Sweet potato is the second common name for sweet potato. An annual, climbing plant native to South America, it is popular in Indonesia, grown in India, and considered a longevity fruit in China.
Description
The stem is up to 17 cm high and covered with heart-shaped leaves. The plant is a perennial in its homeland; in our country it is grown as an annual plant and blooms with lilac or white flowers. The flowers are funnel-shaped. The formation of tubers in a plant occurs in the forks of the lateral roots.
Sweet potato tubers can reach large sizes, weighing more than 3 kg. The shape of the fruit can be different (round, oblong, ribbed), depending on the variety. The color of the pulp and skin of tubers depends on the varietal and species. There are varieties with tubers of orange, purple, red, yellow and white. The taste of Sweet Potato pulp is sweetish, due to the glucose it contains.
You can buy the Sweet Potato variety for sale:
- stern;
- vegetable;
- dessert.
Feed varieties contain less glucose and are used as a potato substitute. Vegetable varieties are also eaten instead of potatoes, but dessert varieties have a taste closer to carrot, pumpkin, banana and the color of the pulp is bright, orange.
Popular dessert varieties include the Batatov varieties:
- Georgia Red;
- Beauregard.
The following variety is planted as a replacement for potatoes:
- Purple;
- Japanese;
- White.
What are the benefits of Sweet Potato?
Sweet potatoes Sweet potatoes are not very popular in our country. This plant is thermophilic, and our climate cannot be called mild. Interest in the tropical crop is growing thanks to the popularization of its new varieties, adapted to the conditions of our summer and information about the usefulness of its fruits.
The taste of the Sweet Potato tuber is vaguely reminiscent of the taste of frozen potatoes. This similarity explains the second name of the plant. It is the substances contained in the root that explain the benefits and harms of Sweet Potato. The composition of the pulp and its benefits largely depend on the variety, as well as on the growth conditions.
Heart eaters are advised to use varieties in which the flesh of the tubers is purple. They were found to contain a high content of anthocyanins, they improve heart function, and their consumption in food reduces the risk of eye and vascular diseases.
The orange tuber of Sweet Potato improves vision, keeps the eyes youthful thanks to vitamin A, there is more of it in the pulp compared to other vegetables. Dishes made from the orange tuber are especially useful for older people and people with weight problems.
For women aged who have entered menopause (menopause), sweet potato fruits help maintain the level of female hormones in the body. In young women, it increases libido. People who regularly eat tubers are less likely to suffer from cancer and nervous disorders.
Along with the beneficial properties of Sweet Potato, there are also contraindications. Not everyone is sweet Potatoes are good for you. People with various gastrointestinal pathologies can experience harm to their health. It is not recommended to include it in the diet of pregnant and breastfeeding women.
How to plant and propagate?
In order to have time to grow Sweet Potatoes in our climate in the summer, you need to learn how to grow its seedlings. Planting tubers directly into the garden will not bring success. Our short summer will not be enough to form full-fledged fruits in open ground. First you need to study the varieties that are on sale. Choose the variety whose description best suits the specific area.
To obtain seedlings, you need mature sweet potato tubers. Large specimens of tubers can be divided into several parts with a clean and sharp knife. The resulting parts should be immersed halfway in containers with water. Sprout tubers on a sunny windowsill or under a phytolamp. The first sprouts on the tubers will hatch in 2–3 weeks.
When the sweet potato tuber is completely covered with shoots, carefully separate (cut) them and place them in water until the roots appear. A 10-centimeter shoot is considered good. You can get up to 7 batches of sprouts from one cutting.It takes approximately 10 days for sprouts to form. Roots appear in three days. When the height of the sprouts with roots is about 20 cm, they can be planted in the soil.
Site selection and soil preparation
When choosing a location, consider the following requirements:
- well lit throughout the day;
- located downwind;
- groundwater no closer than 2 m.
Prepare a bed for Sweet Potatoes in the fall. Determine the acidity of the soil; if acidic, deoxidize it with lime. Apply most of the fertilizer in the fall. Sprinkle 3 kg of humus on each square meter of soil, scatter fertilizers: superphosphate (20 g) and potassium sulfate (15 g). In the spring, 5 days before planting the seedlings, dig up the soil one last time, adding 80 g/sq. m. ammonium nitrate.
Form holes for seedlings according to a pattern of 30*50 cm, 15 cm deep. Plant sweet potatoes in heated soil, leaving most of the internodes on top. There are three common sweet potato planting schemes:
- vertical;
- horizontal;
- V-shaped.
Gently tamp down the soil around the seedlings and water the holes. When the plants are planted, cover them with covering material to protect them from the sun and night cold.
Landing dates
The weather in different regions of the country can vary greatly, so the timing of forcing seedlings and transplanting them into the soil is different. For example, in the Krasnodar Territory they begin forcing sprouts in the first ten days of April, and they bring seedlings to the garden when the flowers bloom on the acacia.
Sweet potato is not a very familiar crop for Belarus, but its lovers have appeared there too. The plant is grown in seedlings and planted under film in the second and third ten days of May. The weather in Belarus is warm already at the beginning of June, so after the 10th the film is removed from the ridges. In mid-September, tubers begin to be collected.
In the Moscow region, they are waiting for consistently warm weather of 15 °C and above to set in. Sweet potato seedlings are planted under film, covering material or cut plastic bottles. Growing Sweet Potatoes in the middle zone is no different from growing the plant in other regions of the Russian Federation.
The heat-loving crop can also be grown in Siberia. To obtain full-fledged tubers, two summer months with a daily temperature of at least 20 °C are sufficient. Some Siberian vegetable growers prefer to grow healthy tubers in a greenhouse.
How to grow sweet potato
Growing sweet potatoes will require some effort, especially in the first month. Plants require a lot of moisture and will have to be watered daily. After a month, if the seedlings look healthy, watering can be gradually reduced - first their frequency, and then their volume.
To form large tubers, sweet potatoes need a lot of nutrients; the growing plant intensively absorbs them from the soil all season long, especially in need of potassium. Fertilize the soil around the plants in August, apply potash fertilizers or ash. An infusion is prepared from the ash. Keep the infusion for at least two weeks. Fertilizers are applied to plants at least once a week.
Watering of plants ends two weeks before harvesting. In order for the fruits to be stored better, they must be dry during digging. A sign of ripening and readiness of fruits for harvesting is dry leaves of the plant. Complete tuber harvesting before the first frost. There should be no rain on the day of harvesting the fruits. Store collected tubers at above-zero temperatures (10 °C). Before storing the fruits, they are dried in the sun.
Tips from experienced gardeners
Those who have decided to master a new crop will be helped by the advice of lovers in whose gardens Sweet Potatoes have been growing for a long time:
- After planting Sweet Potato seedlings in the soil, forget about hoes and rakes; their use is prohibited. Pull weeds out of the soil with your hands so as not to damage the weak roots of the plant. Soil maintenance is minimal.
- Dry the dug out Sweet Potato fruits in the sun for at least 7 days. The longer the tubers of the plant bask in the sun, the better their taste.
- The skin on the tubers is thin, so do not throw them away during harvesting and storage.
Growing a new crop can become a favorite pastime. A healthy vegetable will add variety to your diet and increase its nutritional value.
