How to Grow Sweet Potatoes, Growing Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Potato Plants
Design Your Own Vegetable Garden Layout Using our Free "Vegetable Garden Planner" Software! The tubers can be harvested and stored in a cool dry location for several months. The potatoes are a great source of fiber, and can be used in the kitchen for everything from soup to dessert!Growing Sweet PotatoesIt is easy to learn how to grow sweet potatoes. The hardest part is waiting on them to ripen! Sweet potatoes are grown from transplants and have a long growing season of an average 150 days. There are two kinds of sweet potato, dry and moist. (Not just after cooking!) The moist varieties are commonly called yams. Although, true yams are actually a different species that is found in tropical countries.How to Grow Sweet PotatoesTo start your own sweet potatoes, wait until weather warms, then plant a whole potato in a secluded section of the vegetable garden. Barely cover the top with soil. If kept moist, shoots called slips will grow and root in the earth. When they have grown 6 to 8 inches tall, break the growths from the potato and plant at 1 foot intervals in rows spaced four feet apart. Transplant slips can also be purchased at garden centers. Sprouting in WaterAnother vegetable gardening technique is to sprout sweet potatoes in a dish of water. Set a third of the potato into water, on end or sideways, and wait for top growth to begin. The shoots will begin to produce roots that can be snapped from the potato to transplant in the ground.Sweet Potato PlantsWhen planting, leave spaces between rows of 48-54 inches. Plant 5-10 plants per household member. Space plants 12-14 inches apart in mounded ridges. Sweet potatoes are tender and should be protected against frost. In areas with a shorter season, the plants tend to produce smaller tubers. A light, well-worked soil and even moisture provided throughout the season produces the best roots.Download Free Garden Planning Worksheets, Garden Diary, Zone Chart, Or Planting Guide Major Pests,Major pests are the sweet potato weevil, caterpillars, and fleahopper. The sweet potato weevil adult looks like a dark beetle with a long, reddish snout. (A face only an insect Mother could love!) The white larva of the pests tunnel through the produce and also damage vines if not controlled. One control method is to rotate the planting site to a considerable distance away.Destroy all old plant debris and any affected stored potatoes. Once the crop is infested, no chemical controls are possible. Purchasing certified weevil-free sweet potato slips, practicing rotation, and removing all infested crop residue is the best solution for preventing weevil damage Kid's Corner for Growing Sweet Potatoes Show children how to grow sweet potatoes that can be transplanted into the garden by growing a sweet potato vine. Plan this fun project during the warm season. All you need are sweet taters, narrow topped jars, and some little helping hands! Although, sweet potatoes are roots, the first growth produced by the plant is a shoot with stems and leaves. A sweet potato that shows buds will grow the best. Set the plumb end of the root in the jar's opening. Fill the container with water until the spud is partially submerged. In a few short weeks shoots will sprout. When the young shoots are six inches long and forming roots, snap them off to be transplanted to the garden. Provide a trellis for the top growth. Keep the soil moist with a scattering of 6-6-6 over the soil surface every few weeks. In about 120 days, new sweet potatoes will be ready for harvest. Harvesting Sweet PotatoesDig down gently and take a peek four months after planting. You may notice the ground starting to crack when the sweet potatoes are ripe for the picking. Allow roots to air dry and store in cool area. Be sure to harvest the roots before the first frost. How to Grow Sweet Potatoes to Vegetable Gardening You Might Also like to Read:
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Learn how to grow sweet potatoes in home vegetable gardens. Easy plans and tips for planting, caring for, harvesting and storing home-grown sweet potatoes. These plants are simple and fun to grow in a home vegetable garden.
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