Extract from article on Bob Flowerdew,
'Vonnetta, his wife, comes from Jamaica, and her influence is clear in many of the plants Bob chooses to grow. They both love sweet potatoes, so he has many plants on the go. He's tried growing them from tubers planted in the spring, but says this is pointless.
Sweet potatoes are best not grown in the ground. They are a quick-growing, sprawling plant that roots wherever the vine touches the soil and the plants put their energy into developing these nascent babies, not plumping up the tubers that you want. Once rooted, they push down deep and you'll find many of the tubers buried at least a metre deep.
Bob instead advises growing sweet potatoes from slips or cuttings taken from the actively growing plants in late summer or early autumn. Treat them as you would a pelargonium or any tender plant, taking the cuttings in late autumn or winter, rooting and storing them in frost-free conditions.
In spring, they should be planted into large plastic sacks filled with rich compost and grown on under cover. Our season is too short for them to develop decent-sized tubers in the garden but, grown with some protection, each slip should produce several pounds of tubers.'
Hope that helps!
Topic: Growing Sweet Potatoes (Read 7928 times)
