The Soil Sweet Potatoes Actually Want
Sweet potatoes want loose, well-drained ground that is modest in fertility and low in nitrogen. Sandy loam is close to ideal.
What a Slip Is, and Why You Do Not Plant the Root
A slip is a leafy, rooted shoot that grows out of a stored sweet potato, and the slip, not the root, is what goes into the garden.
Sweet Potatoes Where the Summer Is Short
Sweet potatoes can be grown well north of where most gardeners try them, but the crop has to be treated as a warmth-gathering project, not a normal…
What Sweet Potatoes Rotate With
Sweet potatoes rotate with almost everything except their own kind. The plant belongs to the morning glory family, so the nightshade rules that govern…
Why Sweet Potatoes Are Grown on Ridges
Sweet potatoes are grown on ridges because a ridge solves three problems at once: cold soil, soggy soil and hard soil.
Growing Your Own Slips From a Stored Root
You can grow your own sweet potato slips from a stored root, and it works well when the root is healthy and kept warm.
Hedge Plants for Missouri: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy
Missouri runs from zone 5b to zone 7b on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, and that three-zone spread decides which hedges are safe bets.
Sweet Potato Greens: The Crop Above the Crop
Yes, the leaves are edible, and a moderate harvest barely dents the roots. Sweet potato vines regrow from the tips, so pinching a few handfuls of young…
Curing Sweet Potatoes: Where the Sweetness Comes From
Curing sweet potatoes means holding freshly dug roots in a warm, humid spot for about a week before they go anywhere cool.
Hedge Plants for Mississippi: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy
Every hedge species on our Mississippi list survives somewhere in the state, and none fails everywhere. The catch is the middle bucket.