8 Tips for Growing Sweet Potatoes Vines

Growing Sweet Potatoes Vine – It is surprisingly simple to figure out how to cultivate sweet potatoes, and even a small number of plants may provide a substantial yield. The sweet potato requires a very long and warm growth season, can withstand high temperatures and extended periods of drought, and is only susceptible to a small number of illnesses and pests. Because of all of these factors, they are ideal for cultivation in the arid lowlands of Arizona (yay!). The planting, maintenance, and harvesting of sweet potatoes are all covered in these eight helpful hints.

8 Helpful Hints for Growing Sweet Potatoes

1.Start your sweet potato crop at the appropriate time of year

When the soil temperature reaches at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit and has been warm for at least two to three weeks following the last spring frost, plant sweet potatoes.

2. Before you plant sweet potatoes, ensure that the soil has been properly prepared

For optimal growth, sweet potatoes need somewhat acidic soil that is also well-drained. Add a significant amount of compost to clay soils to amend them. At the very least, a depth of eight to ten inches should be pushed into the soil. It is also possible to cultivate sweet potatoes in raised beds or in huge containers. In the low desert, choose a planting location that gets full sun but gets some afternoon shade.

3. Plant sweet potato seedlings in the ground

In contrast to a great number of other types of vegetables, sweet potatoes are not cultivated from seed. Instead, they are begun from slips, which are rooted sweet potato shoots that sprout from a mature sweet potato. Slips are generated from mature sweet potatoes. You may either buy slips or grow your own slips from sweet potatoes.

The extended growing season in the low desert is ideal for cultivating the majority of sweet potato types. Choose early-maturing types like ‘Beauregard’ and ‘O’ Henry’ if you live at a higher altitude or in an area with a shorter growing season.

Plant deeply rooted slips, burying them up to the slips’ top leaves.Plants should be spaced 12–18 inches apart from one another. To guarantee that the plants will root well, provide them with enough amounts of water and feed them with a starting solution that is rich in phosphorus (if the soil in your garden is deficient in phosphorus).

4. Permit the vines to develop to their full potential for bigger sweet potatoes

It is OK to gather a few tender greens for consumption on occasion, but you should not trim back robust plants in order to get the largest yields. The quantity of sunlight that the leaves of the plant absorb will impact the size of the sweet potatoes that are produced. Sweet potatoes grow bigger when they get more sunlight and when the leaf surface area grows.

If you are limited on space, you may want to try growing sweet potatoes vines vertically on a trellis. This will enable more sunlight to reach the leaves of the plant, which will result in bigger sweet potatoes.

If you want to prevent longer vines from rooting in the soil along the vines, you should check them now and then and pluck them up. More roots will take energy away from the biggest tubers, which means that the plant will make a lot of smaller tubers.

5. Water thoroughly but infrequently

When the weather is hot and dry, giving sweet potatoes a good drink of water is essential. Nevertheless, it is necessary to let the soil get relatively dry in between watering. When grown in dry circumstances, sweet potatoes do far better than when they are constantly submerged in water.

6. When gathering sweet potatoes, do it at the optimal time

Before you start harvesting sweet potatoes, here are a few things you should check for:

• The bigger the yield, the longer a crop is allowed to remain in the ground once it has been planted.
• After planting, sweet potatoes might be ready for harvest anywhere between 90 and 120 days later.
• When the tubers have a diameter of at least three inches, harvest them.
• Bring in the harvest of sweet potatoes before the first frost in the autumn.
• When the leaves and vines of a sweet potato plant begin to turn yellow, the sweet potatoes are often ready to be harvested.

7. Harvest sweet potatoes in the appropriate manner

Once you have made the decision to harvest the sweet potatoes, you should clip the vines back and use a spade fork to loosen the dirt surrounding the plant. Find the major crown of each plant and carefully dig up the tubers using your hands when you have done so. Remove any excess dirt with a quick shake, and handle tubers with care to avoid bruising them. The gathered sweet potatoes should be stored in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight. Don’t wash sweet potatoes until you’re ready to use them. This will help them last longer.

8. Allow sweet potatoes to cure before storing

To preserve sweet potatoes, place them in an environment that is warm (approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit) and humid for 10 to 14 days. The potatoes should not be touching one another. Curing helps wounds like cuts and bruises heal, and it also helps turn the natural starches in sweet potatoes into sugars.

Tips for Curing Sweet Potatoes in Heat Season

Place the sweet potatoes in a single layer in a plastic shopping bag. Cut a few holes in the bag for ventilation, and place the bag in a warm position inside your home. This will help retain moisture in the sweet potatoes. The temperatures outside will be too high for sweet potatoes to adequately cure in the coming days.

When the sweet potatoes are rubbed together, the curing process is finished if the skin of the sweet potatoes has not been damaged. If potatoes are cured for an insufficient amount of time, sprouting will occur. Any potatoes that were damaged during the curing process should be thrown away or used as soon as possible. For the longest possible shelf life, cured sweet potatoes should be kept in a dry and cold environment (ideally between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit).

Tips for Storing Sweet Potatoes in Heat Season

When kept at temperatures greater than 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the shelf life of sweet potatoes is drastically reduced. If you want to keep your sweet potatoes fresh for a longer period of time, put them in the garage in a box with individual potato compartments separated by newspaper. Once the temperature begins to rise, bring the box inside to the room with the lowest temperature. Check the potatoes frequently, and if any of them show signs of sprouting or rotting, use them as soon as possible.