How Do You Plant Sweet Potatoes?

Growing Sweet Potatoes: A Simple Yet Rewarding Guide

Sweeter than a summer peach and as resilient as an old oak, sweet potatoes are one of my favorite crops to grow. If you’ve never planted them before, don’t sweat it—they’re forgiving and surprisingly self-sufficient. With a little know-how, you can grow a dazzling harvest that’ll put store-bought spuds to shame.

Starting Out: The Importance of Slips

Sweet potatoes don’t grow from seeds. They grow from slips, which are small sprouts that emerge from mature tubers. If you want to save some cash, you can grow your own slips at home.

Simply take a healthy sweet potato, poke a few toothpicks around its midsection, and suspend it halfway in a jar of water. Place it in a spot where the sun hits, and in a couple of weeks, you’ll notice little leafy shoots. When these slips reach 4–6 inches long, twist them off gently—it’s like plucking ripe fruit off a tree.

Did you know? A single sweet potato can produce up to 50 slips.

Prepping Your Garden for Sweet Potato Royalty

Sweet potatoes thrive in soil that’s loose, sandy, and rich in organic matter. They despise heavy, clay-like soil—it’s the equivalent of tight shoes for their roots. If your soil compacts easily, lighten it up with compost or sandy topsoil.

Sweet potatoes are happiest in raised beds or mounds, where their roots can stretch out and soak up the heat. Aim for about 10–12 inches deep—this isn’t the time to skimp on prep. Be sure to pick a spot that gets full sun; they’re sun worshippers through and through.

Planting Your Sweet Potato Slips

Once your soil is ready and temperatures have warmed past frost (50°F soil minimum), it’s time to plant. Space your slips about 12–18 inches apart, leaving 3–4 feet between rows. Sweet potatoes are sprawlers—they’ll cover ground faster than a toddler in a candy store.

Plant each slip with its lower leaves removed and bury about two-thirds of the stem. Pack the soil gently around it. Give them a hearty watering right after planting; it helps them settle in and encourages roots to grow strong.

How to Keep Them Thriving

Watering: The Goldilocks Rule

In the early days, water every few days to keep the soil moist but not soggy. Once they’ve gotten established, sweet potatoes prove their independence and tolerate occasional dryness. Overwatering can lead to rot, so aim for consistent but not excessive water.

Feeding Your Plants

They don’t demand much when it comes to fertilizer. Too much nitrogen causes lush vines but smaller tubers—not what we’re here for. Before planting, mix in a balanced organic fertilizer or just let your compost do the trick. During the growing season, I like to add a sprinkle of bone meal or kelp for good measure.

Weeding & Mulching

Weeds can sneak in fast, but sweet potatoes hate sharing soil. Mulching with straw or shredded leaves helps suppress weeds and keeps the soil warm and moist. Toss a layer down after planting, and it’ll save you hours crouched in the dirt later.

Harvesting Sweet Potatoes

Patience really is the secret sauce here. Sweet potatoes take 90–120 days to mature, and you’ll know they’re ready when the vines begin to yellow and die back. Around mid-autumn, I’ll dig around the base of one plant to test the size before harvesting the whole plot.

Dig with care—sweet potatoes bruise easily. Use a garden fork and work your way in from the edges. Let the tubers cure in a warm, humid spot for about 7–10 days; this improves their sweetness and storage potential.

Pro tip: Never wash sweet potatoes before storing. The extra moisture invites rot faster than you can say "Thanksgiving casserole."

Final Thoughts on Growing Sweet Potatoes

There’s something deeply satisfying about pulling a perfectly orange, oddly-shaped root from the soil and knowing it came from your hands. It’s messy, grounding work, but isn’t that why we dig our hands into the dirt in the first place?

Sweet potatoes don’t just grow—they thrive, fight, and surprise you. And in return, they give you a harvest worth every drop of sweat under the blazing sun.

Planting sweet potatoes is a rewarding experience that can bring much joy to your garden. Aside from the fun of starting your own sweet potato patch, you can reap the benefits of growing a healthy and delicious vegetable to harvest and enjoy. with the right tools and preparing the area carefully, your sweet potato plants are sure to bring a delightful harvest.