Planted Sweet Potato from a vine

[EElse]

Hi there!

Approximately 70 days ago I received a sweet potato vine from friends and they told me to plant it in my garden and then wait for it to grow (an edible variety). I've never planted sweet potatoes before and have also never planted something like an existing vine with the hope that it will grow into fruit/vegetables.

The plant was a bit droopy the first week but after that it perked up and the vine grew a bit. It is turning into winter quite fast now (I'm in South Africa) and the last week temperatures have averaged around 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) daytime and 10 C (50F) during the night.

How do I know when the plant is ready for harvest? How much longer will the plant be able to grow and at what temperature will the risk become too great to keep it in the ground?

Should I cut off another vine and keep it growing during the winter (maybe in a pot or something) or will I only have this one harvest from the plant?

Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

[applestar]

Most varieties of sweet potatoes would take longer than 70 days for me -- closer to 100-120 days, but maybe you've had much hotter day and night temperatures while the potato was growing than I would get, so they might grow faster. Sweet potato vines keep going until frost kills the leaves. If you don't have frost and freezing weather, I think they will stay alive and resume growing when it's warm enough. Another member - Imafan from Hawaii - could tell you more.

I think only way to know for sure is to cautiously dig around the base of where you first planted -- that would be where the most developed tubers are. Potatoes grow at the end of thick ropy root. When there is a potato large enough to harvest/eat you can feel it in the soil as you rummage around. Don't use a sharp tool and watch out that you don't scratch with your fingernails. They would also have grown where the vines touched ground and rooted in satellite clumps, typically smaller and less developed further you go outward from original planting, but sometimes exceptionally well grown if they found a particularly fertile or water-rich spot.

Saving some cuttings of the vines is an excellent idea. You only need short pieces -- they will grow roots in water or soil. But you can't keep them for too long in water -- they will need to be planted in soil.

[EElse]

Thanks so much!! I think I'll leave them for another few weeks, we only expect frost around mid June until the end of July but I'll keep a careful eye on the weather.

The days in February were exceptionally hot (but I only planted it at the end of Feb) and March was still very warm, it was only in April that it started to cool down (less than 20C at night) so I think I'll check in a week or two (with my hands) and if nothing then I'll leave it until June.

Thanks again and have a wonderful day!