If you've decided to start growing a vegetable garden, sweet potatoes require little care, but they offer you a bountiful harvest in the next season, much more than other vegetables and fruit plants. If you have a small area, you can plant these auburn-colored tubers and harvest them fresh to make Christmas party recipes. Follow this guide to get started.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Growing Sweet Potatoes by Cutting
Step 1. Choose some sweet potatoes
Cuttings are small shoots grown from pre-existing sweet potato plants. You can order them online, buy them at a nursery or grow them yourself. Find a ripe, healthy potato from a greengrocer or a friend's garden.
The most common and widespread varieties grown in Italy are the Anguillara and Stroppare potatoes, as well as the Apulian patana and tartufulu
Step 2. Make sure the area where you want to plant sweet potatoes has the right climate
Sweet potatoes are a tropical plant. This means they grow well, according to the USDA climate zone map, in zones 9, 10 and 11. If you are preparing the cutting yourself, start sprouting them in March / April. The cuttings should be planted in the ground in May / June.
Step 3. Prepare the potato
Now that you've got yourself a couple of nice healthy tubers, put them in the sink to clean them. Then cut them in half. If they are particularly large, consider cutting them into three or four pieces.
Step 4. Fill a jar with water
The method of growing the cuttings is to partially immerse the half potato in a container filled with water. Use a jar or cup with an opening wide enough to hold the tuber.
Step 5. Place the potato in the water
First stick it more or less in the middle with 4-5 toothpicks, equidistant from each other as if they were the spokes of a wheel. These will allow you to leave the potato suspended in the center of the jar with the cut side submerged in the water.
Repeat this for each piece of potato you want to grow. Use a jar for each
Step 6. Place the jar near a sunny window so it can receive light and heat
Step 7. Wait for the cuttings to grow
You will need to wait 2-4 weeks for leaflets to start sprouting from the top of the potato.
Step 8. Collect the cuttings
When several have sprung up, carefully twist them one at a time to detach them. They will have no roots and will look like leaflets with a small stem.
Step 9. Put the cuttings in water
Fill a shallow bowl with a little water (about 2.5cm) based on the number of cuttings you have. Arrange them in such a way that the stem remains submerged. Let them sit for several days until the roots develop.
- Change the water once a day to keep them healthy.
- If a cutting fails to root or begins to wilt, discard it.
Step 10. Prepare the cuttings for planting
After 2-3 days they will have developed roots at the bottom, so you can throw the water and get ready to bury them. It is better to place them directly in the garden rather than in separate pots so the roots will remain intact.
Part 2 of 3: Prepare the Garden
Step 1. Choose the area
Sweet potatoes grow underground so they don't need a lot of space. However, they prefer a warm habitat, so choose an area that gets plenty of sun (especially if you live in northern countries) and that drains water well.
Step 2. Loosen the ground
Since they are tubers, potatoes grow deep. You must make sure that their development is not hindered by too compact soil: move it at least to a depth of 30 cm. Add some garden potting soil as needed to ensure it is soft and well ventilated.
Step 3. Prepare the soil
Like all vegetables and fruit trees, nutrient-rich soil is crucial for a bountiful harvest. Add a layer of good soil and remove any large stones you come across. Check the pH: Add peat or wood ash to compensate for an excessively acidic or alkaline level - your goal is a neutral pH.
You can find a pH measurement kit at a center that sells garden items
Step 4. Know when to plant
Since sweet potatoes love heat, you should plant them when the soil is at a pleasant temperature. Wait at least a month after the last frost, in early spring, and plant your cuttings.
Step 5. Choose the type of mulch
Helps potatoes grow by retaining heat in the soil. If you live in a particularly cold region, place a black plastic sheet or similar over the cuttings after planting them.
Part 3 of 3: Plant the Sweet Potatoes
Step 1. Dig some holes
The cuttings need a little more space than other vegetables, so space the holes about 30-60 cm apart. They should be as deep as the root ball at the end of each cutting and also accommodate 1.25 cm of stem.
Step 2. Plant the plants
Place each cutting in a hole and cover the roots and 1.25 cm of the stem with potting soil. The part with the leaves will begin to spread outwards like a vine, while the roots will produce the tuber at a depth of 15-30 cm.
Step 3. Add mulch
Protect the potatoes from the cold with the mulch you chose earlier. It will also allow you to control the growth of weeds and the outside of the potato plant as it may consume too much energy that must be available to the tuber.
Step 4. Water
Plants need a lot of water at first. Over time, reduce the amount to one watering per week. Start getting them wet every day, then gradually skip a few until you reach the goal of once a week.
Step 5. Wait for the tubers to develop
Sweet potatoes have a relatively long growing period, will be ripe and ready to harvest in early fall (which is why you can enjoy them for the holidays). Keep watering them weekly and get rid of weeds to keep them healthy.
Step 6. Collect the potatoes
After about 120 days from the moment you put them in the ground, the sweet potatoes reach complete ripeness. If possible, wait until the last minute (before frost arrives) for the harvest, as this will give you bigger and tastier tubers.
Step 7. Season the tubers
One of the fundamental steps is the seasoning. This develops the typical flavor of sweet potatoes (which they do not have when freshly harvested) and a harder skin. Put them in a room where the temperature is constantly at 30-35 ° C with a humidity of 80-90% for 5-10 days. After this period they will be ready to eat!
Consider putting a small radiator and humidifier in a small room or closet to season potatoes
Step 8. Store the sweet potatoes
One of the best things about these fantastic tubers is that they stay fresh and good to eat for many months if stored carefully. Put them in a dry place where the temperature is constant and around 21 ° C (not in the fridge!). Never put sweet potatoes in plastic bags or airtight containers.
Advice
- Do not hit or drop the potatoes after harvesting them, otherwise large dark spots will develop.
- The more you let them mature, the better the flavor will be. You can also wait several weeks.
- Try not to use a hoe or rake to loosen the soil after planting potatoes, as these tools could break the delicate roots of the tubers.
