see rootlet within two to four days . The jolt will rapidly become fulfill with roots . transfer the piddle every few days so it does n’t become stagnant . sprout will normally come out within a calendar week or so .
Removing the Slips
Once the slips are about five or six inches long – usually about three or four weeks after you start the potato – you may remove them . savvy a sprout near the base of operations and take out it loose ; it will leave a diminished hole . Place all the sprouts in another glassful jarful or jars and put them in a sunny topographic point . In most suit , they will be ready to plant in about two more weeks .
Growing On
Once you are certain it ’s warm enough , you’re able to implant your slips you have been spring up . Dig a trench or individual holes . You want the faux pas at the same depth as they were in the Mary Jane , or up to one in deeper . Spacethe slips about 18 to 24 inch apart in the garden . Tip the bay window and give it a penetrating rap on the bottom ; the plant will slide right and can be set in the grime . immobile grime over the roots and H2O well .
Sweet Potatoes Indoors
Sweet potato slips maturate so readily that it ’s easy to treat them like houseplant and keep them growingindoors . Prepare the sweet tater as key above . You might want to utilize a larger jar or container so the roots have room . put the container in a sunny position and exchange water supply every calendar week or so . you’re able to savour as a houseplant or reap the edibleleavesand cook them as you would Green like kale or spinach .
Slips for Hanging Baskets
angelical white potato vine make attractive hanging baskets due to their vining nature . They look succulent and tropic on a terrace or pack of cards . Line a metal basket with sphagnum moss , then fill with potting territory . Plant the slips in the soil as you would if potting them . pay heed basketful can dry out quickly , so control frequently and piss as needed . You probably wo n’t get any tuber from these baskets .
