Sweet Potatoes are one of the easiest crops you can grow in Florida and oh so delicious! But let's start at the beginning...
What is a Sweet Potato?
A sweet potato is a root vegetable that belongs to the Convolvulaceae family, along with other plants like morning glories. It's usually cultivated for its edible tuberous root, which is sweet and starchy in taste and has a smooth texture when cooked, but Sweet Potato Leaves are also edible and delicious in dishes. Sweet potatoes come in various colors, including orange, purple, and white, and they're rich in nutrients like vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber. They can be cooked in various ways, such as baking, boiling, steaming, or frying, and are used in both sweet and savory dishes. We all had Sweet Potatoes given to us at someone Thanksgiving - no doubt ;)
That said, aside from being nutritious, Sweet Potatoes are a low-maintenance crop. You grow the slips, cut them off the potato and stick it into the ground and don't worry about the plant again until it's time to harvest. In short... my kind of crop!
How to grow Sweet Potato Slips
Here's a basic guide on how to grow them:
Start with a Sweet Potato: Choose a healthy sweet potato from a local market or grocery store. You'll want organic sweet potatoes because they have usually not been treated with chemicals that could inhibit sprouting. No sprouting = No Sweet Potatoes.
Prepare the Sweet Potato: You'll find many different methods online, but I am going to share only mine because it's never failed us. Place the sweet potato horizontally into a container with dirt. Bury it halfway into the dirt.
Place in a Warm, Sunny Spot: Put the container in a warm location with plenty of sunlight. Sweet potatoes need warmth and light to sprout. Ideal temperatures are around 75-80°F and up! Mine seem to grow like weeds at 85F though!
Wait for Sprouts: In about 2-4 weeks, you should start to see sprouts emerging from the sweet potato . These sprouts are called slips. You can let them grow until they're around 6-8 inches long or longer or shorter. The first ones are usually about 4 inches long before i cut them off and plant them because... I ran out of patience waiting LOL
Remove the Slips: Once the slips have grown to a suitable length, carefully twist or cut them off from the sweet potato. Make sure each slip has several leaves and some roots. This is advised but not necessary. I've planted some that were a stick with one leaf and they took off just fine.
Root the Slips: Place the slips in a container of water, ensuring that the roots are submerged while the leaves remain above water. Let them root for about a week or two until you see a healthy root system develop. If you want, you can also stick them straight into the ground, but they may take a little longer to take off.
Planting: After rooting, transplant the slips into soil. Choose a sunny spot in your garden with well-drained soil. Plant the slips about 12-18 inches apart and bury them halfway so the roots are covered but the leaves are above ground.
Care: Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Sweet potatoes require regular watering, especially during dry periods. Mulching around the plants can help retain moisture and suppress weeds. As we're getting into the rainy season, this isn't really an issue, but during drought, if they are still young plants, they will need some help.
Harvesting: Sweet potatoes are typically ready to harvest 3-4 months after planting, once the leaves begin to turn yellow and die back. Carefully dig around the plants to avoid damaging the tubers.
The next step is of the utmost importance, or you'll end up with non-sweet potatoes that rot much more easily. Curing sweet potatoes is an important step in the post-harvest process. Curing helps sweet potatoes develop their characteristic sweet flavor and improves their storage
How to cure Sweet potatoes properly:
Harvest at the right time: Sweet potatoes should be harvested when they have reached their full size and are mature. The ideal time for harvesting is after the foliage has started to yellow but before the first frost.
Handle with care: Be gentle when harvesting sweet potatoes to avoid bruising or damaging the skin. Bruised or damaged sweet potatoes are more susceptible to rot during curing.
Clean the sweet potatoes: Gently brush off any excess soil from the sweet potatoes after harvesting. Do not wash them with water, as moisture can promote decay during curing.
Allow them to dry: Place the sweet potatoes in a warm and well-ventilated area to dry for about 1-2 hours. This drying period helps to toughen the skin and prepare the sweet potatoes for curing.
Curing process: The curing process requires a warm and humid environment, similar to the conditions of a greenhouse. The ideal temperature for curing sweet potatoes is around 80-85°F with a humidity level of 85-90%. Since we harvested ours in mid-October, we obviously didn't have that much humidity anymore. We put a sheet on our table on the deck, put them all on there, and threw another blanket on top of it.
You can, however, create a curing chamber if you feel the need to: If you don't have access to a greenhouse or warm room, you can create a simple curing chamber using a small enclosed space like a basement, garage, or closet. Place a pan of water in the curing chamber to increase humidity.
Curing duration: Sweet potatoes should be cured for about 10-14 days (I prefer 14 days). During this time, the starches in the sweet potatoes will convert to sugars, enhancing their sweetness.
Check for signs of completion: After the curing period, check the sweet potatoes for signs of completion. The skin should be tough, and the flesh should be sweet and flavorful.
Store properly: Once the sweet potatoes have been cured, store them in a cool, dry, and dark place with good ventilation. The ideal storage temperature is around 55-60°F—again, we're in Florida, so we just put them into our pantry room, which generally stays around 70°F in the winter and 74°F or so in the summer. However, do not refrigerate sweet potatoes, as cold temperatures can adversely affect their flavor and texture.
Following these steps will help you cure sweet potatoes properly, resulting in sweeter and tastier tubers that can be stored for an extended period. Enjoy your freshly cured sweet potatoes in various dishes and recipes! We certainly do, and after six months of sitting in our Pantry, they are as fresh and firm as ever :)
We hope this helps!
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