How To Grow Sweet Potatoes in Container Gardens:

Wanting to grow sweet potatoes in container gardens? It’s a snap. Sweet potatoes come in two general types, vegetable varieties meant for eating and ornamentals used for their trailing vines. Both are tender perennials but normally grown as annuals. Both the ornamental and edible varieties are easy to grow in pots.

You can use any large container that is well-drained to grow sweet potatoes. Many folks who want just the potatoes and aren’t concerned for aesthetics use garden buckets or bags made specifically for growing root veggies.. For instance, you fill your container ( I love a 5 gallon bucket with a few holes drilled into the bottom for this project) with good, loose, nutrient-rich potting soil, plan on using just two potatoes or “slips.” Sweet potatoes aren’t grown from seed – they are grown from slips. A slip is a rooted sprout from a mature sweet potato. You can order sweet potato slips online, or you can grow your own.) Expect a 5-gallon bucket to yield a couple of pounds of potatoes. 

To grow your own slips, wait for a sweet potato to sprout on your counter. Don’t throw it out! Suspend it in water or plant it in soil to grow new plants.

After you plant your slips, You’ll want to keep your containers in a sunny spot (6-8 hours daily). Keep the newly planted slips watered daily for about a week, then water every other day throughout the growing season. Sweet potatoes are usually ready to harvest just as the ends of the vines begin to turn yellow. Since you’ve planted in nice loose soil, you can use a small garden ford or even gloved hands (my preference so you don’t accidentally damage your tubers!) to remove them from the soil.

A Little More and a Great Recipe:

So, you decided to grow sweet potatoes in container gardens. You ended up with a number crop and wonder what to do with them?

Of course, you can bake a sweet potato. That’s probably the simplest preparation. They can be baked, mashed and French-fried, too. Below is my favorite way to enjoy them. Don’t forget to share your photos with me if you try my recipes. Bon Appetit.

• 6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Zest of one orange
• Juice of one orange
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Lay the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a roasting tray. Drizzle the oil, honey, cinnamon, orange juice, zest, cardamom, salt and pepper over the potatoes. Toss to coat. Roast for 30 minutes in oven or until tender. Serves 8.

Best served immediately.

NOTE: SWEET POTATOES OR YAMS?

The difference between a sweet potato and a yam? Both are tubers but totally different vegetables. Yams ARE NOT SWEET but pretty neutrally-flavored and a tough root. They have lumpy brown skin. Most of the “yams” you see in the grocery are actually just sweet potatoes that have been mis-identified. You’re welcome!