Nipponese unfermented murphy , also known as satsumaimo , are a scrumptious and nutritious veggie to acquire . Their creamy grain and sweet , chestnut tree - like savour make them splendid for roasting , mashing , or adding to soup and stews Here is a comprehensive guide on how to imbed Japanese sweet white potato so you may enjoy a bountiful harvesting
Overview of Planting Japanese Sweet Potatoes
Japanese gratifying potatoes require a long growing time of year of at least 100 icing - detached days . They grow best in zones 8 - 11 . In cooler zones , start the cutting indoors 4 - 6 workweek before the last expect frost date .
The ideal soil temperature for plant sweet-smelling potato slip is 65 - 70 ° F . implant them 12 - 18 inches apart in rows spaced 3 - 4 foot asunder . Nipponese honeyed potatoes rise on trailing vine above ground and will spread several human foot around each plant .
It ’s important to habituate disease - free shimmy from a reputable germ . Give them distance for the tubers to size up underground . keep up even ground wet and fertilize regularly . Cure tuber after harvest time to enhance tone .
Selecting Disease-Free Slips
odoriferous murphy slips are pullulate shoot from a fledged tuber used for multiplication . Purchase them from reputable nurseries and garden centers . Do not utilize slip from a food market store potato which may carry disease .
Choose slips with 4 - 6 leaves and a level-headed livid origin system . Avoid any with brown spots or wilted foliage . Slips 8 - 10 inch improbable rootle the easygoing when graft .
Inspect the slip intimately and throw away any that show signs of insects , mould , or other problem . This prevents introducing disease into your garden .
When to Plant Sweet Potato Slips
sweet-smelling white potato require warm grease and air temperatures to thrive . Planted too ahead of time , the slips will be stunt or killed by rime .
Most zone 8 - 11 gardeners can directly plant slip outdoors in late spring after all danger of Robert Frost when soil temperatures gain 65 - 70 ° F .
In cooler clime , start slips indoors 4 - 6 weeks before your last expected springiness frost . Harden off the immature industrial plant . Transplant them alfresco after the soil has warm thoroughly .
Planting too late in the season reduces yields . Sweet potatoes need 100 - 140 days of lovesome atmospheric condition to fully develop . Check your average first gloaming icing date when scheduling .
Preparing the Soil for Planting
perfumed potato thrive in loamy , rich soil . invalidate hard clay or shallow sandy land which can restrict tuber development . Ideal pH is 5.8 - 6.2 .
One month before planting , mix in several inches of compost or rotted manure . This encourage nutrition and improves drainage . Raised beds also promote drain for respectable roots .
The territory should be loose enough for the Tuber to expand well clandestine . Break up compacted areas and remove rock and debris that could impede growth .
Planting Methods for Sweet Potato Slips
There are two chief ways to plant odoriferous potato slips : in rows or in hills . Both methods work well as long as you give adequate space .
For row planting , dig a deep 6 inches mystifying . Create course 3 - 4 foot apart . position slips 12 - 18 inches apart along the rows and extend roots with 2 - 3 inches of soil .
The mound method involves create mound row about 12 inches magniloquent and 24 inches across with 3 - 4 feet between rows . Plant 4 - 5 slip space 6 inch apart atop each mound .
Work a balanced organic fertilizer into the stain before planting . Sweet murphy are not impenetrable feeders but need nutrients to perform well .
Caring for Plants During the Growing Season
Once planted , mellifluous potato plants require minimal care besides lacrimation , fertilizing , and preventing weeds . Vines may hit 10 feet foresightful by summer ’s end !
Provide 1 - 2 inch of water supply per week . void overwatering which causes tooth root to rot . Use trickle irrigation or soaker hoses rather than sprinklers .
Fertilize lightly every 3 - 4 weeks with a balanced constituent expression . extra N upshot in foliage gigantism rather than large tuber .
Mulch around plants to keep on moisture and reduce weeds . hired man pull any weeds and grass to prevent rival . Hill soil over the tuber zone as vine grow .
Determining When to Harvest
Sweet potatoes are ready for harvest home about 100 - 140 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. after transpose depending on the motley . sentence from planting to harvest is called the “ mean solar day to maturity . ”
As tuber near maturity date , leaves and vine will start to yellow and die back . void disturbing plant during this stage . harvest home quick once most foliage is gone .
Carefully dig around each plant with a spading fork . Try not to thrust or bruise tubers . Gently lift the potatoes once the roots are loose .
Small , immature potatoes may need to remain in the ground longer to reach full size of it . But harvest all Tuber before hoarfrost kill vine .
Curing and Storing the Sweet Potato Harvest
Curing improves sweet potato storage animation and flavor . After harvesting , encounter off dirt but do not wash away tubers . curative for 7 - 10 days at 80 - 85 ° F and 85 - 90 % humidness .
heal hardens skins , seals injuries , and converts starch to sugar . A cellar or mood ensure storage room provides ideal curing conditions .
Once cured , store potato in a cool , dry position around 55 ° degree Fahrenheit for 4 - 6 calendar month . Check regularly and remove any that are spoiled . Do not store under 45 ° F or they may suffer shivery accidental injury .
When to Plant the Slips
When the conditions in your area check dropping below 50 ° degree Fahrenheit , your slips will be quick to implant . For my Zone 6a , that ’s mid- to late - May . In 2020 , I planted my sweet potatoes on May 17th . In 2021 , I did the same thing on May 15th ( though belatedly in May it let down into the 30s , so I had to underwrite the plant to keep them from freezing ) .
But do n’t go just by the calendar ; let nature be your guide . If it ’s still pull the wool over someone’s eyes after your last frost date , do n’t take a chance ( calculate up your last icing date in the U.S. ) .
If you got them early and have been take tutelage of them deep down , let them expend a few hours outside every day for a week in soft sunlight ( like in the morning ) before you plant them . This will help them get used to being outside . If you do n’t have a good infinite for this ( e. g. If you set in a community garden and subsist in an apartment , put the slips by an open window .
Sweet potatoes are not terribly finicky and are , in fact , robust subsister . But this work is meant to make beautiful , well - shaped sweet potatoes , and get the dirt ready will aid you a set . The potatoes form underground , so the composition of the dirt is everything .
You should deep turn the soil where you ’ll plant the slip at least one week before you plant them . This central planting is often called the “ crown , ” and that ’s how I ’ll refer to it in this article .
Then , thinly turn the dirt in a 10 - groundwork roofy in all directions . As the plant grows , the vines will cast roots at their foliage confidential information to contain it down . And if you ’re golden , the plant life will sometimes make another cluster of tater from the nodes , so it might not be a waste of clock time to turn the whole layer deeply .
improve the soil throughout the bed with compost . Smooth out the top with a rake , water lightly , and let rest .
Clay soil is n’t good for growing potatoes because it ’s not flexible enough to allow the potato grow on their own . Yes , it is possible , but you will need to add a portion of compost to the crown area to make the ground lighter .
Another character of dirt that is n’t good for growing potatoes is one that is very informal and peaty . It ’s important for potatoes to have some resistance from the soil so they do n’t get too long and skinny or misshapen in a fashion that makes them hard to cook .
The ideal grime is light and “ fluffy ” , but holds together well when damp and squeeze . The area should also be well - draining , as sweet potatoes wish to be damp , but not drenched . Do the yap test : prod a mess 12″ deep and make full it midway with water . The water should drain away in the soil at a fairly libertine time . Standing water argue that the seam want to be turned more deeply and remediate with compost .
How Much Space is Needed to Grow Sweet Potatoes?
I wo n’t moderate dustup here : you ’ll require a bad infinite !
While the sweet spud clump themselves do n’t take up much space — you may even grow them in a with child burlap bag or container — they need the food that the plant ’s vine produce , which arrive from the leaves . And those vines produce incredibly long .
So , actual in - the - flat coat place needed by the potatoes : small’ish . Actual spread place needed for the vine : large .
I grow all of my sweet potatoes in a 10 - foot x 10 - foot plot . It ’s too small of a plot , but everything works out in the end . When the vine reach the fenced - in edges , I start out to direct them to forge a rope around the patch ’s edges .
you could grow other plants in the same area . Just make indisputable they are marvellous enough so their leaves are above the sweet Solanum tuberosum vines ’ leaves . Though , remember that by the end of the season , the surface area will be thick with vine and leaves , make it hard to get to . In that case , you could plant something like bell peppers along the plot ’s border . That way , you could easily get to the peppercorn without walk on the sweet potato vine .
Last yr , I grew honeynut squelch in the sweet potato bed , and even though there were vine e. v. e. r. y. w. h. e. r. e , it all worked out rather well , and both harvests were quite abundant .
How To Grow Japanese Sweet Potatoes (Satsuma-Imo) | Doctor of the Future 007
FAQ
Can I plant sweet potato now in grease ?
Which fashion do you plant a gratifying potato ?
When to plant Japanese purple sweet potatoes ?
Do sweet potato plant need to mount ?
How do you weed a Nipponese sweet potato plant life ?
To maintain a weed - free area around Nipponese sweet potato plants , mitt - weeding is postulate when you first plant the slips . After about two weeks , add an inch of mulch . Add more mulch 1 inch at a time each workweek for about one month as the vine grow , making the entire mulch depth 3 to 4 inches . This will help foreclose gage from grow around the plant .
How do you plant sweet potatoes ?
Plan 3 feet between mounds so there is enough infinite for vines to escape . establish the slips on a ardent , clouded day when the soil temperature has reached 60 ° F ( 15 ° coke ) . fall apart off the down leave , pass on only the top one . Set the slips deeply enough to cover the root and the stem up to the parting . Sweet potatoes will organize on the nodes .
How do you maturate Japanese sweet potatoes ?
To grow Japanese sweet Solanum tuberosum , set the ground by loosening it to a depth of 12 inch and water it well before planting . Japanese sweet-flavored potatoes involve at least six hours of verbatim sunlight per solar day . During the turn season , irrigate the soil on a regular basis . This will help the source of the Nipponese unfermented potato slips to instal themselves more easily .
Can you embed a Nipponese fresh potato from the food market storage ?
Yes , you’re able to set Nipponese mellifluous potatoes from the grocery store . pick out a placid - skinned miscellanea , as those with rough skin are more potential to be treated with sprout inhibitors . Cut the tuber into pieces , making sure that each piece has at least two oculus or bud .
