key growing information

How to Grow Sweet Potatoes

How to grow sweet potatoes from slips: soil, what slips look like on arrival, holding and planting slips, plastic mulch, spacing, pests, disease, harvest, curing and storage.

By Hensley’s Seed Co. September 3, 2026

Sweet Potatoes - Key Growing Information

Sweet potato slips being planted three to four weeks after last frost.

SCIENTIFIC NAME:

Ipomoea batatas

CULTURE:

Sweet potatoes do best in well-drained sandy loam with a pH around 6.5. Your slips arrive bare-root and may look dry, wilted, pale or brown; that's normal. They may or may not show roots, and a lack of visible roots doesn't affect how well they grow or yield. If you can't plant right away, wrap the root ends in damp paper towels, keeping leaves and stems dry, and stand them upright at room temperature out of direct sun and wind. Plant once frost danger has passed and the soil is at least 60°F (16°C). In cold areas, black plastic mulch is recommended to help warm the soil. Set slips 3–4" deep in raised beds, 10–18" apart in rows 24–60" apart, and keep them well watered until established.

INSECT PESTS:

Sweet potatoes rarely have serious insect problems, though flea beetles, Japanese beetles, wireworms and, in the southern U.S., sweet potato weevils can show up.

DISEASE:

Rotate crops and clear away all plant debris after harvest to prevent diseases such as scurf.

HARVEST:

Dig in fall before a hard frost and before the soil cools to 50°F (10°C). If vines get frosted, harvest right away, since frost damage moves down from the vines into the roots and shortens storage life.

STORAGE:

Brush off the soil and cure the roots for 4–7 days somewhere warm (85°F/29°C), dark, humid (85% RH) and well ventilated to toughen the skins. Store at 60°F (16°C) somewhere dark and humid, and handle them as little as possible.