{"id":3288,"date":"2024-03-22T00:10:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T07:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/2025\/12\/10\/how-to-grow-harvest-cure-and-store-sweet-potatoes\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T05:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T13:22:48","slug":"how-to-grow-harvest-cure-and-store-sweet-potatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/?p=3288","title":{"rendered":"How to Grow, Harvest, Cure, and Store Sweet Potatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In this post, I\u2019ll share not only how to grow sweet potatoes, but also how to harvest, cure and store them to enjoy all winter long!<\/em><\/p>\n

Over the past few years, my gardening efforts have shifted from growing a bit of everything to growing what does best in my climate and what actually fills the bellies of my family.<\/p>\n

That has meant fewer melons and more potatoes;\u00a0only one trellis of cucumbers and three beds of winter squash. And because they are incredibly easy to grow in our zone 5b garden, lots and lots of sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n

In this post, I\u2019ll share how to grow sweet potatoes and how to harvest, cure and store them all winter long!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

How to Grow Sweet Potatoes from Slips<\/h2>\n

Sweet potatoes mature in 90-170 days, so a long growing season is essential to your crop\u2019s success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sweet potatoes are planted using\u00a0sprouts called \u201cslips\u201d which you can either sprout yourself from stored sweet potatoes, or purchase (we get ours from the local Amish store, but you can also source them here.)<\/p>\n

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I prepare garden beds for sweet potato slips\u00a0by using a digging fork and gently aerating the soil. I then add some compost, manure, and any other amendments I have on hand (wood ash, for instance). and gently turn over the soil.<\/p>\n

It is important to add fertility without adding too much nitrogen, otherwise, your sweet potatoes will vine forever without producing abundant tubers.<\/p>\n

You also want the soil to be nice and \u201cfluffy\u201d so your tubers can grow freely.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

Sweet potato slips are planted every 12\u2033 at a depth of roughly 6\u2033. \u00a0As you can see in the photo above, they start out looking like scraggly weeds!<\/p>\n

But before long, your sweet potato vines will grow to cover the entire bed\u2026 and then some!<\/p>\n

\"Sweet<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

How to Harvest Sweet Potatoes<\/h2>\n

Sweet potatoes form a lush mat of vining growth, and their tubers form underground, so it can be hard to know when to harvest sweet potatoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 4 months after planting sweet potato slips, you can dig up a few and see how large they\u2019ve grown. Or you can wait until just before your first frost and harvest them then.<\/p>\n

I have read that it\u00a0is\u00a0okay to wait to harvest sweet potatoes until after<\/em> the first frost, when the sweet potato vines turn black.<\/p>\n

However, I do not like this approach because it increases your risk of the tubers rotting in storage. Instead, I just watch the weather and make sure I lift the tubers out of the ground before a frost.<\/p>\n

When we are ready to harvest the sweet potatoes, we roll\u00a0the mat of vines down the bed, almost like rolling up a sleeping bag \u2013 it\u2019s really that easy! You can see the technique in the photo below.<\/p>\n

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Once the bed has been cleared of sweet potato vines, we use a digging fork to gently loosen the soil around each cluster of tubers. You\u2019ll want to be careful and gentle here so you do not puncture the tubers.<\/p>\n

The kids love this part of the sweet potato harvest, as it\u2019s like a treasure hunt to dig down and discover all of the hidden tubers!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

How to Cure Sweet Potatoes<\/h2>\n

I recently cooked up some sweet potatoes from the Farmer\u2019s market and discovered that they were tasteless and certainly not sweet. It was because they were not cured before sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To cure sweet potatoes\u00a0you will\u00a0store them in a temperature of 80-85 degrees F with a humidity of 80-90% for a period of 5-10 days.<\/p>\n

This process begins to trigger the development of sugar-creating enzymes and converts starches to sugars. If you cannot achieve those exact conditions, don\u2019t worry, but do your best to provide a warm and humid environment for the curing process.<\/p>\n

\"homegrown<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

How to Store Sweet Potatoes for Winter<\/h2>\n

Once cured, sweet potatoes will store for months in a\u00a0cool and dry location.<\/p>\n

Strive for a temperature range of 55 \u2013 60 degrees F, and definitely do not store sweet potatoes in your refrigerator, as they are susceptible to cold injury.<\/p>\n

I have read of people storing sweet potatoes wrapped in newspaper or layered in sand or straw, but I have not found this necessary.<\/p>\n

We have successfully kept our sweet potatoes in the coolest part of our home in a simple \u201cbanana\u201d box (the kind that produce comes in in your grocery store).<\/p>\n

I brush excess dirt off the tubers, check them carefully for any nicks or cuts \u2013 these go in a separate box to use first \u2013 and place them in a box to store under our bed (the coolest part of our house).<\/p>\n

Be sure to check on your homegrown sweet potatoes occasionally to remove any tubers that show signs of rot or mildew\/fungus. When stored properly, sweet potatoes can last well into the next summer!<\/p>\n

\"homegrown<\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

So now that you have learned how to grow sweet potatoes, how to harvest, cure and store them, let\u2019s look into some delicious sweet potato recipes!<\/p>\n

Sweet Potato Recipes<\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re ready to enjoy your homegrown sweet potatoes, here are a few recipes to try:<\/p>\n

Sweet Potato Pie (with Natural Sweeteners)<\/p>\n

Spiced Sweet Potato Souffles with Roasted Walnuts<\/p>\n

Sweet Potato Quiche<\/p>\n

50+ Sweet Potato Recipes<\/p>\n

Roast Chicken with Sweet Potato, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If your growing season will support sweet potatoes\u2019 long maturity, they will be\u00a0a fantastic addition to your garden and food storage plan. Learning how to grow sweet potatoes and knowing how to harvest, cure, and store them for winter is a lot easier than you may anticipate, and the rewards are great!<\/p>\n

Do you grow sweet potatoes? What is your best tip for growing, harvesting, and storing sweet potatoes? Let\u2019s chat in the comment section below!<\/h3>\n

Excited to learn how to grow sweet potatoes? Pin it for Later:<\/h3>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

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    In this post, I\u2019ll share not only how to grow sweet potatoes, but also how to harvest, cure and store…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gardening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3450,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3288\/revisions\/3450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/digitvsolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}