How to Raise Sweet Potato Slips in Georgia

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), native root vegetables often erroneously referred to as yams in the U.S., make for pretty ornamental ground cover as well as sweet, starchy crops. With seed germination difficult to achieve in both vine and bush types, these tropical plants are usually propagated through slips, or tuberous roots, sold in bunches by variety. Although they can grow in all U.S. Department of Agriculture cold hardiness zones as summer annuals and as winter plants in zones 9 to 11, these members of the morning glory family do best with a long, hot growing season of at least four months, making Georgia's summers a perfect fit.

Sweet potato slips
Aged compost
Tiller
Garden shovel
10-20-10 fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Choose a disease-resistant sweet potato variety that performs well in Georgia, such as "Beauregard," "Centennial," "Jewel," "Porto Rico" or "Yellow Jersey."
- 2
  Select a planting site with well-drained sandy or loamy soil that receives between eight and 10 hours of sunlight each day. If planting in clay, work 3 inches of aged compost 6 inches into the soil with a tiller to improve drainage.
- 3
  Plant slips 1 foot apart in rows or mounds 3 feet apart once the soil temperature has reached 70 degrees Fahrenheit, which occurs in April in Georgia. Allow only the stem tips and a few leaves to show above the soil.
- 4
  Fertilize the plants with 10-20-10 fertilizer at a rate of 1/2 pound per 20 feet of row. Repeat fertilization four weeks later.
- 5
  Water plants in the evening or early morning so that water does not sit on the leaves throughout the day. Give plants 1 inch of water each week.
- 6
  Halt all watering three to four weeks before harvest, so that the potato skins do not split from excess absorption.
- 7
  Harvest sweet potatoes after 90 to 120 days, before the first frost.

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