Sweet potatoes are becoming more and more popular with us and can also be grown in the home garden. We reveal what needs to be considered.
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) bring variety to the table. The tasty tubers are great as a soup and as a versatile accompaniment to meat and fish dishes and can also delight little gourmets as tasty fries.
The cultivation of sweet potatoes is not only worthwhile in the vegetable garden. Because the tubers develop attractive foliage and colorful flowers. If you want to add variety to your garden or on the balcony or terrace, you can use the exotic tuber as an attractive climbing plant.
Short portrait of sweet potato
| Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) | |
|---|---|
| Growth: | hanging, creeping |
| Location: | Sun to shade, warm |
| Floor: | nutrient-rich, permeable |
| Foliage: | usually light green, colored foliage also possible depending on the variety |
| hardiness: | sensitive to frost |
| Usage: | Vegetable Plant, Ornamental Plant |
Sweet potatoes are he althy!
The sweet potato owes its sweet taste to its high sugar content. However, they are extremely he althy. Because they contain a substance called Caiapo, which can lower high cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
The name sweet potato suggests it, but exotic sweet potatoes and local potatoes are not related. They are much more similar to carrots and are botanically a root vegetable. The morning glory plants come from Central America and were cultivated and used in a variety of ways by the locals as early as the 15th century.
Sweet potatoes not only look good on the plate
Sweet potatoes can be prepared in a similar way to our local potatoes and have already stolen the show in many regional dishes. For example, you can cook, bake or fry them.
Popular sweet potato varieties for consumption:
- Beauregard - orange flesh, extra high yield
- Orleans - orange flesh, average 600 grams
- Bonita - white flesh, sweet and nutty aroma
- Murasaki - white meat, ideal for puree
- Evangeline - deep orange flesh, especially sweet
- Sakura - purple flesh, taste reminiscent of chestnuts
Tip: In addition to the tuber, the leaves of the sweet potato are also edible. You can prepare them like spinach, for example.
The sweet potato is also suitable as an ornamental plant. The heart-shaped leaves form pretty tendrils and the pink flower heads enhance the summer garden.
Popular ornamental sweet potato varieties:
- Terrace Lime - light green foliage
- Blacky - black-green foliage
- Tricolor - green-pink-white foliage
Plant Sweet Potatoes
Suitable location for sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are very sensitive to cold and therefore need a sunny and sheltered location. Cultivation in a greenhouse, balcony box or raised bed is particularly recommended. You can also cultivate the sweet potato directly in your garden if you live in mild latitudes.
Warning: Direct sunlight could burn the leaves as a lot of water is evaporated.
Tip: Direct sunlight could burn the leaves. But you can avoid sunburn with the right protection.
Ideal substrate for sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes are not hardy and prefer loose, sandy soil. In addition, the substrate should be rich in nutrients and have a high nitrogen content. You can mix compost or horn shavings into the substrate as a natural long-term fertilizer.
Tip: Potting soil can be used when cultivating in a bucket.
Pre-sprout sweet potatoes…
… in the ground
Since the seeds of the sweet potatoes germinate only very poorly, sowing is not really worthwhile. The pre-cultivation of tubers promises significantly more success. As already mentioned, sweet potatoes do not tolerate cold. It is therefore advisable to prefer them in a warm and bright room. You can put them in boxes or buckets with loose soil as early as January. If the soil moisture remains the same, the tubers will sprout after a few weeks.
Theoretically you can use sweet potatoes from the supermarket for this. However, it is not always known which variety it isacts. It is therefore quite possible that these varieties are not adapted to our climate and therefore do not germinate.
Tip: Sweet potatoes are also available in stores as tubers.
… in a glass of water
A second option is to use toothpicks to hang half of the sweet potato tuber in a glass filled with water and place it on a light-colored window sill. Shoots form after about ten days. If these are about 20 to 30 centimeters long, you can either plant out the entire tuber or just the shoots. If you want to plant the entire tuber, make sure that about half of it is above the ground.
Cultivate Sweet Potato as a Crop
Ideally, you should plant the cold-sensitive sweet potato in a greenhouse. The right time for this is April or May. If you don't have one, you should wait until after the ice saints to put the tubers in the ground. Because the heat-loving plants not only tolerate frost very badly. They can also be damaged at single-digit temperatures.
When planting, make sure that the plants have enough space.
It is therefore preferable to use sufficiently large planters with a capacity of at least 30 liters or plant the sweet potatoes in beds in beds with a planting spacing from 30 to 50 centimeters.
When planting in a bed, you must bear in mind that the sweet potato is a heavy feeder. In order to ensure a rich harvest, you should therefore make sure that you plant the sweet potatoes in a different bed every year. Ideal bed neighbors are summer flowers. A mixed culture with carrots or broad beans is also possible to prevent one-sided leaching of the soil as well as diseases and pests.
Cultivate sweet potatoes as an ornamental plant
If you want to cultivate the sweet potato as an ornamental plant, you should pre-germinate the sweet potato in a glass of water. Break off the sprouts that form and place in a separate glass of water. There they form roots quite quickly, so that they can then be planted.
Tip: The climbing plants look particularly good in hanging baskets.
Care for sweet potato
Water the sweet potatoes correctly
The sweet potato has a high moisture requirement, since a lot of water evaporates through the large, heart-shaped leaves. Make sure there is sufficient soil moisture. Avoid thoughWaterlogging.
Tip: A layer of mulch in the bed prevents the irrigation water from evaporating quickly on hot days.
Sweet potatoes require fertilizer
During the growing season - between March and September - you can encourage your sweet potatoes to grow by feeding them with compost and horn shavings every three weeks. However, if you cultivate the plants in tubs, liquid fertilizer is preferable.
Overview of planting and care tips for sweet potatoes
| Activity | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Determine location and soil | • sunny and sheltered • permeable, nutrient-rich substrate |
| planting | • Loosen the soil • Shoots must look out of the ground • Observe planting distance |
| Casting | • keep evenly moist • mulch |
| Fertilize | • during the growing phase compost or horn shavings |
Harvesting and storing sweet potatoes
If the plants turn yellow in autumn, the sweet potatoes are ready to be harvested. If you want to delay the harvest a little, you can apply a thick layer of mulch to protect the sensitive plants from too cold temperatures.
Because sweet potatoes grow just below the surface of the ground, you can usually dig them up easily with your hands. Just shake off the sandy tubers and then let them air dry for about two days before eating.
Since sweet potatoes contain a lot of water, they are only suitable for storage to a limited extent. You can store excess tubers in a cool, dry place for a short time.
Tip: If the sweet potatoes are stored for too long, they can rot.