All About Growing Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are productive, delicious and super-nutritious.

By Barbara Pleasant
Updated on January 29, 2025
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by AdobeStock/Serjik Ahkhundov

Wondering how to cure sweet potatoes after digging them up? Which varieties hold up best in storage? Read on to learn all about growing sweet potatoes at home.

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are productive, delicious and super-nutritious. Few staple crops keep as well as these flavorful tubers, which can be stored for months in a cool, dry place. This crop is a staple in climates with hot, muggy summers, but growing sweet potatoes is also possible in cooler climates if you adjust to meet the plants’ requirement for warm temperatures.

Types of Sweet Potatoes to Try

Sweet potato varieties differ in skin and flesh color and texture, as well as in leaf shape and vine length. The flavor and nutritional qualities of sweet potatoes vary with flesh color: Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are rich sources of fiber and vitamins A and C. White-fleshed varieties contain less vitamin A, but are a good source of minerals and B vitamins. Purple sweet potatoes contain a little vitamin A, but are loaded with antioxidants.

Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are popular and nutritious, have moist flesh, and the available varieties suit a range of climates. Tried-and-true ‘Beauregard’ (90 to 100 days) is productive and disease-resistant. Some short-vined varieties, such as ‘Georgia Jet,’ (90 to 95 days) make good crops in areas where summers are brief. In warmer areas, grow slower-maturing heirlooms famous for flavor, such as ‘Nancy Hall’ (120 days.)

White-fleshed sweet potatoes contain less moisture than orange potatoes. They are easier to grow and store in warm climates when compared with regular “Irish” potatoes. Fun to use in the kitchen, white sweet potatoes are distinctly creamy, making them a favorite for soups and baby food. Varieties of this type make an excellent substitute for regular potatoes and are excellent in potato salad. Varieties are ‘Bonita’ (90 to 100 days), ‘O’ Henry” (90 to 100 days), and ‘Sumor’ (100 to 110 days.)

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