DIY Network

Sweet Potato Soil Prep Sweet Potato Soil Prep From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-108

Before you plant sweet potato slips, you have a little extra work to do. Sweet potatoes need loose, well-drained soil to form large tubers. You don't want the roots to face resistance when they try to expand within the soil. Loose soil is more critical than almost any other factor when it comes to growing sweet potatoes successfully. To get your soil properly prepared, just follow these simple steps:

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Be gentle when planting sweet potatoes: they don't like to be handled roughly.

• Using a small hand trowel, dig a hole about 4 or 5 inches deep and 3 inches wide. Place one slip in each hole with the roots pointing down. Position the slip so that the bottom half will be covered with dirt while the top half with all of the new leaves is above ground.

• Carefully fill the hole with dirt so that you don't bruise the new plant. Sweet potatoes don't like to be bruised or bumped around too much. When you have completely covered it with soil, gently press the plant and surrounding dirt to set the plant and to remove any remaining air pockets. Continue the same way until all of your slips are planted.

• Once all of the slips are in place water them. You'll need to give them a thorough soaking until all of the surrounding dirt is wet. Stop watering before your mound starts to erode. New plants, like slips, need to be watered everyday for the first week and every other day the second week. Each week the watering will get a little farther apart until you're watering once a week. If the ground is very dry or you've had a lot of rain, you may need to adjust this schedule in your own garden. Sweet potatoes can withstand drought but they'll produce less, so make sure you water them during the hottest part of the summer.