Organic Sweet Potato Slips – Beauregard (4 plants)

Sweet Potato Beauregard (4 rooted slips per pack)

Ipomoea Batatas

Sweet Potatoes are a tropical vegetable, with long trailing vines and purple flowers that are similar to Morning Glory. Despite suiting warmer climates, Sweet Potatoes can successfully be grown in the UK in the right conditions. Sweet Potato Beauregard produces good sized tubers with red skin and orange flesh. The tubers will store well over the winter. They are delicious and buttery, containing fibre, vitamin C and Beta-Carotene.

We send Sweet Potato slips at the beginning of May.

How to grow:

When your sweet potato slips arrive, pot them up with good quality potting compost and keep them inside until conditions allow for transplanting.

Sweet potatoes will grow best with an average summer soil temperature of 21-26°C, ideally in a polytunnel, greenhouse or cold frame. If planting outdoors, choose a growing site that is sheltered and use a biodegradable mulch or black polythene over the soil to keep in the heat. Plants can be container grown in large pots or grow-bags.

Prepare a weed free bed and plant the slips into planting holes filled with some homemade compost or well rotted manure. Allow 30cm between plants in the row. If you are planting more than one row make them 60-70cm apart. Plant deep enough so that about half of the stem is covered by soil. This will encourage tuber growth. Water the plants in well. Wait until the soil temperature is at least 12°C, which would be towards the end of May, beginning of June. If planted outside, fleece plants if nights will be colder than 7°C.

Water regularly whilst plants are establishing, then occasionally over the summer especially in particularly hot weather. Plants are trailing and can reach about 1.5 metres. Particularly long vines can be cut and foliage can be eaten. Don’t cut back too vigorously, as this will inhibit tuber growth.

Ready approximately 16 weeks after planting out. Harvest before first frosts in autumn. If putting into storage, allow the tubers to cure in the sun for a few days either outside or in a greenhouse. Bring in at night to avoid frost damage to tubers. Use any damaged vegetables first and only store the best, as damaged tubers may rot and spoil the rest of the harvest.

Pests and diseases:
Sweet potatoes may suffer from aphid on the leaves, which can be an issue when the plants are small. The tubers may be enticing to rodents at the end of the season.

How to cook:
Sweet Potatoes are very versatile vegetables, equally as good in sweet bakes as they are in savoury dishes. They are delicious roasted, baked, made into chips and make lovely additions to curries and soups. The heart shaped leaves can be lightly cooked and eaten like spinach.