How to Grow Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a great, high yield veggie that you can plant in the spring/summer for a fall/winter harvest. Not only are they full of amazing nutrients, but they are super easy to grow! Keep reading to find out how to grow sweet potatoes for your household—and maybe your whole neighborhood!
Step 1: Check The Date
Sweet potatoes take about 7-9 months to be ready to harvest. If you live in a cold/northern climate, you’re going to want to start ASAP! You should have your sprouts already started about 6-8 weeks before your last frost date.
Step 2: Choose Your Sweet Potato
Organic sweet potatoes are the best option to start with, because they will not have been sprayed with toxic pesticides or sprout inhibitors. Plus, if you are wanting to grow your own organic garden, starting with organic sprouts is a key step!
Step 3: Prep Your Sweet Potato
One of the biggest problems when it comes to trying to sprout a whole sweet potato is that it starts to rot before the sprouts can really get going. A natural way to keep this from happening is to do a quick vitamin C soak. Dissolve 2 1,000mg vitamin C tablets in a blender with enough water to fully submerge your sweet potato. Then allow it to soak for about 15 minutes. This will help preserve your sweet potato while the sprouts start to grow from all the eyes.
Step 4: Sprouting Your Sweet Potato
There are 3 ways you can go about sprouting your sweet potato, but in my experience, the potting soil technique works best for getting the most sprouts. We will cover all 3 ways just so you can try on your own, though:
Toothpick & Cup Method - Stick 3 toothpicks evenly spaced around the middle of the sweet potato- Place the bottom side (fattest end) down in a cup of water so the toothpicks are holding the sweet potato suspended in the water - Make sure it gets about 4 hours of sunlight/grow light per day- Wait about 30-60 days for roots/sprouts(on day 60, most cup sweet potatoes barely have 1 sprout)
Horizontal in Pearlite - Fill a small container with pearlite- Bury sweet potato horizontally about halfway deep, so the top half is above the top of the pearlite - Make sure it gets about 4 hours of sunlight/grow light per day- Water daily, and wait about 30-60 days for roots/sprouts- You may need to cut off pieces of the sweet potato as it may be rotting a bit at 60 days. (on day 60, most pearlite sweet potatoes have 1 good sprout growing, and lots of roots all the way through the pearlite)
Horizontal in Potting Soil - Fill a small container with potting soil- Bury sweet potato horizontally about halfway deep, so the top half is above the top of the soil - Make sure it gets about 4 hours of sunlight/grow light per day- Water daily, and wait about 30-60 days for roots/sprouts(on day 60, most potting soil sweet potatoes have several healthy sprouts growing, and a thriving root system all the way through the soil)
Step 5: Rooting Your Sprouts
Once you have several healthy and strong sprouts that are at least 6 inches tall, you can start rooting them so they will be ready to plant...
Just snip or pull them directly off of your sweet potato, (as close to the sweet potato as possible) pull off the bottom leaves, and place in a cup of water in a sunny place for 2-3 weeks.
(If you find any sprouts that are already rooted, you can plant them in holding pots until all the other sprouts catch up.)
Step 6: Planting Your Sprouts
When all your sprouts have well-developed roots, they’re ready to plant!
A couple things to keep in mind when you are ready to plant your sprouts are:
Sweet potatoes make a lot of nitrogen on their own, so your soil doesn’t need to have a lot of it already. Opt for a high phosphorus content to encourage more root development.
Sweet potatoes need a LOT of elbow room, so make sure your bed is big enough for the amount of sprouts you have. A 2x4 bed is perfect for about 6 sprouts at a time, but you could squeeze in 8 if needed.
Plant your sprouts about 6 inches apart, and make sure they're deep, but they still stick up out of the ground a bit. Keep them well watered, and you’ll be ready to harvest some yummy sweet potatoes in about 4-6 months!
Step 7: Harvesting Your Sweet Potatoes
When your sweet potatoes are ready to be harvested, it should be right before your first frost when the vines start to turn yellow.
If you live in a mild climate, your vines might not turn yellow, so in this case, watch for your sweet potatoes to start nudging up to the surface. If you see some li’l sweet potatoes poking up out of the ground, they’re letting you know they’re done!
After harvesting, store your sweet potatoes in a cool, dark place for about 2-3 weeks to give the sugars time to disperse through all of them. This will make them taste better, but you can still eat them right out of the ground if you want to!
(If you notice any green on your sweet potatoes, don’t worry. Green sweet potatoes are safe to eat, unlike regular potatoes!)
Keep your harvest cool and dry, and your sweet potatoes will keep for several months! This is a great opportunity to try some new recipes, share your harvest, and have a nutritious snack all winter long.
Let me know in the comments what your favorite sprouting method is, and what you’re most excited to do with your harvest!
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