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How to tell when Sweet Potato Ready?
Tuesday Tips
Hi Reader,
Happy Tuesday! My Sweet Potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are growing WILD right now! But when are they ready???
Today i'm going to share some tips on how and when to harvest your Sweet Potato Tubers.
Sweet Potatoes are my favourite permaculture plant and are an easy crop to grow for beginner gardeners. The great thing about sweet potato is that the leaves of the sweet potato plant are also edible. So you can harvest a greens crop while you wait for the Sweet Potato tubers to be ready.
Image 1: Sweet Potato Tubers. Image 2: Sweet Potato Greens
Tips for HARVESTING SWEET POTATO
Here in Perth my Sweet Potatoes will grow pretty much all year round but there are some times that are "ideal" to get the most out of your crop. I usually plant my Sweet Potatoes in Spring and Harvest late Autumn. Plus, Bandicoot throughout the summer! Sweet Potatoes grow under the ground and have a lush green leaves above the ground. These can grow as a ground cover or trained up to be a vertical climber.
When to harvest:
- Harvest in Autumn before frosts and heavy rains.
- Some of the leaves will start to go yellow and die off
- When Sweet potato tubers start to peak through the surface of the soil
- Pull up the vines and gently start digging the soil or use your hands to dig through for sweet Potatoes.
- They do have multiple (6-8) tubers on one plant and can be quite deep in the soil.
- Be careful not to pierce the skin while harvesting - i like to use my hands rather than a garden fork
What is "BANDICOOTING"?
Bandicoots are little marsupial here in Australia that fossick around the garden for food. This name has been given to harvesting sweet potatoes one or two at a time by gently digging around the base of the plant. You can start looking for ripe sweet potatoes in late summer. They usually rise to the surface when they are ready. You can harvest one or two as you need them.
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Holly
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Hi! I'm Holly, let's grow food together
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