Growing Sweet Potato, also Kumara

Ipomoea batatas : Convolvulaceae / the morning glory family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec

Not recommended for growing in USA - Zone 5a regions

  • Plant shoots or cuttings (Slips). Best planted at soil temperatures between 63°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 16 - 24 inches apart
  • Harvest in 15-17 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Best in Separate bed

Your comments and tips

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29 Jun 20, John Martin Barger (USA - Zone 7b climate)
I have a sweet potato that has sprouted pretty heavily on my kitchen counter. I live in Memphis, TN. Is there any chance of having success if I were to plant it now? Or is it too late in season?
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30 Jun 20, Betty (USA - Zone 7b climate)
I'm just next door in Arkansas and will be planting some slips from one in my kitchen today (June 30). We have just enough time before frost to make decent sweet potatoes. You know we can eat the leaves like spinach as well? My (American) kids grew up in SE Asia and thought sweet potato leaves were a variety spinach.
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23 Jun 21, Anonymous (USA - Zone 7b climate)
Where I live (Australia) they grow it from just a piece of the growing vine - a slip. Either put them in water until they produce roots or straight into the ground and keep watered. Take a piece about 18cm (6 - 8 inches).
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18 Jun 21, Khandi (USA - Zone 8a climate)
Can I plant my sweet potato slips in the ground now? I’m in Zones 7B & 8A. (SE Alabama)
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29 Jun 21, (USA - Zone 8a climate)
It does say April to June.
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27 Aug 21, Kirk McCoy (USA - Zone 10a climate)
If your sweet potatoes wont sprout it is because commercial growers spray them with a anti sprouting chemical. It can be removed buy giving your sweet potatoes a ascorbic acid bath for 15 minutes then rinsing. I use 2 tsp in a half gallon of water. you could also use crushed vitamin C pills.
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19 Jun 22, Maria (USA - Zone 10a climate)
Thanks for the tip! I am trying for the first time and will do this :)
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12 Mar 22, DeAnn Johnson (USA - Zone 5a climate)
Thank you so much for the GREAT Tip!!!
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15 Mar 22, (USA - Zone 4a climate)
Read the posting here in the New Zealand section - I just put a reply there about growing Sweet Pots.
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02 Jan 23, Allen (USA - Zone 7b climate)
Hi; I know what a sweet potato slip is but what the heck is a sweet potato crown? All I can find on the internet is recipes for cooking not planting.
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Showing 11 - 20 of 34 comments
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Hi there :-) found this thread while looking for a diagram of kumara (sweet potato) and thought this info might help you Jason. In early Feb, had this awesome fella come show us how to plant kumara in the traditional way, used successfully by Maori before European colonisation. I recently emailed him asking for general care and cultivation tips... this was his reply: "Kia ora ano sis, chur mean, glad to hear the kumara are in abundance! Have y'all pulled the runners up yet? - about 3 weeks ago you shouldve pulled up the runners on a sunny day and exposed the roots to the sun for a few hours to kill them. Otherwise the plants direct energy away from the tubers and into setting down new roots via the runners and your kumara wont be as big as they could. If you havent done it yet, still do! At that point you can also start harvesting the new shoots of vine growth - pick leaves and vines that are still that brighter green and use it like puha or watercress. If you eat mature leaves it might upset your stomach so kia tupato! (you probably already know all this!). This has same effect of directing energy to the tubers." For your reference, "puha and watercress" are greens that can be added to salads or boiled/blanched similar to spinach and silverbeet and "kia tupato" means I need to "be careful" - eating mature leaves can be harmful! Well, I am off to pull up the runners and expose them to the sun! Glad there is some today :-) Good luck with the kumara growing!! "As the garden grows so does the gardener." - Proverb

- Starrlite

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