Sweet potatoes are easy-care plants that produce a bountiful harvest compared to other fruits and vegetables. They are filling, nutritious and a delicious addition to many dishes. The best part is that you can grow them at home if you know how to do it right. Find out how you can plant sweet potatoes on the balcony in this article!
How can you plant sweet potatoes on the balcony
Are you thinking of growing sweet potatoes in pots on the balcony? This is how you do it! Just follow the steps below!
The first thing you should do is cultivate cuttings
Cultivate cuttings: To be able to plant sweet potatoes on the balcony, first cultivate cuttings. These are stems that grow when the potato is submerged in water for a long time.
- Tipp: To do this, purchase an untreated sweet potato from a local farmers market. Most sweet potatoes in traditional grocery stores have been chemically treated to prevent sprouting.
Find a small container and fill it with cold water: In order to form cuttings, the sweet potato needs to be constantly supplied with water.
- Notice: The opening of the container should be wide enough to submerge the bottom of the potato in the water, but narrow enough so that it doesn't fall in.
Place the sweet potato in the container and wait for 3-4 weeks: Cuttings will grow at the top of the potato as long as the temperature of the container does not fall below 10°C. Sweet potatoes need warmth to grow. So if it's too cold outside on the balcony, keep the potato inside.
- Tipp: To keep the temperature even, place the container in a sunny window and replace cooler water with warm water twice a day.
Check that the cuttings have leaves and are over 3 inches tall: After 3-4 weeks, the cuttings will stretch upwards and produce leaves. The leaves may appear before the cutting reaches the correct height or vice versa, but do not cut them off if both maturity criteria are not met. Don't worry if you need to extend the growing time.
Cut the cuttings from the bottom of the potato, leaving about 1 inch of roots on the stem. Then take each cutting and cut off all of the leaves except for 2 to 3 smaller leaves at the very top of the stem of the cutting.
Then you should plant them in a large pot
Find a 76L bucket and drill holes in the bottom: To grow sweet potatoes in pots, the roots need plenty of space to spread. Choose a bucket large enough to plant 6 cuttings. Drill about 10 evenly spaced holes about 1 cm in diameter in the bottom of the bucket to allow excess water to drain away.
- Notice: The bigger the pot, the more yield you will get. Make sure the pots have drainage.
Fill the bucket 3/4 full with soil: Compact the soil by patting it down with your hands, then pour in more soil if necessary to reach the 3/4 mark.
- Tipp: Avoid compost that is rich in nitrogen fertilizer. This type of soil promotes leaf growth but inhibits potato growth.
Use your hands to dig 6 evenly spaced trenches: Dig small trenches in 6 different locations in the soil, large enough to fit the roots of the cuttings and with some room to add soil around the roots. Make sure each hole is less than 2 inches deep.
Plant the cuttings and cover them again with soil: Plant the cutting at the bottom of the hole and hold it in place. Use your other hand to scrape in the displaced soil. Cover the entire cutting and pat down the soil to keep it compact. Repeat this process for all of your cuttings.
Plant sweet potatoes on the balcony – after 100 days it’s harvest time
Water the soil daily and do not let it fall below 10°C: If you grow the potatoes in winter, bring the bucket indoors. Place it somewhere at room temperature. Water the plants until the water level in the pot rises to just above the soil.
Harvest the sweet potatoes after 100 days: Remove the fully grown potato from the soil by hand. Dust off the soil and place it in a bowl. Do the same with the other potatoes. Some potatoes may have grown more than others. This is completely natural. It is difficult to distribute sunlight and water evenly to all 6 potato plants.
Allow the sweet potatoes to ripen in a warm, humid environment (75°F) for 2 weeks: If you live in a cooler climate, you can turn your basement into a ripening room by running a heater set to 80°F (27°C) and a humidifier set to the highest humidity level all day for 2 weeks.
Delicious and healthy recipes for sweet potato fries in the oven or deep fryeryou can find here!
