Frustrated with vegetable gardening in the Florida heat? Try sweet potatoes

Starting A Vegetable Garden is an exciting hobby for any vegetable-loving person. From saving money to getting healthy vegetables, it offers many benefits.

Varieties, zones, seeds

Choose the best veggies for your climate and space, considering taste, ripening times and maintenance. Ensure that your soil is rich enough by mixing in compost and worm humus fertilizer.

University of Florida and plenty of YouTube videos, especially Florida transplants (pun intended) Hollis and Nancy’s Homestead.

First off, don’t let Florida’s heat discourage you. One of my biggest successes are sweet potatoes and it’s something you might want to consider for your summer garden.

So let’s dig in. (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

Are sweet potatoes good for you? Understanding this surprisingly healthy vegetable.

Are sweet potatoes healthy?

Native to the Americas, sweet potatoes are root vegetables known for their colorful and tasty tubers. Their flesh can be white, yellow, orange or even purple. Don’t limit them to that marshmallow covered dish at the Thanksgiving table.

source of vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C, according to UF.

They contain the antioxidant beta carotene. Food sources of beta carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in your body, may help slow aging and reduce the risk of some cancers.

In addition to being an excellent source of vitamins A and C, sweet potatoes also are a good source of fiber, vitamin B6 and potassium, according to the Mayo Clinic.

high in Vitamin C and B6 — the young leaves and shoots mean you’ll be nibbling on tender and mild-tasting leafy greens through the hot Florida summer, UF researchers said.

University of Florida.

Gardeners with less space should consider Vardaman, a bush type of sweet potato that’s great for smaller gardens.

When do you plant sweet potatoes in Florida?

Growing sweet potatoes in your Florida garden.

Sweet potatoes can be planted in the spring through the end of June in Florida.

Keep sweet potatoes going throughout the season by using vine cuttings to create new plants.

Start sweet potatoes from “slips.” These are the baby plants that sprout from a mature sweet potato. You know what I mean. It’s the long plants that start growing from the sweet potato you forgot in the back of the pantry. Snap off the slip and plant it. Look for transplants that are about 6 to 9 inches long.

If you already have some sweet potato vines in your garden, or know someone already growing them, you’re in sweet potato heaven.

Every place a leaf attaches to the main stem of the plant, a new plant can grow. Cut below the node and either plant it in soil or place in water and watch new roots form in a fairly short amount of time. I’ve had lots of luck using both methods.

What about planting and watering sweet potatoes?

Plant your sweet potatoes in rows 48 to 54 inches apart with 12 to 14 inches between each plant. They put out a lot of vines and leaves (remember, that’s more food for you!).

Sweet potatoes will do best when they receive a consistent supply of water often. Inconsistent watering can cause them to split while growing.

Can you grow sweet potatoes in containers?

Sweet potatoes send out plenty of vines and leaves and can be grown in containers.

You sure can! And growing in them in containers makes finding those sweet potatoes so much easier.

If you use a 5-gallon food-grade bucket, plan on planting only a couple of slips in each bucket.

A 20-gallon container can hold four to five slips.

It’s time for harvest, now what?

This is the fun part. It’s like a mix of an Easter egg hunt and a treasure hunt. You never know what you’ll find but each discovery is exciting.

Once you’ve found them all, hold off a little longer before throwing them in the oven or air fryer or Instant Pot or … well, you’ve got the idea.

To help increase their sweetness, place harvested sweet potatoes in a dark, warm room for at least two weeks before eating. This allows some of the starch in the roots to convert to sugar.

The ideal conditions for curing sweet potatoes is roughly 85 degrees with 90 percent humidity. Yeah, not a problem during a Florida summer.

Once your sweet potatoes are done curing, store them in a cool, dry pantry — not the refrigerator. Storing your sweet potatoes at temperatures below 50 degrees can cause them to have an off flavor, or worse, rot.