Growing Sweet Potatoes

[BigBill]

I ordered sweet potato plants lastyear in the spring and they arrived late so i planted them, lastyear in the fall they had small bulbs on them when we pulled them up. We got no potatoes. We replanted them again after i tilled them up and they were regrowing all over my garden. This time even with three loads of manure i still have the same small bulbs at the bottom when we dig them up. Whats wrong?????????

Really dumb question;

We plant the red potatoes and the brown potatoes every year by cutting them in pieces and plant them and hill them. We have great success in doing regular potatoes. Do we need to buy sweet potatoes and cut and plant them too?

[Eugene]

Don't really know about sweet potatoes. But here in central Missouri - it was an unseasonably cool summer. 10th coldest on record. Garden crops requiring a lot of heat did nothing or very poorly.

[Joe Malinowski]

I don't know why Bill but I don't think our New England climate is right for growing them. I am sure someone else will give you more info.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

Bill, check with your county extension office, they will have info to help, and may send someone out to check your soil.

[ScottyD'sdad]

Bill, My neighbor mulches them with black plastic, to heat the soil. He has good success. Ed

[beaconlight]

We do great on Staten Island with Sweets. To get starter plants suspend one with tooth plants in water. Sprouts will start and eventually you can plant the sprouts. Some of our southern friends leave some in the ground from this year to set new plants for next year. Do a search on sweet potatoes. We had quite a session on them last spring.

[Bill Hudson]

Bill,

Here is some information from New Hampshire http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000843_Rep881.pdf

Bill

[Boss Hog]

We plant and harvest about 2 acres of sweet taters every year. You can make you a bed by placing the whole potatoe in a boxed area and covering with a mix of potting soil and dirt. lay them close almost touching. We have ours on a wagon and can move it from sun to shade. We cover it with old windows to make it warmer so they will sprout. We get all the plants we need from a bushel of taters.
Boss hog

[SONNY]

The problem I found with ordering plants , is that they wont send them out early enough so they have time to make a crop,---most sweets are 100 to 110 day crop, so they require a long HOT season to do well, also dry season helps too,--at least here in Il., thats what I found.
if you start your own plants, you can force them with heat to get them to start sprouting early,---then plant in the ground early and cover them with a tile, cone, hotcap, etc.
If you use plastic, be sure to take it up when good hot weather comes, as it will make the ground underneath really nasty and the plants will get stunted for the lack of air and the ground will stay too wet for them. thanks; sonny