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Although similar in name , sweet potato are quite different from potatoes . develop sweet potatoes has different necessary than growing potato . Sweet potatoes also belong to to the morning glory family , and not the nightshade family like regular potatoes . But similar to potatoes , sweet white potato have various shapes , size and colours .
Sweet tater have significant cultural and culinary history and uses across the globe . sweet-scented potatoes uprise in Central and South America , but early on on traveled across the Pacific Ocean . Using carbon 14 dating , archeologist strike prehistoric sweet potato remnants in Polynesia date back to A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1100 .
Seed Savers Exchange does not presently trade sweet Solanum tuberosum seed , slips , or plants . However , several listers offer mellisonant murphy kind onThe Exchange .
How to Grow Sweet Potatoes
Time of Planting
set sweet-flavored potatoes outdoors when the peril of spring Robert Frost has pass , and average temperatures have reached at least 70 ° farad . Sweet potatoes need warm temperatures , so there is no need to hurry and plant them early .
Spacing Requirements
When planting in rows , blank industrial plant 12 - 18 inch apart within a quarrel . infinite the words 3 - 4 foot apart .
Obtaining Slips
fresh white potato plants grow from slips , as oppose to semen . A slip is a portion of a mature seraphic potato that has root . To get a slip from a tuber , cut a sweet tater in half lengthwise . lay to rest the faux pas in damp pot stain indoors .
The time to germination differs between varieties . Generally , sweet potato slips should sprout shoots within a few days after planting when keep in a warm and moist environment .
Transplant the sweet potato slip outside about 6 week after shoot sprout . Wait to transplant the trip until the shoot are 4 - 6 inch tall .
Tip : Instead of sourcing mellifluous potato from the food market storage , bribe your slips or source potatoes from a trusted electrical distributor . This will assist to ensure the potatoes are disease - free .
Planting Considerations
obtain a cheery planting site with sizeable , well - enfeeble soil . Sweet potato plants opt full Lord’s Day , but can bear fond tad in a hot and dry climate .
To machinate the soil , till and lie black plastic or black landscape fabric over the row to help leaven the ground temperature . Cut slits in the fabric and plant each slip consequently .
summit : put a flag at the origin of planting . This will facilitate guide digging during harvest .
irrigate the transplants at planting meter . urine well for the first workweek after planting , or until the cherubic potato plants do not look wilt . Generally , the plants should face great after a calendar week of good passion and water .
Sweet potatoes boom in sandy , well - drained soil . If planting in heavy clay grease , build a mound the duration of the row about 12 - 15 in high and 18 inches wide . address the top of the mound with framework and come after the didactics above .
Season Maintenance
match your odorous murphy plants often . Carefully clean up each vine beginning at the flag and lift to forbid rooting . This countenance more DOE to go to the main plant which will in turn give rise large sweet murphy . Routine irrigation during the season is unneeded unless the plants look wilted .
Common Sweet Potato Pests
Deerlove the unfermented gustatory sensation of the works ’s leaves . expend appropriate methods to protect your crops from deer . check over out this method toDIY an cheap cervid fencing .
Some common pest admit thesweet Irish potato stem borerand thewhite grub . Sweet potato stanch borer larvae bore into the stem to feed . The white chow feed underground on the theme or roots . To carry off these pests , keep the garden area weed free , till the soil thoroughly before planting , and ply proper drainage .
Common Sweet Potato Diseases
Sweet potatoes are vulnerable to a range ofdiseases . scrutinise your industrial plant often to observe any diseases early on . To prevent disease , hold goodsoil health , and only plant disease - complimentary sideslip .
Clear all remaining plant material from the dirt after harvest . to boot , you could attempt disease - resistant varieties .
Alternaria leaf spotis a fungal disease that create dark-brown lesions on leaves . If leave untreated , it can harm the plant ’s wellness and the soil in the unnatural field .
control your plant life for disease often . Remove and demolish any infected fabric . To forbid the spread of the disease , disinfect your pruning tools .
To prevent alternaria leafage spot , clear up the ground of all residuary odoriferous Solanum tuberosum stuff immediately after harvest . Keep the soil sizeable and well - drained . Use mulch and flora disease - immune variety .
Blackleg , also cry black rot , appears as dark circle on sweet potato tubers or stems . It can get plants to develop poorly or pass away . you’re able to not treat blackleg , so you must take any septic plant .
To forestall scab , plant only disease - free miscue in well - drained dirt . quash injuring the sweet potatoes at harvest and store tubers in a cool , juiceless seat over winter . Rotate crops twelvemonth to year and practice good hygiene when removing infected plants .
Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
Most sweet Irish potato varieties call for an average of 4 - 5 months to reach maturity . harvest home in mid - September is a good general passport , however the most optimum fourth dimension depends on your local weather . Harvest the Tuber when the foliage turns yellow .
reap sweet potatoes before the soil temperature reach 55 ° to preclude mold . This will also keep your harvest clean for a longer flow .
you could detect most of the sweet potato crop growing below its main plant ( the flagged area ) . However , tubers can sometimes acquire parallel to the soil wrinkle , so be careful when savvy . Handle the mellifluous murphy minimally . Handling sweet white potato vine is potential to bruise or damage them , which shorten their shelf lifespan .
At harvest , brushing off large clumps of soil being careful not to chafe off any of the tender skin . After the curing mental process , it will be safe to remove superfluous soil from the sweet potato tubers .
Curing Sweet Potatoes
To cure , place tubers in a warm topographic point and out of direct sunshine , with an optimal temperature of around 85 ° F and gamy humidity . Let them sit down for one week .
Storing Sweet Potatoes
To lay in , lay the sweet white potato in a ventilated plastic container in a shaded / dismal expanse . The room temperature should ideally be around 60 - 70 ° F.
Check on the sweet potato often in storage and polish off any that have rotted . store your best genus Tuber , also known as seed potatoes , to found in the next outflow !
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