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Planting sweet potatoes. Should
not be grown in smaller gardens; their long vines trail and may
interfere with other crops. Beginners are advised to grow them only
in small quantities, because curing and storage require special
conditions. Sweet potatoes are a warm weather crop requiring a well-drained
light to medium soil. Avoid clays or other heavy soils and heavy
applications of nitrogenous fertilizer, which produce poor yields
and create stringy roots.
Moderate application of fertilizer
medium in potash content and high in phosphorous is helpful. Start
your sweet potatoes from plants or slips bought from a seeds man
or dealer. Get a strong plant about 6 to 9 inches long, free of
wilt, disease, or damage. To improve drainage set the plants on
wide ridges 8 to 10 inches high and at least 3 feet apart, with
14 inches between plants. Do not bring newly set plants into contact
with fertilizer. If it is used, work half of it into the row before
building the ridge and cultivate the remainder into the sides of
the ridge 3 weeks after setting out the plants.
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Little-Stem Jersey and Maryland Golden are
widely used dry-fleshed varieties; Porto Rico and Nancy Hall are among
the best of the moist-fleshed. Dig them up as soon as the first frost
nips the leaves, and dig with care so that the roots will not be bruised
or skinned. If the crop is of such size that it must be stored for more
than a few weeks, the sweet potatoes must first be cured. This is done
by placing them in a well-ventilated room, with a temperature of 80 to
90 degrees and plenty of moisture in the air, for about 10 days. Storage
requires moderately moist air and a temperature slowly changed to 50 to
500 degrees. Curing sweet potatoes means healing cuts and bruises to prevent
attack by rot-producing organisms.
If the vines of sweet potatoes grow too
thick it is a good idea to cut part of them away. If they tend to run
across the rows cut them back or turn them back. If, in the South, a later
crop is desired, new vines may be cut in pieces 6 to 8 inches long and
stuck into the ground in the rows just before a good rain. They will take
root readily and produce a good crop.
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