When I give talks, the sweet potato has captured the eye of gardeners. You make the transplants from off shoots or cuttings and just stick them in the ground and keep them moist. Give them a little fertilizer and the plants do the rest. In 120 days you are harvesting the crop.
But now you ask, how do you get the starts? That is simple too. You either purchase transplants from the garden center or you start your own from a sprouting sweet potato. Perhaps you remember placing one end of a sweet potato in a glass of water to watch it grow the side shoots. Or you can lay the potato flat in a container of soil and cover about half way up with soil. It sprouts the same shoots this way too.
Now when the shoots are bout 6 to 8 inches long snap or cut them off for your transplants. It's easy and you can have a good portion of what you like to eat by growing sweet potatoes during the hot weather ahead.. Below are a few tips to produce a harvest.
- Keep the soil moist during dry times
- Fertilize monthly with a general garden product
- Trim the vines as needed to keep them in bounds
- Check in about 100 days to determine when the crop is ready to dig
- Dig when grocery store size and wash to let dry in the shade.
- Keep in a warm spot and start use in about two weeks.
Go ahead and give sweet potatoes a try. They make a great ground cover.