Do sweet potatoes need to be kept covered?

[Leezy2]

So here in France we've had a very different year than last year. One of the big successes is sweet potato. They are growing so well that the potatoes are fighting their way out of the ground. They are now about five inches above the level of the soil and it's getting difficult to keep them covered.

Question is, do I need them covered? Do they go funny if exposed to the sun like normal potatoes do? Can I just leave them to do their thing?

Thanks,

David.

[BeeHappyFlutterBy]

Question is, do I need them covered?

LOL, I like mine covered in Sweet chilli dressing
...... But seriously, sorry i can't give you any advice, you'll get your answer from one of the GV Forum Veggie professional's but must say a big well done on your success!

[veggiechicken]

Hi David, Sweet potatoes do not produce Solanine, the compound that turns potatoes green and poisonous. Never managed to grow them myself so I'm quite envious

More info Growing Sweet Potatoes

[Small pumpkin]

I'm also quite jealous
Something I've always wanted to grow. Due to location (and lack of talent ) I believe they would be doomed to fail.

[BUFFS]

I'm also quite jealous
Something I've always wanted to grow. Due to location (and lack of talent ) I believe they would be doomed to fail.

we would have to hotbed them to succeed, like the old lords and ladies did, now if I had a polytunnel and hotbed I would trying it now..

[Leezy2]

I'll not tell you how hot it is here, you might not talk to me again!! It's been hot then damp on and off all summer. Tomatoes all got blight, courgettes rotten and cucumber got a virus! On the plus side, butternut squash I have loads of, including three plants growing out of last years compost heap!!! (And of course sweet potatoes, only planted one slip as a test, the vine is covering 6 square meters of the veg patch!!)

[Penellype]

I grew sweet potatoes (Bonita) in my friend's greenhouse last year in a 30 litre bucket. The greenhouse doesn't get much sun due to trees but there were 4 or 5 small potatoes from 1 plant. This year I bought younger plants and planted 2 (Beauregard and Evangeline) in a gro-bed in the greenhouse. They are growing ok but I have no idea if there is anything under the compost.

Since my melons are looking promising in a hotbed with a cloche over this summer, I'm going to try the same thing with sweet potatoes next year.

[Vince G]

sweet potato harvest

I grew sweet potatoes for the first time this year over in sunny Suffolk. Planted 6, 1 died for some reason, but I dug up the first plant today and got 5 good sized tubers, see photo with 10p coin for perspective of size.

I generally find them a bit sweet personally, so I grew them for Mrs G, who was delighted with the baked fries I made with them tonight, and actually they weren't too sweet, so I quite enjoyed them too.

[Penellype]

I'm not a sweet potato expert, but apparently they get sweeter if you store them for a while before eating: https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/g...sweet-potatoes. So if you don't like them sweet, eat them straight away!

[Zelenina]

Well done Vince! We get quite hot summers where I am and I meant to try growing them this year. I bought some from the supermarkets and rooted slips from them, but then I neglected them and left them in their small pots.

Yesterday I noticed a couple of the pots had got a bit out of shape, so I tipped them out to see what was happening. Most of them had developed small sweet potatoes, and one or two had bigger ones that were swelling and pushing against the pot sides. So I've put them all into bigger pots to see what happens. I can bring them into the glazed verandah when it gets too cold. And next year I'll grow them seriously.

[Vince G]

Thanks Penellype, that explains why every sweet potato I've had in the past has been a bit sweet for my taste - I don't imagine my local pub or restaurant has just dug them up out of their garden, they will have been hanging around in their larder or on a supermarket shelf.

[Vince G]

Thanks Zelenina, and good luck with yours too. Reckon they'll be ok on the verandah for a month or so whilst they continue to swell. Keep us posted!