2 Answers

You don't plant the tuber like you would with regular potatoes or with seeds like other plants.
One plants what is called a sweet potato slip. It's a small plant that you can get at a plant nursery. It's a warm loving plant, so it usually can be found at the store later in the season.

You can also grow your own slips from a sweet potato. If you have one that is sprouting, wait for the sprouts to gets about six inches long, (you will see them start to grow tiny air roots), pinch the sprouts off (but leave some bottom growth to grow a new sprout) lay the sprout horizontal in some soil indoors to get them started. I got 8 plants from one tuber this way, and should get about 8 more from the new growth as well.

I'll plant them outside with plenty of room to spread about the first week of June, for my zone (zone 5)

Let them grow all season, and harvest before frost.

14 years ago. Rating: 2
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How right you are paintergirl. Not too many plants lay claim to being started like the glorious sweet potato. Of course in the southern states there are acres upon acres of them planted as it is a favorite vegetable. Here in NH we hope and pray that the weather holds out long enough for some things and not too many people plant sweet potato. Our summers are usually short, cold or too wet.

14 years ago. Rating: 0
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