Some of you know I am trying sweet potato for the first time this year. Plants have grown well, overcoming an early attack by ground hogs, and vines are running all over the fall garden. When to Harvest?
I have one plant in a large container in the garden. The plant has grown everywhere. Recently I notice one side of the soil pushed up. I reached in and found this.
Yesterday, I noticed that some potatoes were peeking thru the soil at the plants in a garden row. When do I harvest?
Sweet potatoes take 7-9 months to mature. I looks like they are ready now. New ones are grown from slips. Sweet potato leaves are edible/ Cook the tips like spinach.
I'm still not good at this, but generally, the first bunch will be ready immediately below where you planted the slip, then there will be satellite bunches where the expanding vines set down roots and grew tubers. The potatoes will be less developed as you go outward, and when the main bunch is barely big enough, the outermost satellite bunches will be no bigger than pencils.
Sweet potatoes need thorough rummaging of the entire bed to harvest them all, so you will want to make a judgment call as to when you want to dig up the lot.. You COULD start from one end of the bed and test dig/harvest the main clump from one or more plants, then explore the remaining tubers from the same plants.
I usually end up doing this several times, THEN decide to call it and do a full excavation.
Rodale's says: "You can harvest as soon as leaves start to yellow, but the longer a crop is left in the ground, the higher the yield and vitamin content. Once frost blackens the vines, however, tubers can quickly rot.”
I don't know if you actually get much frost where you are, but cooler weather in general is supposed to improve flavor.
Wow. 7 to 9 months. I don't think there's much hope for my getting any sweet potatoes. Couldn't get them planted til very late; just couldn't get my potatoes suspended in water to get roots or slips for literally months. I have one plant with 3 foot vines. I'm not expecting much, but will let frost nip the leaves then dig.
Next year I will have to try to find plants to purchase, though I've not noticed them for sale around here.
It does depend on variety. I would LOVE to be able to grow those extra-long season varieties like imafan grows though. The white skinned-purple ones particularly. I also prefer the Japanese kind but those seem to be later maturing, too.
I like the dry fleshed sweet ones, so I keep eschewing the varieties recommended for shorter season, but I really have to give in and try growing them -- like Georgia Jet, Vardaman, Beauregard and Covington.
Yes, it is true, the ones we like to grow are the purple and white fleshed sweet potatoes not the jewel yams. I do have a 360 day growing season and frankly the sweet potatoes are left in the ground until the vines get unruly and I get tired of cutting them back. Digging out tubers is work. we usually only dig out the main clump because the ones that have rooted on the edges will be younger. The tubers can be very deep. That is why I prefer to grow the sweet potatoes in a tree pot (25 gallons). Peat moss and sand works better in this pot. A couple of handfuls of vermicast and slow release high K low nitrogen fertilizer. Sweet potatoes do better in terra cotta or whisky barrels. They like a moderate amount of water when the slips are growing but need less water than other vegetables.
I usually order from George at https://www.tatorman.com/ They're good on prices and will ship on your schedule. He also has a video on planting.
I'm trying Vardamans this year and the vines are almost as big as my pinkie finger, really healthy plants and pretty enough to use as an ornamental. They also haven't flowered like the Beauregards I usually grow and the vines are only about 4' long so it's very manageable.
Sweet potato plants don't seem to care if the soil is good or bad. I plant mine in April and let frost kill them is November. No matter where you live plant as early as you can and let frost kill the plants in the fall. If you have a shorter growing season than me you will have less potatoes than me. I keep my vines growing in a 12 foot circle so they don't take over the whole garden. Every place vines touch the soil they grow roots and more potatoes at that location. 1 plant usually gives me 75 lbs of potatoes. I usually buy a grocery store potato and keep it in the pantry when it sprouts I cut the end of the potato off like you do with white potatoes and plant the potato piece in the soil with the vine sticking out.
