Last night I picked up a set of 25 sweet potato slips from the local greenhouse for $4.50. I’ve never grown them before, but for that price, I decided I could do some diggin’ {literally and figuratively} and figure it out. Not only was I up for the challenge of trying something new, but I could eat sweet potatoes every day for the rest of my life and not get sick of them—it only feels right to grow them.
How to Grow Sweet Potato Slips
Sweet potatoes like hot, hot weather. While potatoes can be started in cool weather, sweet potatoes are not as tolerant. Point being, don’t be tempted to start them before the weather is consistently warm. Start by putting down a 1”-2” layer of compost in your garden bed. Water the compost in well. The compost will provide a nice hospitable start for your slips to take root. Next, place your slips in the dirt, covering the root portion of the slip with dirt. Space the slips 18” apart, and keep 3 feet between rows, so that they have a chance to spread and work their magic. Apparently, after this step, so long as it is warm and you keep the soil evenly moist, those suckers will take hold and go nuts.
When Sweet Potatoes Are Ready to Harvest
Sweet potatoes are ready to harvest when the tips of the leaves start to turn yellow {or when the threat of a frost forces you to}. To harvest them, follow the vine to the base of the dirt and start turning the soil about 18” out from that point {so that you don’t accidentally puncture the taters}. They are closer to the surface than regular potatoes, so you won’t have to turn over a ton of dirt.
Random Facts that Will Impress No One
Sweet potatoes are actually roots, not tubers like regular potatoes.
Sweet potatoes and yams often get interchanged at the grocery store, but they are actually different botanically.
To get really sweet sweet potatoes, it’s best to let them cure before eating. Just dig them up, leave them to sit on top of the dirt {keeping them nice and dry} for a week or so. Then, brush off the dirt and store. The longer they sit, the sweet they “git.”
Have YOU grown sweet potatoes in your garden before? Any tips?
~Mavis
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Mama says
I’m a sweet potato girl as well!!! I’ve been dreaming of planting some, but do you think they would do well in our Pacific NW climate?
Sara says
Mama, Many years ago, I did them in the South Sound area. They did work. I remember I had one really huge one. Last year would have been an incredible year for them here with all our heat, but this year could be good. Territorial Seed catalog sells them since they are rare to find in the feed and hardware stores around here.
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
I grew sweet potatoes last year for the first time and had great success. You can see pics in the Aug/Sept range when I harvested them on my IG feed @preppycrocodile. So they are only very distantly related to regular potatoes and the leaves are very edible. Great in salads and stir fry dishes. You can also bury parts of the vines once they get growing and supposedly it will root more spuds. Though I am in Upstate NY so I am lucky to get what I can get here in Zone 5. But if you’re further south and have a longer growing season, you should totally try it! I grew them between other things because the vines were awesome ground cover to keep weeds at bay. I’ve never bought slips- I start mine from an organic sweet potato in Jan. It’s easy to do but you have to start in Jan or Feb because it is a SLOW process to get those slips to come out. Happy growing!
KK @preppycrocodile
Richard says
I grew sweet potatoes for the first time last year. I’m very jealous of how cheap yours were though! Here in the UK I buy 5 slips for about £10 (~$14 US) so they’re *expensive* as a crop.
They did reasonably well in my greenhouse last year despite less-than-ideal weather, so I’m hoping for a better season this year – and more sweet potatoes 🙂
Liz says
I’ve grown them in the past and wasn’t too successful because of our clay soil here in the mid atlantic. This year we have them in our SFG so we will see how that goes. Its a good idea to periodically pull the vines away from the ground so the leaves are feeding the main “potato” rather than the sucker spots that sprout along the vine. Good luck!
Sharelle says
I grow them all the time. Plenty of hot weather in Mississippi! I have trouble with potatoes.
The thing I learned was that the greens are edible. Since they are not actually in the potato family they are not poisonous. The little leaves are good in salad and larger ones are good as cooked greens.