Your comments and tips

06 Apr 20, Anon (Australia - temperate climate)

You could cut them off from about 1-1.2m each side if you like. Over fertilising with N will produce a lot of leaves/vines. Cut off some of the new vines and plant them with the growing tip out of the soil. Read below about how to do it.

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09 Mar 20, Garden Gnome (Australia - temperate climate)

I have had for over one year a half 200 litre plastic drum with a sweet potatoes growing in it. Just this past weekend I have dug around in the totally dry soil looking to see what was there. I did this with my hands after loosening it up with a garden fork all around the side of the drum. The leaves were not dying off in fact new shoots are forming. I only did this as we have had 1 week of dry hot weather. I harvested 3 very good sized spuds and put the rest back and topped up with well mulched soil. No extra fertilizer has been used and this is the second time I have turned this drum. As the soil lowers and parts of tubers show I top up with more well mulch soil. With watering and good old mother nature we have bought no sweet potatoes at all for quite some time. I have no idea how long they have been growing I don't garden like that.

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11 Mar 20, Tineke (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Brilliant! Mine are growing all over the place - better have a look see soon!!

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10 Mar 20, ML (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Many ways to grow things. You could have just a patch of swt potatoes and pick whenever you like. I'm growing them in my volunteer gardens. Take a slip of vine (about 40cm long), strip all the leaves off except the last 10cm of the growing tip, plant it along the ground with the tip out of the soil. Swt potatoes will grow from where the leaves were broken off. Or if you like put the slips in a bucket of water to have the slip producing roots before you plant it.

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13 Jan 20, Paul (South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical climate)

I m interested in Sweet potato farming where can i get the seedlings or cuttings in the Western cape or eastern cape (NOTE - Gardenate is not intended for farmers )

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16 Jun 23, Dieter (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)

You can get sweet potato slips from Living seeds.

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15 Jan 20, Another gardener (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)

You would have to look around your local area and find some sweet potato growers. I assume you are just wanting to plant a few. If a lot then ring your agricultural department. You need the new fresh part of the vines, about 1/2 m long, take all the leaves off except the last 3-4 where the tip is growing. Make a furrow in the soil and place the slip along it and cover the vine but leave the last few leaves out of the ground. Lots of water for the first 10 days.

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05 Jan 20, MICHAEL PETERSON (Australia - tropical climate)

I planted sweet potato a couple of months ago and vines have started growing and no tubes, should I pull them all out and start again or is there something I can do to save them .

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06 Jan 20, anon (Australia - tropical climate)

They say about 15-17 weeks to grow. You should have some tubers developing after about 10-12 weeks. Mine are about 10 weeks old and I dug out one about 5 (?)

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24 Oct 19, anon (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I talked to a commercial grower yesterday. Fertilise the ground before you plant. What fertiliser you use depends on how fertile your soil is. You would need a soil test to really find that out. But fertiliser with a reasonable amount of N, good P and high K. Mix this through the soil profile. If you cut off slips, make them about .4m long, strip off most of the leaves but leave the growing head part. Dig a furrow 50-75mm deep and place the slip in the furrow (place the slip level in the soil). Cover the slip over with soil but leave the growing bit sticking out of the soil. You could put the slips in a jar of water for a week or so to start the roots growing. Once you have planted the slip make sure it is watered for the next week, lIke each day. The soil around the slip has to be wet for the roots to shoot and grow. After a week or so you should notice the plant growing. The slip will produce sweet potatoes from where you stripped the leaves off giving a higher yield of crop. If the vines grow really long then I believe too high N, but I was told they need plenty of N. I was mainly asking about the placement of the slip but will ask more about the fertiliser next time.

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