Sweet Potato Slips
$2.00 – $3.50
$4 for pot of 10 slips
$7 for pot of 20 slips
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Beauregard sweet potato slips, and I’ve potted them up in groups of 10 or 20, so they will hold until you are ready to plant. Sweet potatoes are generally an easy, almost fool-proof vegetable to grow, and quite nutritious.
Covington, a newer variety which is very popular and reported to have even more consistent production.
Both have a 100 day maturity date.
Once the soil has warmed up, plant slips 12” apart in loose, fertile soil. Planting near sundown is helpful to avoid exposing the slips to hot sun. Be sure to cover the white part of the root, then water and firm up the soil around each root. Wait to plant until the soil has warmed; sweet potatoes like soil temperatures of 70 degrees and higher.
After planting, keep weeded and irrigate when the soil becomes dry. Sweet potatoes will grow and produce given half a chance! The plants will form a green mat, completely covering the row. Harvest the roots in September or October. The vines are also edible – harvest the tips and prepare as cooked greens. Be sure to harvest roots and greens before the first fall frost; sweet potatoes are not cold hardy at all. Use care when harvesting and try not to bruise the roots. After digging, dry the sweet potatoes and cure in a warm spot (85 degrees is ideal!) for a week or two to increase sugar content and heal any nicks or bruises. They will taste much better after they’ve been cured. Store at 55-60 degrees.
Never planted sweet potatoes before? We’ve made a video on planting sweet potatoes, as part of our Beginning Gardener video series on the CommonWealth Urban Farms YouTube channel.