Sweet potato cultivation in the garden / bucket

Whether baked in the oven, deep-fried as French fries or mashed with soup: The lovely sweet potato can be prepared in many different ways and tastes pleasantly sweet. Therefore, the vitamin-rich tubers are also enjoying increasing popularity in this country. The robust crop can be grown by yourself in the garden or in the tub. The instructions show how to properly plant, care for and harvest the sweet potato.

Characteristics

• Plant family: Convolvulaceae
• Genus: Morning glories (Ipomoea)
• Species: Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas)
• Common names: white potato, batata
• Origin: Central and South America
• forms bulbous, edible storage roots
• deciduous, herbaceous climber
• Shoots are between one and two meters long
• large heart-shaped leaves
• funnel-shaped, white to pink flowers with a short flowering time

The sweet potato is a real all-rounder: Above the ground, the long shoots entwine with the large ones Leaves and the delicate flowers, while underground the nutritious, appetizing tubers grow up. Although the potato comes from the tropics and subtropics, it can also be cultivated well in Central Europe with the right care. The tubers are easy to multiply and thrive in good growing conditions. Follow the planting and harvesting recommendations to get the most out of the versatile crop.

The sweet potato, a bindweed plant, is only distantly related to the potato, a nightshade plant. The tubers, which are mostly orange, white, yellow or purple in color, are more reminiscent of the carrot in taste. The batat originally comes from Central and South America, where Christopher Columbus allegedly made the exotic tubers in the 16th century. Discovered in the 19th century and brought to Europe.

Today Ipomoea batatas is grown in large quantities in China, but also in Africa and Central and South America. It can also be found in some southern European countries such as Portugal and Spain.

care

The fast and lush growing Ipomoea batatas combines ornamental and useful plants in one plant, which is why it is very suitable for the garden. It can also be cultivated in the bucket on the balcony or terrace.

So that the plant has enough space to grow and the harvest is worthwhile, the pot or tub should have a capacity of at least 30 liters. As soon as they have grown, caring for the potatoes is comparatively easy. Therefore, the plant can also be cultivated well by inexperienced hobby gardeners.

Location

Sweet potatoes thrive best in a warm, light, and sheltered location. A sunny to partially shaded place and temperatures around 24 degrees Celsius are ideal. It grows more slowly at lower temperatures and in shady locations. If the temperatures drop to ten degrees Celsius or less, the sweet potato stops growing completely and dies in freezing conditions.

Some varieties only tolerate direct sunlight to a limited extent. When the leaves start to burn, the Ipomoea batatas needs to be moved to a shady place. Since the Ipomoea batatas develops long, climbing shoots, it also needs space to spread out.

• it can be grown either as a ground cover or as a climbing plant
• Ipomoea batatas needs a climbing aid for tendrils, for example a frame or frame
• alternatively, the batata can be placed on a (house) wall or a fence in the ground, where it can hang up
• on the balcony or terrace, the shoots can be placed over the parapet or a fence so that they hang down decoratively on the other side
• In the bed, the sweet potato should be grown in ridges similar to the regular potato, these should be about 20 centimeters high
• A distance of 50 to 60 centimeters is recommended between the individual plants

The location should also be kept free of weeds. To curb the growth, the substrate can be mulched with lawn clippings or compost, for example. In addition, the weeds that still grow should be weeded regularly. The sweet potato has a very high need for nutrients and weeds remove important substances from the substrate.

Substrate

The sweet potato prefers a sandy, well drained and nutrient-rich substrate. If the crop is planted in a bed in the garden, the garden soil should be mixed with compost or horn shavings beforehand. Note that the Ipomoea batatas grows up to 30 centimeters deep into the ground. The nutrient-rich substrate layer should be correspondingly thick enough. You can use standard potting soil or a mixture of sand and compost in the bucket.

plants

The Ipomoea batatas is sensitive to frost and should therefore only be planted outside after the ice saints from mid or late May. In the greenhouse it can be put into the ground earlier. The plant has the best starting conditions outdoors if you grow it indoors from the end of winter.

This is how you do it:

• fill a pot or box with loose substrate, such as garden soil or a mixture of compost and sand
• place the seed tuber on the ground
• place the container in a bright and warm room or a room greenhouse, it must be at least 18 degrees Celsius
• ensure uniform moisture in the soil

So the seed tuber sprouts within a few weeks. Alternatively, you can first let the tuber germinate in the water.

• fill a glass with water
• cut the sweet potato in half
• hang half a tuber in it so that about half of it is covered with water
• To prevent it from falling in, you can, for example, stick several toothpicks into the tuber in the upper third so that they lie on the edge of the glass and hold the sweet potato in place
• the interface should point downwards
• Each piece of the sweet potato needs its own jar for cultivation
• put the glass on a light, warm window sill

When the tuber has formed several shoots that are at least 20 centimeters tall, the young plant can be planted outside in the bed or in the tub from May. For this, the loosened garden soil in the bed should be mixed with compost and horn shavings beforehand.

The tuber is then placed in a hole in the ground that is as deep as the roots. Fill the hole with substrate and press it gently around the plant. Finally, the young plant is heavily watered. The shoots can optionally also be planted as cuttings.

• cut off the shoots from the tuber with a sharp knife
• fill a shallow bowl with water, in which you put the shoots
• after a few days, the first roots will form
• now they can be planted outside

The easiest way to cultivate pre-grown plants or seed tubers from specialist shops. The seed tubers should not be stored for a long time, but put into the ground as quickly as possible. They are susceptible to mold in standard plastic packaging.

to water

Ipomoea batatas needs a lot of water, especially in warm summers, and has to be watered regularly. Make sure that the substrate always remains evenly moist. To minimize evaporation, you can put a layer of mulch on the soil in the bed. Compost, leaves or lawn clippings, for example, are suitable for this. However, the plant does not tolerate waterlogging, which is particularly important in the bucket. Excess water should be able to drain off at the bottom.

Fertilize

In the growth phase between March and September, the Ipomoea batatas is fertilized every three weeks. Complete fertilizers or horn shavings are suitable for plants in the garden bed. If the sweet potato is in the bucket, it is best to give it a portion of liquid fertilizer on a regular basis.

Overwinter

Since the Ipomoea batatas is not hardy and does not tolerate frost, it is usually cultivated as an annual plant. New plants will be grown in the next year.

harvest

Towards the end of the growing season, the Ipomoea batatas stores nutrients in its roots, which thicken like a bulb. When the above-ground parts of the plant wilt and turn yellow, the sweet potato daughter tubers can be harvested. This should be done in September or October before the first frost.

The harvest is associated with little effort:

• If possible, it shouldn't rain on the day of harvest
• lift the plants out of the ground, for example with a digging fork or by hand
• use caution as most of the tubers are located close to the surface of the earth
• cut off the withered leaves and branches and dispose of them on the compost or in the organic waste
• what remains are the nutrient-rich sweet potato tubers
• gently shake off the soil, but do not wash the tubers
• The sweet potato is only washed thoroughly shortly before processing
• Immediately after harvesting, the tubers should air dry for about two to three days, preferably in a warm room with high humidity
• during this time they ripen and develop their typical taste

The potatoes can then be processed and eaten or stored for a limited period of time.

To store

The tubers of the Ipomoea batatas have a limited shelf life due to their high fluid content, as they can rot. They can be stored in a dark, dry room for a few months if the temperatures do not exceed 14 degrees Celsius. A potato box in the basement is best.

When storing, avoid the following:

• do not put the sweet potatoes in a bag or a sealed container, otherwise they will go moldy quickly
• if they fall, the potatoes will form large stains, this should be avoided
• do not store the sweet potatoes near fruit, as this gives off ethylene, which can cause the tubers to rot
• the cold-sensitive tubers must never be placed in the refrigerator

If you want to plant Ipomoea batatas again next year, you can save some tubers from the current harvest and plant them again in late spring.

Multiply

Sweet potatoes are difficult to propagate from seeds. Sometimes they do not develop at all or only a few, which germinate poorly. Breeding from seed tubers is therefore the most promising. These can either be bought in specialist shops or online. If you picked sweet potatoes yourself in the previous year, you can keep some tubers from your own harvest and cultivate them for the next year, as described in the “Plants” section. Optionally, you can also use cuttings to propagate an existing plant.

Offshoot

You can gain an offshoot in late summer, before the Ipomoea batatas wilts. To do this, cut off a shoot that is about 15 to 20 centimeters long and place it in a glass of water. The first roots form after several days. Now the shoot can be put in a pot with a loose substrate, for example potting soil.

The offshoot winters indoors in a warm, bright spot. The substrate must not dry out, which is why the young plant must be watered regularly. In spring it is strong enough and can be planted outside in the bed or in the tub.

Diseases

Pests and diseases

Sweet potatoes are robust and are rarely affected by disease or pest infestation. Now and then the tasty tubers attract voles. The best way to protect the plant is with the help of a vole basket. It is placed in the planting hole before planting and surrounds the root ball with a wire mesh that keeps the pests away.

sorts

To Art Ipomoea batatas include different varieties that differ in details. „Blacky"Has rather dark, lobed foliage, while"Marguerite“Develops light green, heart-shaped leaves. The variety "Black tone“Grows particularly well in intense sunlight and has black-red foliage. The most popular varieties also include "Centennial" and "Beauregard„. If you want to harvest sweet potatoes, you have to make sure that you don't have an ornamental variety like "Sweet Caroline Purple„, „Autumn" or "Indica" Caught. These form only very small tubers. In contrast to the useful varieties, however, they bloom longer and form larger flowers.