scented white potato vine are well-heeled to develop in the right areas – and even some where you would n’t expect this tropical plant . Harvesting them correctly is just as important as how you grow them . It ’s also important to handle them with aid and store them properly for best flavor , texture and storehouse life .
Sweet Potatoes – Not Yams
Although both are repeated vines and sweet potatoes are sometimes called yams , they are very different plants and belong to to different families . When a gardener talks about sweet potatoes , he or she means the colorful , somewhat seraphic tubers fromIpomea batata – a congenator of the morning gloriole . True yam are snowy or pick - colored inside and starchy .
Growing Sweet Potatoes
If you live in USDA Zones 8 or 9 , you ’ll have no trouble grow sweetened potatoes . In colder arena , you could start them in a glasshouse and glean a little in the first place . The tubers wo n’t be quite as big , but you’re able to have a honorable craw . In either face , embed them in escaped , flaxen soil with reasonable fertility . verify they are well - watered during the growing full stop .
Sweet Potato Maturity
There are dozens of fresh potato smorgasbord that are commercially available . You might also be able to get shimmy from an old gardener who has his or her own strain . They come in in various colors , including purple , as well as the classical red - orangeness . Maturitydates alter . scant - time of year scented Irish potato – honorable for cold climates – are quick in about 90 days from planting the slips . longsighted season variety may not ripen for 140 day or more .
Possible Variety Choices
All of the sweet potatoes number below should be promptly uncommitted from nurseries and mail - order house :
Signs Your Sweet Potatoes are Ready
The print maturity date date for a sweet spud mixed bag is no more than a guide . Your climate and atmospheric condition can make a difference of opinion , as can your grow techniques . Sweet potatoes may take longer to bring about in drought conditions . Try a few when they “ should ” be ready . Keep an eye on the vines – when the tops begin to turn yellow , it usually means the tuber are ready .
Choosing Harvesting Tools
Unless your filth is heavy clay , the best tool to do the existent harvest time is a white potato crotch . A three- or four - tined fork allows you to prize up the plants and tubers with minimal potential for damage . However , it serve to first dig a oceanic abyss about 18 in from the industrial plant marrow with a pointed - close excavator . This makes it easier to get the potato fork under the tubers at the proper slant .
Be Gentle
Sweet potatoes are more tenuous than you might think . When first harvested , the skins are fairly thin and the build will bruise easy . Even after curing , if you drop a tuber or dump them out of a container into the storage area , you may have equipment casualty . Bruised spots will begin to decay and rot , bollix up the entire tuber . Always do by your cherubic potatoes carefully .
Curing – An Important Step
When you first reap them sweet potatoes are not really sweet and the texture is not idealistic . You shouldcureyour sweet potatoes before storage . Brush off loose grease and exit them in the sun for a few time of day , then move to a mesa or shed that is warm and has good air circulation . Let them cure for a calendar week or 10 days to facilitate heal small nick and toughen the pelt .
Harvest Time Matters
The longer you may exit your sweet potatoes in the ground , the bombastic they will be . However , they are very sore to cold . Frost will defeat plant and rot tubers , but even dusty soil without frost can cause harm . ensure you have the crop out of the ground at least two weeks before your first expected frost – remember you must allow metre for curing as well .
Harvesting Leaves
Sweet potatoes do n’t just bring on tuber – they also have edibleleaves . you could harvest leaves at any time up until the plant set out to yellow . Just pick a fistful from each plant . The leaves are used like other edible greens such as kale and spinach . Cook them in boiling water and saute with oil and spices , habituate them in casserole or cover with a creamy sauce .
Storage
Once they ’re harvested , make certain you store them decent . A root cellar or cool cellar make good warehousing areas . you may also can them – use a tested recipe . Cooked sweet white potato also freeze well . Use lemon yellow succus to foreclose darkening . Like other starchy vegetables , sweet potato can also be slice up fragile and dehydrated for storage .
