Fancy an exotic in your garden? Then grow your own sweet potato plant. The wind plant inspires with long, climbing shoots and a beautiful flower. In addition, with conscientious care, you can harvest delicious, edible tubers in October. Best of all, growing your own sweet potato is easier than you think. With the following instructions and helpful cultivation tips, you are guaranteed to succeed.
Sweet potatoes need enough space
Recommended Varieties
The sweet potato has become increasingly well-known and popular in Germany in recent years. It is now available in numerous varieties. Their tubers come in different sizes and colors on the market. Which variety you cultivate in your garden depends primarily on whether you want to use the sweet potato more as an ornamental plant or whether you want to bring in a high-yield harvest. Because the individual plants also differ visually in terms of leaf size and color. The following varieties have proven themselves for cultivation in the home garden:
- Beauregard and S8 are very productive
- Evangelia also forms many tubers and is easy to harvest, also has burgundy leaves that make it a beautiful ornamental plant, the pulp contains a lot of sugar and is therefore a delicious temptation
- Murasaki impresses with its impressive root and leaf growth, even if the harvest yield is rather low. The variety has a pink-red skin and white flesh with a nutty-aromatic taste
- Although Bonita has comparatively small tubers, it can be used in a variety of ways in the kitchen
Grow your own sweet potatoes
Anyone can buy a ready-made plant from a specialist shop. You will be all the more proud when you harvest the first tubers from your own cultivation. Cultivation is easy. All you need is a batata or a sweet potato shoot. How to proceed:
- it is best to start cultivating in January
- cut off one end of the tuber
- place the sweet potatoes or cuttings in a bowl of water or in a box of potting soil
- provide sufficient light and heat
- after only a few days, the first shoots form
- If they reach a length of 10 cm, repot them in a seed tray
- if the nights remain frost-free, you can plant the sprouted sweet potatoes in the ground
Plant sweet potatoes
In order for your sweet potato to develop properly, you should consider the following aspects:
site conditions
Native to the warm tropics, batata needs sun and light to grow. Only a few varieties are better off in partial shade. A south-facing location ideally meets these conditions. Cultivation on the balcony is also possible. Especially when keeping buckets, it is important that no waterlogging forms. A sandy, well-drained soil that is still rich in nutrients is recommended for growing.
planting distance
Encourage the growth of your sweet potato by not planting it in a shallow bed, but by creating small dams. The earth thus warms up faster, rainwater and irrigation water drain off faster, so that no waterlogging forms. This method is also ideal for growing in heavy soil. Observe the following dimensions:
- Height of the dams: 20 cm
- Width of the dams: 60 cm
- Distance between dams: at least 1 m
- Distance between plants: 30 cm
time
Since frost significantly inhibits the growth of a sweet potato or even damages the plant, you should only put your sweet potatoes outside in mid-May after the ice saints. If you grow your own sweet potato, it is advisable to start growing in January.
tips
In a sheltered greenhouse or under a fleece planting is at an earlier time
The further care
pour
Initially, young plants hardly need watering. Only later, especially on warm days, does your sweet potato need a lot of water. Daily watering may be necessary in summer. Always keep the substrate moist, but avoid waterlogging.
Fertilize
With a well-prepared bed, all the prerequisites for an adequate supply of nutrients are met. However, if you opt for a mixed culture, the nutrient requirement increases. Then it is recommended
- distribute three liters of mature compost with 100 g horn meal per square meter
- the administration of complete fertilizer
When cultivating in pots, you need to fertilize more often, about once a week with liquid fertilizer.
harvest
If your cultivation was successful, your sweet potato will reward you with tasty tubers in October. The yellowing of the leaves is an indication that you can dig up the sweet potatoes. It is best to use your hands alone to avoid damaging the sensitive tubers. You can store the sweet potatoes intact at 12-16°C for about a month.