Below is How To Plant Sweet Potatoes In South Africa
When to plant Sweet Potatoes In South Africa
Depending on the cultivar grown, sweet potatoes have a growing season of 3 to 5 months, and planting should preferably take place from October to December. In frost-free regions planting can continue up to about March.
Sweet potatoes are grown in the warm season.
| In the growing season, the plant requires hot days and warm nights and an average summer temperature of 20 °C as it is easily damaged by low temperatures. There must be enough sunlight and very few cold, cloudy days. |
It has a growing season of 3 to 5 months, depending on the cultivar. Planting should preferably take place from October to December, although plantings up to about March can be made in frost-free areas.
Where to plant Sweet Potatoes In South Africa
Sweet potatoes can be grown on a wide variety of soils. fairly deep sandy loam soil draining well to a depth of at least 50 cm is ideal.
Heavy clayey soils are not recommended as they may produce misshapen roots (tubers) and cause tuber rot.
Very deep soils containing a large amount of organic material are also not suitable, because the plant will have lush top-growth and long, stringy tubers.
For this reason, fresh compost or manure should not be worked into the soil immediately before planting.
Some cultivars such as the yellow Borrie should not be planted in sandy soil, while others such as Ribbok are suited to sandy soils.
Planting sweet potatoes In South Africa
Sweet potatoes are usually propagated by means of rooted shoots or vine cuttings.
It is essential that the material used must be disease-free because the sweet potato plant is very susceptible to viral diseases.
Rooted shoots
The small-scale farmer can use a few well-shaped, disease-free tubers from his previous crop or buy from the store.
It is expensive to buy from registered nurseries, but their material is guaranteed to be disease-free.
Plant the tubers close together in a seedbed from July to August.
Cover with a 5 cm layer of soil.
When the shoots appear increase watering.
The shoots should be ready (20 to 30 cm long) for planting in 5 to 8 weeks when they are simply pulled off the tubers for planting.
Plant them 30 cm apart on ridges 90 cm apart.