Posted by robin on September 16, 2014 at 22:22
PermalinkI planted these sweet potatoes on 5-26-14. Could someone tell me when they can be harvested? I've read that the vines need to look dry on the ends. However, I don't thinkg they are ready yet. I also read that they need about four months in the ground to mature. That would mean they won't be ready till sometime in October. This is the first time I've planted sweet potatoes and I don't know what variety they are because I rooted the slips from three potatoes that I bought last fall at the farmer's market.sweet potato
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I haven't grown them before (but I'm growing them now), and from what I read with the "wait til the vines die back" and "harvest before first frost", October (as someone in USDA zone 6) sounds right to me. They tend to feature prominently at Thanksgiving, so this would make sense.
thanks for your reply. I live in zone 7b. I'm thinking mid to late October….sweet potato
You definitely want them out of the ground before first frost. The other challenge is that they like to be cured for a couple of weeks in hot and humid conditions (this concentrates the sugars and increases storability), so if you leave it too close to the cold weather then you'll struggle to cure them without some form of energy input.
I ended up sticking mine next to the furnace (which is just off the laundry room with a louvered door between) to try to get the curing going. I haven't actually gotten around to eating them yet (oops), so I can't say how well that worked yet. I should give them a try this week.
I did read that if you can't get the heat & humidity as high as they want (which is REALLY high…like, I think you could build something using a cooler and an incandescent bulb) that curing them for several weeks extra at a warm but not hot temperature should do.