When is the best time to plant sweet potatoes?

1. When is the best time to plant sweet potatoes?

It is best to plant sweet potatoes in spring every year. If you want to grow seedlings in early spring and harvest sweet potatoes early, you can grow seedlings in a hotbed or a small plastic shed, and transplant them when the sweet potato seedlings grow two true leaves.

2. How to plant sweet potatoes

1. Land preparation and fertilization

Sweet potatoes like to grow in sandy loam with deep soil and good drainage. During the growth and expansion period of the plant's tuberous roots, they need appropriate nitrogen fertilizer and more phosphorus fertilizer and potassium fertilizer. Be careful not to over-fertilize, otherwise the soil will be too fertile, which will easily cause the sweet potato stems and leaves to grow too long, and its fleshy roots will not be easy to expand. Usually before planting, the soil can be deep turned 20-25cm, and 5000kg of manure and 25-50kg of compound fertilizer can be applied per mu of land.

2. Sowing and seedling raising

Sweet potato seeds are relatively hard. In order to increase the germination rate of seeds, you can soak the seeds before sowing. Soak the seeds in clean water for 10-12 hours, take them out and place them on a damp paper towel. Sow them after most of the seeds turn white. Usually around the time of Grain Rain, sow the seeds in the ground, put 1-2 seeds in each hole, and the row spacing of each sweet potato is 50-60cm, and the plant spacing is 35cm.

3. Post-planting management

After the sweet potatoes are planted, thinning and reseeding should be carried out as they grow. When the sweet potatoes have all grown, apply manure and water. When the soil is slightly dry, tillage, weeding and soiling should be carried out. When the main vine of the sweet potato grows 18-24 leaves, it should be topped off. During the growth period of the sweet potato, the side vines should also be removed, leaving only the main vine. Sweet potatoes can usually be harvested 5-6 months after sowing.