How to
Grow Sweet Potatoes

Healthy, versatile and with a wonderful taste and texture, sweet potatoes are becoming a firm favourite in British gardens and kitchens.

Sweet potatoes are simple to grow and can be planted in your patch or allotment from slips, which are young stems, or plug plants which are slightly more mature.

Sweet potatoes need warmer conditions compared to regular potatoes.

 

When to plant Sweet Potatoes

Slips and plugs can be grown directly in the soil, once it has warmed and there’s no frost risk, from mid to late May.

It is highly recommended, though, to grow them indoors first, in a greenhouse or heated poly tunnel, to produce the best results.

Sweet potatoes take around four months to harvest, which means crops are often ready in late September to October.

Sweet Potatoes slips

When slips arrive with you, they may have wilted. This is perfectly normal though, and they’ll revive if you follow these steps:

  • Place slips in a vase, large cup or bottle of water, immersing right up to the leaves.
  • Leave for 24 hours in a cool place, not a windowsill or by a warm radiator, to allow them to refresh and revive before planting.

Potting on Sweet Potatoes slips

  • When slips are revived, they need to be planted into small growing pots and grown indoors until it’s warm enough for growing outside.
  • Fill pots with good quality, multi-purpose compost. One slip will go in one pot.
  • Plant the slip up to leaf height and gently water the soil.

Sweet Potatoes plug plants

When plugs arrive, they’ll have a developed root system, stem and leaves up to 6inches (15cm).

If the roots are dry, gently mist (spray water) to moisten and keep them moist for a few days, prior to potting on or planting.

Preparing the soil for Sweet Potatoes planting

In the UK, sweet potato plants need a warm and sunny location, plenty of space and a free-draining soil that’s already worked in with a good multi-purpose compost.

Consider planting in a raised bed if your soil is heavy and avoid using a fertiliser that’s high in nitrogen.

While indoors, feed plants with a potassium-rich liquid feed every fortnight.

Hardening Sweet Potatoes plants

Just before planting outside in May, slips and plugs should be hardened off. This means bringing them outside during the day to adjust them to the temperatures, before returning indoors in cooler night-time conditions.

How to plant Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes can be harvested about four months after planting. The leaves will turn yellow and start to die back, signalling harvest time.

Use a spade fork to gently dig up the root vines to reveal the potatoes below the soil.

When to harvest Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes can be harvested about four months after planting. The leaves will turn yellow and start to die back, signalling harvest time.

Use a spade fork to gently dig up the root vines to reveal the potatoes below the soil.

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