Sweet Potato Time!

Sweet potatoes aren’t just a Southern thing…they grow remarkably well right here in Northern New Jersey! Start them in late winter to make sure your slips are established for June planting. I was lucky enough to get one that was sprouting already from Two Pond Farm. It was huge, so I cut some of the non-sprouting potato off and cooked it for dinner. Your sweet potato doesn’t need to be sprouting when you start, just get an organic sweet potato to ensure sprouting. The part that was sprouting was supported by toothpicks and placed in a container so that the bottom of the potato was sitting in water. You can put the bottom (the rooting end) of the whole sweet potato in water. The roots start forming quickly, in about a week.

Over the next couple of months, the slips will shoot up, fill out and be ready to leave the mother potato. I’ll gently popped the slips off when they are about 4 -6 inches long, ideally, but longer slips work too. Place them in a jar, covering the bottom half with water. They will start to get their own set of roots in about two weeks. Later, each of those plants will be transplanted into separate containers with potting soil. They will take hold and continue to grow.

A few weeks prior to planting, I will harden them off by getting them acclimated to being outside by increasing the number of hours they spend outdoors each day until they are out for eight hours.

Sweet potatoes cannot survive in temperatures below 50F, so I will keep an eye on the weather and extended forecast and when we have been frost-free for two weeks, usually around Memorial Day or early June. I will plant them outside when the soil temperature is above 60F. Sweet potato varieties vary, but I usually find you can harvest in about three months – again keeping an eye on the weather!

A few shoots go a long way! These plants really take over.

Take a look at the video of Allison harvesting her sweet potatoes on Two Pond Farm. The entire bed was planted with only twelve slips!