Once your slips arrive, place them upright in a jar of water (change water daily. Remove any dead leaves from the water to prevent rotting!) or a container of moist, loose potting soil until you are ready to plant. Warmth is more important than light. I recommend keeping them indoors in a sunny window, or under grow lights.

Have them sit overnight to re-acclimate (they are REALLY not fond of traveling)

When your slips arrive they may be a bit droopy from their travels – they are very dramatic little plants and may look half dead, but don’t worry!  They are tougher than they look and will perk up nicely with a little bit of care.

Once they have recovered, and the weather is above 10 - 15 degrees Celsius, you can start to harden them off by getting them used to being outside. A little sun, a little shade, a little wind and back inside especially if they start to droop.

Be sure to bring them inside for overnight for the first couple of days.

Slips may be potted up in loose potting soil instead of kept in water, and transplanted outside once they have been hardened off, and the ground is warm and the weather is suitable.

If the sun outside is extreme, wait for a cloudy day to plant or provide some partial shade. ie. a cedar shingle stuck into the ground beside the slip. 

Cuttings may be potted up in larger pots as they get bigger, the same as tomatoes. Do not allow the plants to become root bound as it will deform the sweet potatoes if they are left in too small size of pots.

Sweet potato plants do not tolerate cold or shade well. Resist the urge to plant out your slips until the soil has warmed and nighttime lows are consistently above 10 - 15 degrees Celsius.  Plant in full sun, and in warm ground. Shadows from trees and building can reach quite a distance.

Raised garden beds are best used to help maintain warm ground. We hill up the soil to make a raised bed.  Loosen the soil to a minimum depth of one foot. If you have compacted or heavy soil, consider mounding the loosened soil into raised beds.  Amend the soil with compost or fertilizer such as bone meal, blood meal, or pelletized chicken manure.  Cover the area with clear plastic or black geotextile to help warm the soil. This can be used year after year.  Plant your slips 12 inches apart in row and 36-48 inches between rows.  Cut holes in the plastic and bury the slip up to its top three or four leaves.  Thoroughly water after transplanting and every 1-2 days for the first three weeks.

Longer growing season areas do not need the plastic, but it helps to heat the soil.

Once your sweet potato plants are established, they can be watered sparingly. If the summer is dry and hot, provide 1 inch/week. Let them dry out between waterings to avoid rot.  Every couple of weeks, lift the vines off the soil to stop rooting so that all of the energy goes into the tubers at the base of the plant.

Individual plants may be grown in larger black containers, 5 gallon or more size approximately 24” high and 20” wide, with drainage, do well.  These do even better if the pot is set halfway into the ground. This is an easier way to grow if only a few plants, as they may be dumped out of the pot after first frost, instead of digging them up.

Regular watering will help to prevent splits in the sweet potatoes as it will with a lot of fruits and vegetables.

Sweet potatoes must be left in the ground as long as possible to ensure they have time to size up!  They are a long season crop, so if you are worried about a light frost, you can use row cover to extend your season.

Dig them up only when temperatures start regularly dipping below ten degrees at night but before there is any risk of hard frost (usually mid-September in our area). To minimize damage during harvest, cut the vines a week before so the skin starts thickening.  If possible, harvest on a dry day. Use a digging fork or shovel to loosen the soil starting at least a foot away from each plant. Some sweet potatoes may be near the surface, so be careful!  If you plan to store your sweet potatoes over winter, they must be cured as soon as they are harvested.

If the soil gets down to 10°C or first frost, whichever occurs first (unless you have been covering the sweet potatoes) they should be dug. (10°C and below will cold damage sweet potatoes) 

If a Killing Frost occurs, the plants are dead, and the sweet potatoes should be dug up the next day as the cold damage can start to occur.

Sweet potatoes damage easily and must be handled gently.

Some sweet potatoes will be right under the plant, others may be found at the end of a root up to approximately 3’ away if looking for water. (Containers are the easy way of digging)

You do not need to cure the sweet potatoes if you are not planning on storing them for a long time, but it does really improve the flavour. Some customers said that it would not be necessary as they plan to eat them before then, LOL.  They will develop better flavour if cured and stored for a while.

To cure properly, sweet potatoes must be kept at 28 to 32 degrees Celsius and 85-90% humidity for the first 7-14 days. In the average home, this can be challenging. To get around this, try putting the sweet potatoes in paper bags inside plastic bags with a few holes punched in them (8-10 medium-sized sweets/bag). Then, place the bags in a small room or closet with a space heater or next to a wood stove. Leave a fan blowing on them to avoid rot.  Once cured, sweet potatoes will keep for months in the dark at room temperature. To prevent them from drying out, they can be left in paper and plastic bags. Do not store them below 12 degrees Celsius.  Sweet potatoes reach peak tastiness 8 weeks after curing, but with the right storage conditions, they’ll last well into the spring.  Remember to keep a few small ones to grow your own slips from next year.

Store sweet potatoes at minimum of 15°C. They will keep in a cupboard at room temperature well. (Keep out of light to discourage sprouting towards Spring) The sweet potatoes will stay good until the next harvest or longer if cured properly.