How to Plant Sweet Potatoes

A month before your last frost, buy several sweet potatoes from your local grocery store. Fill a gardening pot with sand, and bury the potatoes so that they are covered with about an inch of sand. Position the pot near a window so it receives sun, and keep the sand moist.

After a few weeks, the sweet potatoes will have little vine-like sprouts growing out of the eyes located all over the potato. When these sprouts reach about 6 inches long, cut the potato into sections so that each sprout retains a chuck of the potato from which it emerges. These are your slips.

Dig rows in your garden 3 feet apart and about 4 inches deep. Plant the sweet potato slips every 15 inches and bury them completely. Cover the rows with black mulch or plastic to attract heat, which sweet potatoes need to grow. Don't plant the slips until the ground is at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no chance of frost.

Harvest the sweet potatoes in three to four months or before the first frost. Gently dig around each plant and pull out all the sweet potatoes. Allow the sweet potatoes to cure in a humid, warm area for two weeks. Store the sweet potatoes for up to a year in a cool, dry area.