Have I told you yet about my love affair with sweet potatoes? Have I explained how they are the ideal plant for a front yard vegetable garden; the perfect combination of beauty and ease and taste? Have I mentioned their attractive foliage and their purple flowers?
Oh. Yeah. I did. Looks like I already covered that pretty well in my post about the sweet potato harvest last fall.
Ok, then. We won’t cover that again. Instead, let’s talk about growing sweet potatoes.
[Update: There's more!! You might want to read about last summer's sweet potato harvest (click here: Sweet Potatoes!) or explore the sweet potato FAQ page (click here: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!).]
You may not know this, but sweet potatoes and potato potatoes are nothing alike. Sure, they are both tasty treats that grow underground. But, that’s where the similarities end. Sweet potatoes are related to morning glories, which explains their cheerful purple flowers and their rambling vines. But, those trusty Irish spuds? They belong to the tomato family, and are cousins to peppers, tomatillos and eggplants — the nightshades. Sweet potatoes like the heat. They need the heat. Potato potatoes? Well, they thrived in Ireland (until they didn’t). Heat is not something they really appreciate. Cool and moist suits them just fine. This is why we plant our spuds in the early spring, and wait until the real heat sets in to introduce the sweets to the garden.
Here, in northern Virginia (USDA Zone 7a), we can plant our regular potatoes in March. But, the sweet potatoes should wait until early to mid June. No risk of frost, and plenty of promise for heat. Just what those tropical vines desire. And, while we can harvest early potatoes by mid-June, we won’t be digging up the sweet potatoes for months. If you want a nice full harvest, you really need to give your sweets 100 days (or more) of serious growing time.
If we don’t plant the sweets until June, why am I writing about them in April? Well, because, if we want sweet potato seedlings in June, we need to start our sweet potato slips in April. Or, thereabouts.
[Note: You can skip this whole thing, and just order sweet potato slips from a quality nursery or seed company. But, what's the fun in that? Well. Ok. Actually, there is one BIG advantage to purchased slips: quality seed companies offer a much greater selection of sweet potato varieties than your average grocery store.]
To make new sweet potatoes, we start with an old sweet potato. An organic sweet potato (the non-organic sweet potatoes may be treated with sprout-suppressing chemicals). Ideally, you’ll start with a locally-grown organic sweet potato, because then you’ll know that variety will thrive in your region. But, don’t sweat this step too much. A sweet potato from the grocery store should also work just fine. Just, really, buy an organic one.
[Don't think organic makes a difference here? Watch this girl's video about her sweet potato project. You may change your mind.]
Ok. So, you’ve got your organic sweet potato. Great. Now, we’re going to cut it up. Just slice it in half, across the middle.
Next, place each section of sweet potato into a container with water. Plenty of people use toothpicks to suspend their sweet potato halves in a glass of water, but I think it’s easier to just set the whole thing into a casserole dish. Use enough water so that about an inch or two of the potato is submerged.
Set the container near a window, and you’re done. Over the next few weeks, the sweet potatoes will send out little baby plants. Your only responsibility during this time is to keep that water level fairly constant. The sweet potatoes will take care of everything else.
After four to six weeks, you should have a nice growth of little baby sweet potato plants. These will become your slips.
With any luck, some of your sweet potato sprouts will already have roots. Excellent. These little plants-to-be are ready for planting. Others won’t have any roots at all. No worries, those laggards will catch up real fast.
Remove the sprouts by snapping them off at the point where they emerge from the sweet potato tuber. Congratulations! You have your first sweet potato slip!
If the roots are well-formed, you can go right ahead and plant your slip. Some folks recommend planting slips directly into the garden, but I like giving the seedlings a headstart with some rich potting soil (not seed-starting mix). This allows you to keep the roots evenly moist while the plants establish, and gives the seedlings a nice burst of nutrients (I plant into a blend of leaf humus, compost and dirt). Also, if it’s still cold outside, this step is a necessity. Sweet potatoes hate to shiver.
So, that’s it for the little over-achieving sprouts. But, what about the other ones? The rootless ones?
Well, that’s easy too.
Same process. Just slip those sprouts right off the tuber. Then, instead of planting them in soil and compost and leaf humus, you’re going to soak those slips in a cup of water. Just a few inches of water is all you need. Within a few days, you should have roots. Then, you can plant those slips into pots as well.
Once you’ve got all your sweet potato slips in their pots, all you need to do is keep them happily watered until it’s warm enough for them to move outdoors. I like to keep mine in a big styrofoam box. Easy to water. Easy to transport outside for some sunlight during the day. And, easy to bring inside again before the evening chill.
No styros? Well, anything that holds water should do fine. A casserole dish. A plastic storage tub. A big pot. It’s just easier if it holds water and holds a bunch of seedlings, because you could be doing a daily shuffle from inside to outside to inside again for a while now.
Whatever you keep them in, it’s best to coddle your sweet potato seedlings until two or three weeks after your last frost date. Then, once the nights are reliably above 50°F, you can plant them out into the garden. Most people grow their sweets in the ground. I prefer containers, because it makes the harvest easier. Last year, I tried bushel baskets with great success. This year, I’m building a big potato planter. And, yes, I’ll be doing bushel baskets too. A gardener can never have too many sweet potatoes.
It takes all summer to grow a proper crop of sweet potatoes, but it’s worth it.
Will you grow sweet potatoes in your garden this summer? Have you grown them before?
Update: There’s more!! If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read about last summer’s sweet potato harvest (click here: Sweet Potatoes!) or explore the sweet potato FAQ page (click here: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!).
And, don’t forget to sign up for email updates — you’ll be among the first to learn about new posts, planting guides and more!
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{ 113 comments… read them below or add one }
I picked up a small one at the grocer just for this purpose. Very timely blog – I’m off to get mine started! Thanks!
Wonderful! Enjoy your sweet potatoes!
Your blog is wonderful! Thank you for the wonderful pictures and great writing. I am very excited to start my sweet potatoes!
Thanks so much, Heather! Enjoy your sweets!
Thanks for posting this. I am going to try this this year. I don’t think I’d mind having the slips hang out on the window for a while. They are rather pretty.
Definitely give it a try, Kat. Sweet potatoes are much easier to grow than most folks realize. And, I agree, so pretty too!
Yes!! We have already started ours indoors and have BEAUTIFUL vines trailing all over the kitchen window sill. This post is inspiring me to get a few more started this weekend. You can never have too many sweet potatoes…
I agree, Erin! It’s just not possible to have too many sweet potatoes.
awesome,now I can grow my very own sweet potato patch,where I came from we use the young leaves for salads and as a part of stew,so I reall wanted to grow them for so long for I can’t find sweet potato leaves in any grocery store,thank you ,I do have some so I’ll start right away.
I had no idea the leaves were edible too, Elena. I’m going to have to look for some recipes. Thanks for the tip!
I read somewhere that after the sweet potatoes are harvested, you must store them in a cold cellar for several months. Any comment about this? thanks
Well, yes and no. I’ve read that sweet potatoes become sweeter with storage, and I definitely found that with my sweets last year. But, a root cellar isn’t necessary. In fact, a root cellar might make them pout. These are tropical plants, and they don’t like to be below 50°F, or thereabouts. I just stored mine in an open bin on the kitchen counter. I still have one or two left from last fall’s harvest.
Sweet potatoes store best if you cure them. I’ll post about that when the time comes (late summer / early fall), but you can also check out this article from Mother Earth News. Good tips here: Sweet Potatoes, Even in the North.
Wondering about how many sweet potatoes can#nt. I expect from each slip I plant,
It varies a lot, Karen. My biggest plants gave me about 5 pounds from a single plant (thus, 5 pounds from one slip). My worst-producing plants gave closer to 1 pound per plant. Average works out to about 3+ pounds of sweet potatoes from each slip. The better harvests come from plants grown in full sun, in hot microclimates and in good, loose soil.
Any tips on how to care for them once they’re planted outside? How much water do they need? Should they be planted in a super sunny spot, or part shade? I love this, and want to start some today!
Sweet potatoes are fairly undemanding in the garden. Their biggest requirement is heat. They do best in full sun, and I did notice that my part-shaded plants produced less than the ones I had in full sun. Other than that, they are super easy — fairly drought tolerant and low nutrient requirements. A bit of compost in their soil, and they should do fine.
How many plants come from a half a potato? Can they be companion planted near tomatoes? I have a very limited garden space. Finally, from each plant, how many potatoes can I expect? I am excited to try this and look forward to your responses as well as future posts on the topic!
A single sweet potato can produce up to a dozen slips, though some of those slips may be rather small. I used two sweet potatoes for my slips, and have a bit more than 20 seedlings now.
As for tomatoes, I’m not sure. Why not give it a try? Since sweet potatoes are ground-crawling vines, and tomatoes are usually trained up a trellis, they might be perfect companions. The only trick is that you will need to dig around your tomatoes to harvest your sweets. But, since you generally wait until right before the first frost to harvest the sweets, maybe that won’t be a problem at all. Or, if you want to skip the digging, try growing the sweets in large containers.
My happiest sweet potatoes grew in the sunniest spots, and gave me about 4-5 nice-sized potatoes each, with a handful of smaller ones (good for saving for starting the next year’s crop).
Have fun with your sweet potatoes!
I didn’t have luck with my sweet potaoes and I am sure it was *green thumb error*. Do you add additional soil as the vine grows to increase the depth for potato growth? I was successful with fingerling and red potatoes last year using haybale method would this work too for sweets?
No need to hill sweet potatoes. They have a different growth pattern than regular potatoes.
You’ll find more information about sweet potatoes here: Your Sweet Potato Questions Answered.
I tried this method, but the mother sweet potato turned to mush within 4-5 days. It was a firm sweet potato when I cut it half and put it in the water. Do you have any suggestions or thoughts?
Not really sure what happened, Diane, but I suspect you might have started with a bum sweet potato. You might want to check out the FAQ post for more information: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!
Thanks Christina, I will check out the FAQ post and try again. I am determined to have sweet potatoes.
I will let you know how it is going.
Mine turned moldy. I also had a green giant one in the plastic wrapper and when I opened it to use it, I noticed it had some sprouts. I put it in a large plastic ziplock bag and it is sprouting nicely. Maybe you could try that.
Any chance these sweet potatoes can make it in the heat of Tucson, AZ???
I think so, but am not 100% sure. I hope you’ll give them a shot, and then report back!
You might also want to check out the FAQ post for more information about growing sweet potatoes: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!
Hej Christina
We are for sure gonna try this in our collective house. I Denmark. I really hope for a warm summer this year ;o) What a good tutorial, good pics and fun to read. Gonna share your blog with my housemates, we are just in the middle of building a greenhouse.
kind regards
Randi, Copenhagen, Denmark
Hi-I live in Western WA (across the Sound from Seattle) and it’s pretty cold here. I think our average temp for summer is in the 60′s. It’s May 3 and it was barely 40 degrees this morning. Should I even bother trying these? We have a short summer and it doesn’t get very hot.
Thanks!
jaime
Jaime — I’ve heard sweets can produce as far north as Canada. You’ll probably just want to help them along with some black plastic mulch, to heat the soil.
You might also want to check out the FAQ post for more information about growing sweet potatoes: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!
Cristina, thank you for this great post. I am going to try it too.
You said container (with cut potatoes) needs to be set near a window….does it need to receive lots of sunshine at this phrase? The window in my kitchen faces east, and I am planning to place the container at a shelf next to the window….would it work? Or do I need to place the container on the bank of the window?
Once again, thank you for this sweet potato post!
Have a great weekend!
Angie
Indirect light is fine for the developing slips. But, aim for full sunlight when you do plant them out into the garden.
You might also want to check out the FAQ post for more information about growing sweet potatoes: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!
Love this post and I have my cut SPs sitting next to my window right now (day three) in an east facing window which is facing a covered patio so no direct sunlight. I am in the high desert in CA and daytime temps are around 80-90, night temps in the high 40s to low 50s. I have a greenhouse that gets direct sun most of the day and am wondering if I should put them in there to sprout or is that too much sun and heat for them right now? Very kind regards, Toni
I’m not totally sure, Toni, but I think your slips would be fine in the greenhouse. They are a tropical vine, after all…
You might also want to check out the FAQ post for more information about growing sweet potatoes: Your Sweet Potato Questions: Answered!
Before finding this, I had seen on another blog to just stick the sweet potato in a jar of water a la avocado seed. Now there are roots in the water only from the sweet potato and the slips have no roots. Did I do something wrong? Where can I take it from here before it gets too late? I don’t want it to be all for naught
Oh, derp. I just read what to do with the slips that have no roots, thanks!
Glad you found what you needed, Shannyn! You might also want to check out the sweet potato FAQ post, from earlier this week. There’s a bit more information there about starting, growing and harvesting sweets.
Hello I love this post about the sweet potatoes and I would love to give it a try but I was wondering if it is too late it is mid May and I will not be able to start until June 1 because we are going on Vacation but I really want to do this and plant them in planters; but will that be too late?
Thanks for sharing and I am looking forward to hearing from you
Chiffon
It can’t hurt to try! Unlike some vegetables (tomatoes, for example), sweet potatoes don’t get “ripe.” They just get bigger. So, the worst-case scenario would just be that you harvest some smaller-than-normal sweet potatoes at the end of the season.
I found your blog this morning after seeing you would be a judge in a front yard edibles contest that Suburban Stone Age posted on Facebook. I am just getting started with gardening (of any kind) this year and somehow am stumbling through it with all the right pieces coming together at the right time. Just wanted to let you know that I literally got up off the couch in the middle of reading this post to cut the already sprouting store-bought sweet potato on my kitchen counter and put it in some water. I did have to use some toothpicks, but only because they were shaped funny and I wanted to keep all the sprouts above the water line. I know it is a little late in the year, but hey, I’m in Georgia so heat won’t be an issue
Thanks for your inspiration! I know as I have time, I am going to enjoy meandering through the richness of your blog. Now, I just have to keep my eye out for some nice containers for these little guys . . .
Oh, Susan, I LOVE this! Good luck with that sweet potato (you’re right, you should have plenty of time in Georgia).
so cool! thank you!
i thought sweet potatoes were actually the same color on the outside and inside as a regular potato, but just bigger and much sweeter. i always thought yams were the orange ones you use at thanksgiving like you have pictured??
You’re in good company Karie; a lot of folks would say the same thing. But, in this case, both of the vegetables you describe are sweet potatoes. Yams are a large (often very large!), starchy tuber, and are drier and less sweet than sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are moister and sweeter. This is what we use for our Thanksgiving dinners (even though sweets are often labeled as “yams” in the United States). Here’s a bit more of an explanation: What is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.
hello. my husband and i live in Italy, where you cannot get sweet potatoes.
this makes me rather sad since i LOVE them. my question is this…if i were to get my hands on a sweet potato from the States, do you think i could have success planting them, if i followed your steps?
Hi Amber -
Well, I’ve never been to Italy, so I’m not entirely sure. But, if you can find some sweet potatoes, I imagine you could probably grow them there. They aren’t especially fussy, as long as they have enough heat. It’s at least worth a shot.
If you do try this, please check back and let me know how it went. Good luck, and happy gardening!
Hi! I just found your blog and was wondering if I could still possibly start my sweet potatoes? We are in western Kentucky and I have been wanting to start some gardening
Hmm… It’s definitely late to begin, but there’s no harm in trying. Sweet potatoes don’t ripen like tomatoes or peppers. Instead, they just get bigger. So, you may just end up with a small harvest. But, it’s so easy and inexpensive, it’s probably worth a shot. Good luck! By the way, there are lots of crops you can start in early July. Fast-growing heat-lovers are best, like bush beans, summer squash and herbs (basil and parsley, especially). But, I’ve also been told that this is the best time to start winter squash and pumpkins, and my favorite local grower plants tomatoes every week until mid-July, to ensure they have a steady harvest from healthy plants. So, don’t be afraid to experiment!
One of my neighbors just sent me the link to your site. Yes! I am an outlaw gardener, too! I just started getting obvious with my edible lndscaping, and blogging, this year. Can I post a link to your blog on mine? I think the more people become aware of what is possible, the more neighbors will try this. And maybe the rules will get changed!
Melanie
Wonderful, Melanie! I love meeting fellow outlaws! And, yes, please do share a link on your blog. I’m about to add a list of blogs here too, and will be sure to include your blog. Because, I think you are absolutely right; the more we talk about edible landscaping and front-yard vegetable gardening, the better chance we have of inspiring our neighbors and ultimately changing the rules!
I live in Atlantic Canada. Can I start the sweet potato plants now and put them in my greenhouse? I just bought the green house and am experimenting with anything I think might grow.
Gosh, Jilda, I’m not sure. Those sweets will want heat and light. If your greenhouse is heated, and you have some sort of supplemental light to help out with darker fall / winter days, you might be just fine. It’s certainly worth a shot — all you need is a single sweet potato tuber to get started.
Thanks for the great advice! I’ve been having trouble getting anything to grow this year, other than the things in my fridge and cupboards. I recently found a giant sweet potato sprouting, so I’m definitely going to follow your advice.
Good luck with your sweets!
I must try this! I love sweet potatoes, but they seem to be getting rather expensive lately. Though I wonder if it isn’t too late to start in August- and the weather in my area is around 84 degrees by day. Any advice?
Unless you’re in the way way south, it’s almost certainly too late to grow sweets this year. The plants require about 90-100 days to develop those tasty edible roots. But, the next gardening season is only a few months away. If you start some slips in March, they will be big and healthy and ready for the garden by May or June. Or… You could always start some plants now. Just be prepared for a small harvest of under-sized tubers. Still edible, but small. Could be good practice for next year.
Thanks very much! I live in Israel, not the US, and we usually have warm weather well into October. I’ll give it a shot, and keep your awesome blog bookmarked!
Teeny tubers are better that overpriced ones, anyway.
I live in zone 4. Knowing that anything can happen in my zone with regards to temperature and growing seasons, I have my doubts about planting outdoors. I do SFG gardening. One thing that another person suggested is to plant in containers and keep them in my small greenhouse for the duration. I question that because I feel that they would do nicely on the hot days by being outdoors. Was also told that sweet potatoes do not transplant very well. Is this true? I could start them in the greenhouse and then in June – no matter the size – plant them in my garden or a large container. What say you.
I’m thinking you can probably grow sweets in Zone 4, as long as you’re willing to coddle the plants. Sweets transplant fine when they are small (say, a dozen leaves or so: a seedling), but once they put on size and start developing edible tubers, they HATE to be disturbed. I’d suggest growing them outdoors, in the ground or in containers. Look for the warmest microclimate on your property, and grow the sweets there. If you have a paved driveway, that’d be a great place to grow a couple sweets in a half wine barrel or something similar. If they’re in the ground, you probably want to mulch with black plastic. Not the prettiest, but effective. And, for those too-cold nights, I think a floating row cover would probably do the trick.
Good luck! And, if you try this next year, please report back and let me know how it goes!
Thanks Christina, for your answer. I am going to try an experiment this fall/winter and attempt to make my own slips and put them in large containers in my sunroom. It is always 70 or more when the sun is coming through. I have a very small 4 shelf grow house that I can put them in and if they survive I will take them outdoors after last frost. Does that sound like a plan just to test the possibility. Also, will make some slips later on follow your advice about transplanting when they are still small. Those will go directly into my SFG (outer squares so they can go crazy
) Will definitely come back and update and/or ask for more advice.
Well, I know it’s super late in the season, but down south (Houston) we have a little longer summer to work with. I’m going for it! My daughter is going to have a ball with this little project (age 3). She has a gardener’s heart like her Mama. (Hopefully some day her Mama will figure out what she’s doing in the garden). =)
Katie
My nephew (also 3) LOVES his sweet potato plants, and I’m sure your daughter will too. Good luck with the sweets, and the rest of the garden!
Hello. Great blog, very helpful. I love this post on sweet potatoes. What I love most is the convience of the bushel barrels. I live in the city and don’t have much space. Can you please give me a list of easy veggies to grow in them? I’m new to gardening and this would be a starting point. Thanks!
Hi Leisa – I’m so glad to hear you’re giving gardening a try. Warning: this is a seriously addicting hobby.
I’ve only grown sweet potatoes and regular potatoes in my bushel baskets so far, but I think you could grow most anything in them. Just a couple of caveats. First, the bushel baskets aren’t terribly deep. So, they may not be a great choice for the really big root crops, like carrots or parsnips. Second, I’ve found the bushel baskets seems to lose water faster than most other containers. So, be sure to pay attention to soil moisture, especially if you’re somewhere with really HOT summers. Finally, I’m thinking most bushel baskets have a usable lifespan of just two or three years. Mine sit directly on the ground, so the worms and other soil critters have easy access. If yours are on a balcony or porch, they may last longer. But, they are made from thin sheets of wood, and it will rot away eventually. Luckily, bushel baskets are extremely inexpensive. I found mine for about $3-4 at a local Tractor Supply store, and you might be able to find them even cheaper with some online sleuthing.
Also, if you’re new to gardening, I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible. This is absolutely the best guide to vegetable gardening I’ve found. Great for beginners, but still packed with lots of info for the more experienced gardeners (I refer to my copy all the time).
Good luck with the garden, and please report back on your progress!
You can eat sweet potato leaves, raw or stir fried. Good source of lutein.
What kind of soil do sweet potatoes like? I’ve heard they thrive in sandy soil. Where I live in Texas we have a lot of clay in our soil and not so much sand. I can definitely put them in a pot but want to make sure I’m giving them the good stuff!
Sweets will grow in just about any type of soil, but loose and sandy is best, because it encourages big, straight roots and allows for good drainage. If you want to grow your sweets in the ground, you may try mixing a bag of construction sand into the soil where you plant each slip. Or, just go for containers, and grow in a blend of soil, sand and compost. My favorite thing about growing in containers? Super easy to harvest!
One more questions….how do you know when the sweets are ready to be dug up?
There’s no “perfect” time for harvesting sweets. Unlike fruits and some other veggies, they don’t ripen. Instead, they are more like regular potatoes, or other plants you can eat at any stage of growth (greens, for example). Most sweets want about 90-120 days to fully develop. Here, in Virginia, I just let my plants grow until right before the first frost. That usually gives them about 100 or so days of growth, and gives me a nice harvest. You can harvest earlier, but the roots may be a little small (though still tasty!). Just don’t let the plants go too long past 120 days, or the tubers may start getting too big to store or cook easily.
This is exciting! I want to try this next year (too late this year). I love that sweet potatoes are beautiful yet practical! I see yours are in a container – which is excellent for those of us that live in an apartment.
Yes! I have great luck with containers for my sweets. Bushel baskets work well, but only last one or two growing seasons. Whiskey barrels would be great, as would any container that offers about 12-18 inches of depth — those roots need space to develop!
great reading, I love to grow stuff anything just to see it grow.
One ? do they take a lot of space? I don’t have a lot of space. My daughter in law had them in Georgia but she grew them for the plant not to eat. I wonder if thats the same.
Hi Carmen – Thanks for the comment and the question. Sweet potatoes do ramble, although some varieties are more compact than others. If you’re short on space, you might try growing them in containers. Anything that’s about two feet across and a foot or so deep should be fine for one sweet or two sweet potatoes (I use bushel baskets). An old whiskey barrel should hold three or maybe four plants.
The sweets we eat are different than the ornamental ones they sell at nurseries. Those plants may produce tubers too, but they don’t have the flavor we expect. It’s best to either start your own slips from a store-bought or farmers-market-bought sweet potato, or to order some slips from a gardening catalog in the spring. I hope you give them a try next year; growing sweets is lots of fun, super easy and very tasty too. Happy gardening!
I tried but failed before they sprout it. About how long before they sprout?
I WILL try again . I get little nats when I leave standing water around.
I usually start seeing sprouts within a week or two. If you saw no sprouts at all, you may have been working with a bum sweet potato. Definitely worth trying again!
If the water attracts gnats, you might want to try starting your sweets in damp sand. I haven’t tried this technique before, but I know other folks have. Same basic idea as described in this post, except you use damp sand instead of water. Good luck!
Hi there! Very nice and detailed instructions for these lovely sweet potatoes (camote as we call them here in the Philippines). You can also use the young leaves (camote tops) as viand.
love your post. I am going to try that next year. but probably in the greenhouse. I am at 9000 feet and we get sometimes snow even in June… sounds like an experiment worth trying.
1 question…can you take one long runner of sweet potato vine, cut it into sections and propagate it?
Probably. Sweet potato vines root readily whenever they touch the ground. You might try rooting your cuttings in a glass of water before transplanting them.
I’m happy to have found this page… I was out digging on this unusually warm Dec day here in the mid-Atlantic area… and have re-claimed some space in my front yard where this will work quite nicely… can’t wait to give it a try. Much more rewarding than just looking at mulch
Nice post! The image you have in this post is of a yam. Sweet potatoes are the ones that are lighter yellow in color. I expect the directions would be the same for growing both?
Glad you enjoyed the post, Patty! The photo, though, is most definitely a sweet potato. It’s a tricky thing, because some marketers call some forms of sweet potatoes “yams,” but actual yams are nothing like sweet potatoes. A real yam is generally very large and very starchy, with drier and less sweet flesh. Sweet potatoes are smaller, moister and sweeter. Color isn’t a good determinant, since sweets range from white and pale yellow, through the orange spectrum. Some varieties are even purple!
Here’s a link that provides more of an explanation: What is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams.
Hi! What a GREAT blog! I’ve been veggie gardening for only a couple years, and learning as I go. My question….The spot that I have designated for the garden has VERY clay-ey , clumpy soil…which works ok for most of the stuff I plant there, (I don’t do root crops there, as my carrots were SO stunted/split, etc.)…so I wonder about sweet potatoes. I have a creek on my property, and the banks of it have some pretty silty and sandy soil. What do you think about an attempt to plant them there?
Hi Karen! Clay soil sure can be a challenge, eh? The good news is that is does get better with time. Try mulching the bed with leaves to encourage earthworms. Compost helps a great deal too. In the meantime, you might try growing your root crops in deep containers. I’ve had great luck with sweet potatoes in containers, for example. Anything that’s approximately bushel basket sized or larger should work for one or two sweet potatoes.
As for growing along the creek… I’m not sure that’d be the best spot for sweets. They prefer well-drained soil, and I’d worry about bogginess and flooding that close to a creek. Still, if the soil drains well, it just may work fine. Maybe plant one or two sweets there in the spring, just as an experiment?
After a couple of days in the container the water turned pretty murky, the potatoes look good though. Do I have to change the water from time to time?
Hi Sascha -
Sure. If the water is getting yucky, go ahead and swap it out. You won’t hurt the growing sweet potato.
There was an old-timer named Ernie who lived in Herndon a while ago. He was a local legend known for his famous sweet potatoes. His secret was turning a little bit of sand into the soil. The sand is supposed to help the tubers to better absorb nutrients from the soil. Must work, because his sweet potatoes were the biggest, sweetest around. It might be worth experimenting with.
Hi, I’m here from Pintrest. I was wondering, how many sweet potatoes will you usually get from one little sprout?
I live in Zihuatanejo Mexico so the heat factor is year round. People eat kamote (sweet potato) here all the time and there are little push steam wagons that sell hot kamote with sweetened condensed milk over it as a snack. I want to grow sweet potatoes for our Home for at risk seniors in the garden area. Will it be too hot here? I think most of our product comes from higher altitudes.
Hello, I don’t know much about sweet potatoes but from eating them these look like Yams which I like a lot better. The sweet potatoes in the store are very pale yellow and the yams are more reddish/orangeish, Or are you using sweet potato as a broad term? Are these sweet potatoes or yams? If sweet potatoes would I grow a Yam in the same manner?
Thank you so much, very confused.
Dyann
It’s a common point of confusion, Dyann. Sweet potatoes and those sweet-potato-look-alikes called yams are actually both sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are, well, sweet potato sized, thin skinned and vary in color from white to yellow to orange to purple, with semi-sweet to very-sweet flesh. Actual yams are a large (sometimes HUGE) root crop from Africa with very thick skin and dense, starchy, non-sweet flesh. You can rest assured, if it looks like a sweet potato, it’s a sweet potato (even if your grocery store calls it a yam).
My neighbors grew potatoes just by burying store bought potatoes and letting new ones grow from those. Why can’t that be done with sweet potatoes? Or can it?
Technically, this will work for sweets too. The problem is that most sweet potatoes need a longer growing season than most gardeners can offer. By starting slips indoors and transplanting them outside when the weather is truly warm, we get a 1-2 month jump on the season. Starting sweets as you suggest would probably work fine for folks in very warm climates, but it wouldn’t work here in Virginia — just wouldn’t allow enough time for full-size tubers to form.
By the way, this method works for regular potatoes because they actually LOVE cool weather and mature faster than sweets. No need to worry about running out of growing season with those guys.
Wow what a lovely post full of amazing information! Thanks so much I will surely be starting off my slips soon!
I L-O-V-E sweet potatoes! Thanks so much for all the great info……I’m headed to the kitchen now, to cut up the sweetest little organic sweet potatoes to start in water to grow a bunch of plants this summer. I’ve found the smaller potatoes are so sweet.
I am wanting to grow my own veggies and a novice. I live in Florida. With the heat won’t this draw insects to the potatoes while they are soaking in the water to sprout? Any solutions. I have tries to start seeds in starters and the moist caused me to get a house full of gnats. Also I have used the cutoffs from green onions and put in water and they are regrowing. I am very excited about that,
This is an awesome tutorial. We are going to try growing sweet potatoes this year. I bought both sweet potatoes and yams from Azure Standard to see which we like better. I can’t wait!!
Awesome. Thanks for the post! I can’t wait to have lovely garden pots AND a harvest of sweet potatoes.
Thank you so much for this post, it’s brilliant
I have been looking for slips for ages and haven’t found any.
I have 1 sweet in my cupboard and once I’ve finished this message I’m going to follow your advice.
I live in the UK, I was thinking maybe they would be best kept in the green house as we seem to have nothing but rain.
I’m oddly very excited
After discovering this on Pinterest , I went to store purchased a potatoe!!
Also reading everyone’s post in reallynexcitednto getting started as well. I will keep up with you all, thanks eveyone, also just planted strawberries hoping I succeed at those also! Noticing I missed out on the previous blog on strawberries , that’s ok I can catch up! Really excited for my Sweet Potatoes to get started. Thanks again
Sweet potato leaves, unlike potato leaves are edible, so you get a bonus there!
Also, you can take the vines, wind them into tight bundles, let them dry, and then use them as fire logs.
Thank you so much. I am in a community garden and two of our gardeners taught me how to grow sweet potatoes and peanuts, from their slips. They are moving back to North & South Carolina and I want to keep up with this growing tradition here in Boston.
This information is really exciting. I work with disabled adults here in Walla Walla WA These are adults who love to see the results of their handiwork. We also produce jewelery and other art work for sale. We also run a recycling program that pays our folks wages out of the money received from the recycling station. Thanksfor the wonderful gardening idea. Margaret Ogilvie
Hi Cristina,
I was just wandering if I can use the potato barrel method with growing the sweet potatoes? I am a new gardener and I am building me a potato barrel to try for the first time. Do you think this will work with Sweet Potatoes as well?
Thank you for this great article.
Charles
Good question, Charles. How tall will your potato barrel be? Sweet potatoes don’t need a lot of depth (two feet is more than enough). And, unlike regular potatoes, sweet potatoes don’t want to be hilled during the growing season. So, if you’re building a tall potato barrel, it might be better to save the potato barrels for your potatoes, and then grow your sweets in a regular container that’s ideally 18-inches or larger in diameter, and at least 12 inches deep. I’ve had success with bushel baskets, for example: http://www.outlawgarden.com/2011/10/11/sweet-potatoes/
First time sweet potato grower here. Just put my halved potatoes on the window sill as you suggested. Crossing my fingers that this works! Looove sweet potatos! I’ve already lost my green beans to the weather and planting the seedlings too early
Hi. What type of soil is best when planting in containers? What about fertilizers, what type and how much?
In northern Virginia are sweet potatoes a perennial? Can I pick a spot and let them self-propagate?
Do you think the large plastic black flower pots like plants from the store come in would work instead of the bushel baskets ? They would last a lot longer and be more economical.
Absolutely, Dee. You’ll want to use the big ones to allow enough space for tubers. But, sure, no reason why they shouldn’t work.
I did 18 sweet potatoes with my class and they all molded and turned to mush. So disappointing.
Aw, what a bummer. I’m not sure why some sweet potatoes turn to mush with this technique, but I have a hunch the problem may be the transport and/or storage of the roots before we’d buy them at the grocery store. Cold storage, in particular, can cause big (but relatively invisible) problems, essentially killing the root. I’ve started many sweet potatoes this way, and have only had one go mushy and icky on me. I hope you’ll try again. When shopping for sweets, look for roots that are firm and wrinkle-free and without sunken spots on their skin. Good luck!
FYI. You called the regular potatoes ‘Irish’. The potato came from America. The Native Americans introduced the potatoes to them and they took the potatoes from the New World back to Ireland. So the potato is actually American, not Irish. Thanks!
Wonderful post!! I recently noticed an organic sweet potato of mine start to sprout..I was so intrigued and instantly wondered if I could plant it. Well, this is how I stumbled upon your site. Great information – Thank you! I have already put my potato in water and I’m ordering bushel baskets today (another great idea!)
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