Among gardeners, you can find many enthusiastic experimenters who seek to adapt southern crops to growing under seemingly unsuitable conditions. This article will come in handy for such pioneers as it focuses on the cultivation of sweet potatoes, otherwise known as sweet potatoes.
Why is it worth growing sweet potatoes?
Unfortunately, sweet potatoes are not popular with Russian gardening enthusiasts. Why "Unfortunately? It's very simple: sweet potato has practically no pests, it has excellent taste and is extremely useful. In addition, it may well be grown in the Russian climate. But the main advantage is that the sweet potato is stored at sufficiently high temperatures: it will not lose its qualities even if it is in a warm city apartment. However, cultivation of sweet potatoes has its own subtleties and secrets.
It is worth starting with the methods of germinating this unique culture. Despite the fact that this plant is called "sweet potato", it is not a potato in the usual sense. The sweet potato is planted by cuttings, and not at all by tubers. Well, there are two ways to become the owner of cuttings: by buying them in a store or by sprouting yourself.
The sprout can appear anywhere on the tuber, so if there are no eyes on the planting material, you do not need to worry. Unlike potatoes, sweet potatoes do not need eyes. First, small purple buds become noticeable on the tubers, from which small leaves germinate after a while. The shape of the leaves of sweet potatoes depends on the type of plant: they can resemble a heart or have carved edges.
You should start sprouting sweet potatoes in early spring. However, if you bought a tuber from a store, you should start driving the cuttings a little earlier: the tubers from the store take longer to germinate. In addition, due to processing, they may not sprout at all.
In order for the tubers not to start to rot, and the process of formation of cuttings to accelerate, before starting germination, it is necessary to carry out disease prevention. To do this, the tuber is placed in a fungicide solution for about half an hour. If you prefer not to use chemicals, you should consider using biological fungicides.
Sprouting sweet potatoes in water
If you have ever sprouted bulbs for greens, then you are familiar with the process of sprouting sweet potatoes using this method. Water is poured into a small container. Tubers (whole or cut into two halves) are immersed in water, cut down. It is necessary that the tuber is covered with water for a couple of centimeters. In order to ensure the required immersion depth, the tuber can be pierced with toothpicks, which will hold them and prevent them from completely sinking into the water.
After a while, roots will appear at the bottom of the tuber, and the top will sprout.
Why do you need to cut the tubers? It's very simple: it makes it possible to get more material for planting if the number of tubers is limited.In addition, the tuber has a heterogeneous structure: one end gives roots, and the other - a sprout. If the tuber does not give out a bud, it is not possible to determine where the “tops” are and where are the “roots”. There is a great risk of dropping the sweet potato tuber into the water "upside down". When cut, the ground part becomes the tip automatically. Finally, on tubers that were previously cut, sprouts appear much faster, and their number is greater than when germinating an uncut tuber.
The water in the germination tank must be changed to prevent decay of the planting material. And after a month, the tubers can be transplanted into the kidney for further germination.
Sprouting sweet potatoes in potting soil
The soil for the sweet potato should be carefully prepared. The container, which has drainage holes, is filled with calcined soil. A universal fertilizer can be added to the soil, which contains trace elements. Sweet potatoes are very sensitive to micronutrient deficiencies, so you can't do without fertilization. On top of the soil, you need to pour a couple of centimeters of sand or sawdust mixed with sand.
The tuber is laid horizontally on the ground and pressed slightly. After that, the container is placed in heat. It is required to regularly moisten the soil.
After the tuber gives roots and shoots, the container should be placed in a bright place. "Daylight hours" for sweet potatoes can be extended up to 16 hours a day.
When the length of the shoots reaches 10-20 centimeters, the tubers can be planted in open ground. If the time for planting has not yet come, you can leave the tubers for further growth.
A few days before planting, the shoots from the sweet potato are cut and divided into 15 centimeters each. The lower end of the shoots is immersed in water. After you notice the emergence of rudimentary roots, the shoots can be planted in the garden. In this case, the roots will grow already in the open field, and the fruits will be more attractive in appearance. If shoots are planted in the ground, the roots of which are intertwined with each other, the sweet potato fruits will have an irregular shape.
Sweet potatoes, if desired, can be germinated not only in water or soil, but also on moistened napkins and sawdust, as well as in washed sand, which sometimes needs to be slightly moistened with water. True, when the first roots and shoots appear in the tubers, it is recommended to transfer them to the soil: this will significantly accelerate the development of the shoot.
If you have been growing sweet potatoes for several years, then in the fall, after harvesting, you can cut a few cuttings and plant them in special containers. In winter, sweet potato shoots may well serve as ornamental plants. In the spring, the shoots are cut into separate fragments 15-20 centimeters long. The resulting cuttings must be placed in water and wait for the roots to appear. After that, you can safely plant them in the garden and wait for the next harvest!
