Sweet PotatoConvolvulaceae

Sweet Potatoes.

Warm seasonHot season
At a glance

The spec sheet.

Direct sow / out
Late May (needs warm soil)
Germ
Grown from 'slips' (rooted cuttings)
Days to harvest
90–120
Spacing
12" apart, rows 36"
Depth
Slips 3–4" deep
Square-foot
1 per square (needs sprawl room)
Qty target
10 slips = ~50 lbs of sweet potatoes.

Plant

Order slips or root your own from a store sweet potato. Plant when soil is 65°F+ — sweet potatoes hate cold.

Care

Vines will sprawl 6+ feet. Water first month; slack off later so tubers concentrate sugars.

Harvest

Before first frost. Dig gently — skins are thin at harvest. Cure at 80°F+ for 10 days to develop flavor and heal skins.

Preserve

Cured tubers keep 4–6 months at 55–60°F. Also roasted & frozen puree, sweet potato pie filling.

Companion planting

What sweet potatoes likes, and doesn’t.

Good neighbors

Avoid nearby

  • Squash (compete for sprawl space)

Botanically unrelated to potatoes or nightshades — you can plant sweet potatoes anywhere without nightshade rotation concerns.