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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14 Jan 23, Anonymous (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Has anyone planted Kumara in a Vegepod?
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23 Jan 23, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Why would you - they need a lot of soil around them.
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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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08 Jan 23, Chris (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Crowns are the top sprouting part of a sweet potato. It should say slips too.
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05 Jan 23, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
A slip should be 20 cm/8 in
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30 Oct 22, bernie (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I live in the Redlands on the sourthern outskirts of Brisbane. I am trying to grow sweet potatoes for the first time. I have grown my own slips and planted them out and the vines are growing nicely. What I would like to know is where do the tubers grow from. Is it from the base of the slip or from the vines. Also I only have one vine growing from each plant. Do I need more than one vine and if so how do I encourage the extra vines.
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30 Oct 22, Anonymous (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
The best way to plant sweet potatoes is to take a piece of vine with growing tip at one end about 400mm long, strip most of the leaves off but leave the growing tip (last 150mm) plant that in a trench with the tip sticking out of the soil. Water every day until it starts growing. Along the slip where the leaves joined the vine tubers will grow.
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16 Oct 22, marco (Australia - tropical climate)
hi i live gold coast queensland .i just dug up my sweet potato crop .did ok ..lots of small shoots left ..i dug everything back in the ground now will add some lawn clipping and blood and bone for the next 3 to 4 weeks .then leave and see what we get ...
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13 Aug 22, Phillip (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I lived in Maitland in the Hunter Valley until 1985. We used to get a white fleshed sweet potato that when cooked was soft, almost opaque, and very sweet. My mother would post to me when I moved to Brisbane as I couldn’t get them here! My questions is. What were they and where can I get them? Phillip Caruthers.
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16 Aug 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
They grow a white purply one in Bundy - check on the internet.
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Showing 21 - 30 of 309 comments
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I live in the Redlands on the sourthern outskirts of Brisbane. I am trying to grow sweet potatoes for the first time. I have grown my own slips and planted them out and the vines are growing nicely. What I would like to know is where do the tubers grow from. Is it from the base of the slip or from the vines. Also I only have one vine growing from each plant. Do I need more than one vine and if so how do I encourage the extra vines.

- bernie

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