| How to grow sweet potatoes
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How to grow sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are not grown from seeds, but rather from transplants or vine cuttings. Transplants (12" to 18" sections) are also called slips and are grown from mother roots (seed potatoes). That is, regular sweet potatoes which are planted into long narrow beds after the danger of frost, usually between mid-marches through the end of April. Believe it or not, during the months they are held in storage they are considered to be asleep -- but are very much alive. If you think how to grow sweet potatoes, preprinting or "growing your own slips" is also referred to as "waking up" the sweet potatoes.
To start growing your own slips, simply select a few sweet potatoes from your local grocery store. However, there is the possibility of disease being present. It is possible to grow as many as two bushels of sweet potatoes with sprouts taken from just two or three sweet potatoes. Be sure to pick sweet potatoes that are firm and unblemished. There are about 50 eyes on a medium sweet potato and each one may produce a sprout that you should know while learning how to grow sweet potatoes. Slips are easy to grow and by doing so you can save time and money. In addition, a good start reduces transplanting shock and helps them develop a healthy crown of leaves and well-developed root system.
Things You’ll Need for how to grow sweet potatoes:
Garden
Sweet Potatoes or Slips
Mulch
Water
Step1 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Begin about a month before the last frost or before you plan to transplant the slips in the garden. Sweet potatoes are not grown from seeds, but from vine cuttings called slips.
Step2 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Choose a couple of nice sweet potatoes from your local grocery store. You can grow several bushels of sweet potatoes from the slips taken from just a couple of sweet potatoes.
Step3 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Grow your slips from the sweet potatoes. There are several ways to do this. Bury the mature sweet potato halfway into moist potting soil and keep the soil moist. Or put enough toothpicks in the midsection of the sweet potatoes to hold the potato up in a jar of water.
Step4 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Cut the slips off the mother sweet potato when they are six to eight inches long. Remember to handle the slips gently at this point because they are easy to damage.
Step5 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Transplant the slips in the garden when the soil is at least 70 degrees and there is no danger of frost. Lay the slips on their sides with most of the slip buried a half inch under the soil.
Step6 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Plant the slips 12 to 18 inches apart in rows that are three to four feet apart. Sweet potato vines will cover the ground; therefore, they need a lot of space in the garden.
Step7 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Place black mulch around the young sweet potato slips to help retain moisture. Black mulch will also draw heat from the sun.
Step8 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Harvest sweet potatoes before the first frost. Sweet potatoes are ready to be harvested after four months in the ground, no later than five months.
Step9 for how to grow sweet potatoes
Dry the sweet potatoes on the ground two or three hours after harvesting. Then allow them another 10 to 14 days of curing in a warm room with moderate humidity. Afterwards, they should be placed in a cool room for storage until ready to be cooked.
How to grow sweet potatoes >
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