On Friday, October 10, 2014 12:50:36 AM UTC-4, Fran Farmer wrote:
On 10/10/2014 2:59 AM, Steve Peek wrote:





Very nice! Even though I live in the #1 sweet potato state it took year

for me to learn to grow them (before the internet).



So what is the secret to growing them for an abundant yield?

I have rows of about 30 feet in my garden. I apply chicken manure the length of the row and then rake from both sides into a hill of about 12 inches in height. I then apply Gardentone (an organic fertilizer) to the length of the hill. I then plant the "slips" about 12 inches apart and water well. When the vines begin to run go through weekly and lift them back to the original slip. This puts all the plants' energy into the original roots creating large potatoes. If this lifting is not done the vines will attempt to root at every leaf creating dozens of small thin potatoes.

When I first started trying to grow them that 30' row would produce over a bushel of tiny finger sized potatoes. Following my current method I now get about 2 bushels of 6 oz. - 2+pound potatoes.