[MWC]

I have grown regular potatoes, and was about to hold court about that ... ut it is quite a bit different. So here you go from Google -- doesn't it sound so simple?

SWEET POTATOES GROW FROM MOTHER ROOTS

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). 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.

To start growing your own slips, simply select a few sweet potatoes from your local grocery store. 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.

Presprout the sweet potatoes by placing them on top of the water heater beforehand to hasten the growing process. Handle the sweet potatoes carefully at all times. Rough handling after presprouting can cause them to rot. Lay the sweet potatoes on their sides in no more than 2" of moist dirt. It's alright if a few sprouts show through the soil. Cover the sprouts with clear plastic sheets (clear works better for northern gardners). The plastic will hold in the moisture and heat which helps the seed potatoes to sprout. If the weather is favorable, plants can be produced in about 4 weeks.

Another way to grow slips is to stick toothpicks into the midsections of small, healthy sweet potatoes, then submerge them halfway in a jar of water and place in a sunny location. Again, placing the sweet potatoes on top of the water heater beforehand will hasten the growing process. Still another way to grow slips would be to submerge the sweet potato halfway into a pot of moistened vermiculite or potting soil. Add warm water periodically, never allowing the sweet potato to dry out, but be sure not to over water.

Growing Sweet Potatoes in the Home Garden

Wait until the soil temperature reaches 65 to 70 degrees F before bedding seed potatoes. In south Louisiana, begin in mid to late March and, in north Louisiana, in late March to early April. To produce transplants, build up the row or bed in which the seed potatoes are to be bedded to provide good drainage. Fertilize the plant bed with 3 to 4 pounds of complete fertilizer, such as 8-24-24 or 6-24-24 per 100 feet. Lay the potatoes side by side in the bed, and cover them with about 2 inches of soil. Cover the row with clear or black plastic to warm the soil and encourage earlier sprout production.

Remove the plastic after the plants begin to push up against it. Keep the bed moist, but not wet, to encourage sprouting. Plants suitable for transplanting (12 to 14 inches tall) should be ready six to eight weeks from bedding.

Transplant sweet potatoes beginning in late April in south Louisiana and from the first of May through June in north Louisiana. An ideal transplant is 12-14 inches long with five or six leaves and a strong stem. Cut plants from the bed about 2 inches above the soil. Using cut plants, rather than pulled plants with a root system, helps to ensure against the transfer of several diseases from the plant bed to the garden. It also helps prevent the transfer of the sweet potato weevil. Although the cuttings don’t have roots, they will develop quickly if planted in warm soil and watered. Place each transplant about 4 inches deep. Be careful to leave the terminal buds above ground. Space the plants 12 to 14 inches apart in the row, and space rows at least 3 to 4 feet apart. Build a fairly high bed on which to transplant.

Soils of low to medium fertility will require 2 to 4 pounds of a complete fertilizer such as 6-24-24 or 8-24-24 or similar per 100 feet of row. Apply the fertilizer several days before transplanting. Soils high in organic matter or highly fertile will probably need no fertilizer. Place the fertilizer in a band in a row 5 to 6 inches deep, or broadcast it over the row and work it in. Over fertilization, especially with nitrogen, causes the plants to produce an abundance of vines and few sweet potatoes. A side dressing of fertilizer is generally not necessary for this crop unless it is grown on extremely sandy soils.

Keep the soil moist in the early part of the season to encourage establishment of a good fibrous root system. Storage roots should begin to "set" or develop 25-30 days after transplanting. After the roots have "set," keep the soil moist by irrigating during dry periods. This helps to increase the size of the roots that have set. Be careful not to keep the soil too wet, since this can lead to rotting of the roots.

As the plants grow, work the soil up to the plant. This will encourage better production and help reduce the sweet potato weevil problem. Shallow cultivations for weed control may be needed before the vines cover the rows. Usually, after the vines cover the middles, they will shade out most of the weeds and grasses. The herbicide Dacthal can help to control weeds in sweet potatoes. Granular formulations are easy to use. Follow label instructions.

Sweet potatoes can be harvested any time after the hills have produced usable potatoes, usually 90-120 days after transplanting varieties. If the potatoes are allowed to remain in the soil, they will continue to grow and increase in size. A periodic check after about 80 days by digging around a hill will help to determine when the potatoes are ready to harvest.

Most of the sizing takes place in the last two to three weeks, so keep close check on the size to schedule harvest before the potatoes become too large. If the soil is extremely dry at harvest, a light irrigation will help digging and reduce skinning. Too much soil moisture at this time, however, may cause root rotting before harvest or cracking open of potatoes after harvest.

At harvest, try to minimize skinning and bruising the roots. Undamaged potatoes will have a longer storage life. Select potatoes that are to be used for seed to produce plants for next year’s crop. Keep only those that have a good skin and flesh color and are free of diseases and weevils. Also save seed from hills that have a good "set," that is, a large number of uniform potatoes. The smaller roots (1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter) make the best seed potatoes, because you can get more of them in a given space and get the maximum number of plants from the space.

Don’t allow the potatoes to be exposed to the sun for more than an hour. A good practice is to cover the potatoes with vines after placing them in crates or boxes until they can be brought in. Harvest before frost kills the vines. If the crop remains in the garden for an extended period after a frost, the roots may begin to decay.

Curing and Storage

Sweet potatoes are not very sweet or moist when first dug. It will take six to eight weeks before they will have the sweet, moist taste and texture desired when baked. Freshly harvested potatoes don’t bake well, but they can be candied or used in pies or casseroles.

After the potatoes are dug, they should be cured to heal the cuts and bruises. Cure by storing in a warm, humid room for five to 10 days. A temperature of 80 to 90 degrees F and a relative humidity of 80% to 90% are ideal. These exact conditions will be hard to establish around the home, so select a site that comes close to these conditions. After curing, store potatoes at 55 to 60 degrees F. Exposure to low temperatures for several days will cause the potatoes to develop a hard center and reduce their quality. When the potatoes are stored at a high temperature for a long time, they begin to sprout, shrivel and become stringy and pithy.

Potatoes held over for use as seed potatoes the next year should be dusted with 2 to 4 ounces of 5% Imidan per bushel to help control the sweet potato weevil.