Growing Sweet Potatoes in Florida | Answering all YOUR questions 

I'm in 9b too. I haven't grown much besides garlic and green onions (apartment life), but now we have a fenced patio, and I bought some seeds!

I live in South Florida and harvested my first crop this morning. I'm new to gardening and noticed roots had grown through the bags. I was disappointed at the yield because I expected more. Now I'm wondering if I have potatoes in the ground also

Glad you said the potatoes leaves are good bur not raw. Yuk I had tried it that way. I will try to cook them next time.

@@renebrown995 Yes, need to cook them. 🤣 Enjoy!

Blanching the greens and dipping ‘em in sour, spicy feen😢fish sauce is bomb… 💯

Awwww 🥰 You are so sweet!

eliee 10a is where I am. Calcium rich soils because of an abundance of sea shells (calcium carbonate.) Lots of compost, and sulfur(pelleted it takes 2- 8 lbs bags for a 1000 square foot garden spot) have to correct the Ph that generally runs about 11.5. Once you do that it is mostly irrigation and occasional fertilizer.

@@joeyl.rowland4153 thanks for the info

I hope so too!

Oh wow! That is high praise Steven!

Awesome! I didn't know! I'll have to go investigate. Thank you!

That is a clever idea!

Good to know!

Very cool!

I actually plant the potatoes deeper. About 6 inches deep. I water mine twice a week until rainy season and then I stop. I don’t do slips. I just plant the potatoes. The vines will grow the potatos. Slips is a northern way of doing it because they have short season. The vine will reroot all over the bed. Just take part of the vibes and add soil on top. The nodes develop roots.

Oh yay!!!!

Awww! Thanks Heather!

Two bananas (from the garden) 1 cup mulberries (from the garden) 1 Tablespoon of ground flax seed 1/4 cup almond/soy milk unsweetened Handful of baby spinach leaves or 1/2 handful of baby sweet potato leaves 1 1/2 cup of lots of pulp orange juice Tropicana I'm so happy Jan! This really warms my heart to hear that I could help you.

@@WildFloridian thanks! I am excited to one day be able to get these things from my yard also. My banana tree has almost 50 bananas and my ever bearing mulberry is growing but I have only gotten a few berries from it so far. I am also growing longevity spinach, Sissoo spinach or Brazilian spinach. Just found the white sweet potatoes at Earth’s Origins and ready to try those!

You bet!

Ok! Thank you Juan! I'm not crazy... I'll let Ben know that you figured out what was in my head. And I'm glad you love the video!

Yay for Samelita! Chef Ben is the best!

That is awesome! 👏 🙌

I’m so skeptical now about doing a garden in the ground . I noticed you have raised beds and mulch. What mulch do you use? Also your sweet potato is in the ground, but you haven’t had any rats or rabbits? I noticed you have palms and the rats live in the palm trees. I don’t have palms near my house but there are palms not so far away. We have a ton of rabbits and now I know there are rats. Which freaks me out. I’m all organic. I find it difficult here to grow anything veggie wise. I did get green beans and broccoli was huge but no flowers but the leaves were good. I had 2 different kinds of kale. I do watch another guy who lives in the south and he grows so much food, but he says he does use some pesticides some of the time . I won’t use anything harmful to me or the environment or food. I also have a lot of grass and weeds but I think it was because I rototilled and raked last year. 1st time. I’m trying to kill the grass and weeds no sun or water. And I’m going to rake and pull it out. But I honestly think I’m going to only do the kale and green beans and arugula. Spinach didn’t do anything. Or I’m only going to put a few things in the ground and do mulch and 3 raised beds. You have an incredible beautiful garden and property. Please tell me what you think. I’m so scared of the rodents now. And I have chicken wire which I had no rabbits but if there are rats around they can get in probably. I think that’s why no one has bird feeders out.

Hi Esther! Depending where you live... you might put them in the ground now. I would feel good about it in zone 10a, 10b or 11. If you ware in zone 9... I think there is risk but it may be ok. If you are zone 8, I would hold off putting them into the ground until we get past the worst of the cold days in January and early February. But I'm super excited for you!

@@WildFloridian thank you so much! I just learned I'm in zone 9b, so maybe I'll take a chance and try. Or do one of each, since I have 2 potatoes 😀

You're welcome!

LOL! 😂 Thank you!

Karla - thank you for letting others know how easy it can be! I do let them cure in the garage. It may take them longer but I haven't seen any issues.

I love watching Jim Kovaleski! I think it is amazing how he is farming in a neighborhood. Such an inspiration! Grow food, not lawns! 😃

Thanks so much! 😊

Yay! I'm so glad I could help. You're sweet potato growing will be way easier! Thanks for asking the question!

I get my mulch from getchipdrop.com. They have delivered pine, oak, and sycamore.

Hi hi JoAnne! What an amazing gift with your house! Yes you can put the slips back in the ground if you do it this week. With curing them on your patio, make sure they are in a dark place (inside a bucket in a shady spot) or you can cure them in the back of a cabinet in the house. I usually get so many, I don't have the space inside.

Thank you Christopher! I hide him in the kitchen :D He does pop up from time to time to help me with the big projects.

I used mulch from getchipdrop.com 😄 It has been Pine, Oak and Sycamore.

You know what, Stacy... I haven't seen Fire Ants in St. Pete. I'm not saying they aren't here... I just don't see them. I don't see them in my neighbors yards. I don't see them as I walk to the store. Growing up definetly had them in our yard down in Broward. So I don't have any new tips. You can use boiling water or spot treat. Best of luck!

@@WildFloridian 😊 thanks. Glad you don't have to deal with their nuisance!

As long as it isn't a low spot... with the Florida sandy soil mixed in, it grows with 2x a week watering/rain. If it was in a pot the soil is damp to slightly dry on top.

@@WildFloridian thank you. It will be in a large deep container. I will need to drill holes in it tho.

They won't store as long. But when you are ready to eat them, just break off the slips. Also, that is an amazing harvest!

That is a great idea...... maybe I'll try that. How was your harvest?

@@WildFloridian it was great. This is my second time. I wish I could send you a photo. I have an arch, then in the center I put a hoola hoop and I trained the vine to go around. I put a few fake morning glory flowers here and there just for fun and color.

I just wanted to say thank you for your live video!😍👍 Loved it and learned a lot from it. Maybe next summer I'll finally put on my big girl pants and grow sweet potatoes! I'm intimidated by them 😬 Thanks again for your hard work and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family🦃🥧🍁🍂

Hey mikimayagain! If most leaves are alive (even if many have yellow) you can let them keep growing. As we get days in below 60s, I would consider if you should pull them... maybe do a test a pull many and leave one small section and see if they can make it through the winter. The little bits you can save for next year after the cold days and start your next sweet potato patch. You can cure them in a dark cabinet in the house. Happy Thanksgiving!

@Maria P. You are so welcome Maria! Yes, put your big girl pants on! You'll be amazed how easy they are. And if it doesn't go well... you'll have learned and can try again. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for all your comments. I really do appreciate all of the questions you've asked.

Since these are going through the cold months. I would start looking for sweet potatoes at end the end of February after it gets warm. They may be ready in February to March. On curing, I literally stick them in a bucket with the dirt on (not washed) in a dark space in my garage. That's it. You want them to be in warm, humid and dark for curing.

LOL! No worries! Put down 6 inches of mulch. Place the sweet potatoes below the mulch… you don’t need to dig into the dirt. Once it get some water it will start to grow. Wait a couple of weeks and leaves will start to pop up

You can do either.

I store them in bins in my garage. 😄

I really don’t know. ☹️ We picked it up at Publix. It may depend on the Publix. I would check the fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods

@Wild Floridian yea I'm over in Polk County so I guess I'm in for a drive. Thank you very much for the response.

@MyFloridaOasis Hi! Whole Foods has sweet white ones called “Hannah”. They are awesome

@@Blueb937 cool thanks a bunch

they are available at oriental stores or whole paycheck so good red skin and called okinawa sweet potato ... love them caramelized in the toaster oven they taste like dessert, like a toasted marshmallow flavor !

I was wondering the same thing. Would compacted leaves work? Neighbors tree sheds like crazy.

You could harvest to give away, especially since yours don’t need to be cured! Neighbors, old age homes, churches and other places that have soup kitchens would all be happy for donations

The original sweet potatoes I just put under the mulch and on top of the soil. Super easy!

I use getchipdrop.com for my mulch and it has been a range of oak, pine and sycamore. Make sure the mulch isn't dyed and isn't just tree bark, you want branches, stem, trunk, leaves... the whole thing.