Ipomoea batatas, its Latin name, is from the same family as bindweed, which explains why its foliage proliferates at such a speed.
Sweet potato cultivation is the seventh largest agricultural production in the world: after wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, barley and cassava.
China is the leading producing country.
Underground like our potatoes
It grows exactly like our potatoes underground.
Baby sweet potatoes will be born around their mother’s tuber.
Sold by the kilo, a sweet potato is worth around €1, this is a giant houseplant at a very low price.
- 1 large pot with saucer (deep enough for 6 or 7 future baby potatoes)
- 1 shard (or small flat stone to block the hole in the pot)
- potting soil alone or if possible mixed with garden soil (50% of each)
- 1 very large stake (cone would be perfect)
- 1 sweet potato
Provide a very large, fairly deep terracotta pot, pierced at the bottom, with its saucer to retain the water that runs out.
Large and deep pot so that the small potatoes have enough room to grow next to the “big mom potato”.
Ultra fast climbing plant
The sweet potato plant is a climber that climbs at breakneck speed.
It is said to be magical; in just 1 or 2 months it can climb several meters in height.
Wrap the thin stems around the stake, direct it, guide it so that it is beautiful to see.
Then its twining stems wrap themselves around the supports.
Homemade potted sweet potato harvest
It will take approximately 8 to 10 months to harvest the small sweet potatoes which will be edible.
Empty the pot completely to glean your harvest.
Replant a young potato to make a new houseplant.
At the bottom of the pot place a potsherd to close the hole and thus prevent the soil from escaping.
If you can, place a few centimeters of fine gravel at the bottom of the pot to drain and prevent the roots from soaking in water.
Then completely fill the pot with potting soil or a mixture of potting soil and garden soil, 50% of each, this mixture dries more slowly.
Sweet potato planted directly in water
It grows very quickly submerged partly in water.
In a vase or a large transparent glass, the appearance of the roots and the first green shoots is impressive.
The kids love it and so do the grandkids we have left behind!
But in a few weeks the growth is so imposing that we don’t really know what we are going to do with it.
At this time put it in the ground.
Immediately place your stake which must measure at least 1.50m in height because the plant will grow in just a few days and the young twining shoots will immediately wrap around their support to allow them to climb very quickly.
After installing the stake, depending on the size of your sweet potato, dig into the soil to insert the tuber horizontally without completely camouflaging it.
You must leave a small third of the potato in the open air, to be able to observe the appearance of the young stems.
Water generously just after planting to moisten all the soil but then water very little until the potato grows.
As soon as the green stems appear, water a little more but always in small quantities.
As soon as your heating works, water more, on average once a week, without leaving water in the saucer in winter.
Bring your planting closer to natural light but not directly against a window.
A ray of sunlight that is a little too hot risks burning your plants, in just a few minutes, through the windows which become magnifying glasses.
Be careful with heating
Keep your indoor plants away from heat sources: radiators, fireplaces and other blowers.
Harvesting sweet potatoes in pots
In about 8 to 10 months, when the foliage has completely declined, in theory the little potatoes will have grown underground.
How can you be sure? Take the clod out completely to see where the culture is.
Generally, baby potatoes are on the periphery of the root ball.
If they look good enough, harvest them.
Replant one immediately, in rich new soil, for a future harvest.
Sweet potato in the vegetable garden
Plant a few sweet potatoes in pots indoors in February to get the crop started.
You will only have to transplant them from May 14 to the garden, when the frost saints have passed (last risk of frost).
In April you can plant sweet potatoes directly in the vegetable garden or in a large container on the balcony or terrace, but think about the staking which must be very imposing and solid.
In light soil to facilitate the development of small potatoes.
Climber in the vegetable garden
If you let the plant crawl on the ground it is immediately affected by powdery mildew which causes whitening and kills the entire foliage.
Without leaves, no plant survives.
On the other hand, you can make it climb on the fence or fence or even in a tree.
The planting soil just needs to be light and enriched with manure or one-year-old compost.
In open ground, harvest after 6 months.