The candy potato harvest in late summer season makes the season’s finish a little bit extra palatable. After a protracted improvement, we are able to look ahead to candy and savory combos with the hearty, earthy roots.
The sizeable, tuberous roots are a filling, nutritious, easy-to-grow crop. They produce excessive yields in containers, raised beds, and even alongside walkways as a vining groundcover.
The crop takes about three months to mature, although in the appropriate spot, it wants little tending because the roots develop underground. As we strategy September and October, prepare to reap the season’s bounty.
We’ll define when to reap candy potatoes at peak taste and texture. The long-storing potatoes are ready to serve up goodness all winter and past.
Rising Candy Potatoes
Candy potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are dietary powerhouses that make their lengthy improvement properly definitely worth the wait. They’re a supply of calcium, potassium, and nutritional vitamins A and C, along with fiber.
Huge and filling, they go a good distance on the plate and have a protracted storage life. Younger, tender leaves are edible too. Get pleasure from them recent or cooked, selecting some and leaving others on the vine to assist the roots.
Candy potatoes sprout from “slips,” or eyes from the principle root, planted in spring or summer season. The nice and cozy-season annuals are frost-sensitive and depend on delicate temperatures to develop. Plant potatoes after the specter of frost passes and because the soil warms to a minimum of 65°F (18°C) in spring.
Optimum rising situations for the simple crops embody:
- Full solar with six or extra hours every day.
- One inch of water per week with constant moisture, particularly within the first 4 to 6 weeks, as roots develop; withhold water within the last few days earlier than harvesting.
- Unfastened, loamy, sandy, and well-draining soil.
- Plant in mounds or ridges for good root area, drainage, and simple harvesting.
- Maintain the world weed-free to scale back competitors.
Gauge the Days to Maturity
Candy potatoes are lengthy maturing to develop their dense, giant, tuberous roots. Relying on the variability, they mature in about 85 to 120 days. The primary solution to gauge if candy potatoes are prepared to reap is to know the size of time it takes the variability to mature.
The times to maturity for every selection are an estimate based mostly on optimum rising situations. We are able to normally add just a few additional days to every week to account for climate fluctuations, nevertheless it’s the start line of when a spud reaches full dimension.
The times to maturity timeframe is a information to make use of together with key bodily indicators. Test just a few days earlier than the maturity date, and preserve checking within the days following for readiness. Candy potatoes proceed rising and might crack and break up once they overgrow.
At planting, rely out to the estimated date they’ll mature (or ask a browser for “X days from in the present day”) and add it to the calendar. Start checking inside the readiness window. Use first and final frost dates as a benchmark for when to sow every season.
Yellowing Leaves
The leafy vines start to yellow and wilt at season’s finish, because the tuberous roots attain peak readiness. Yellowing leaves across the days to maturity are a robust visible cue that potatoes are prepared.
Use yellowing and wilting stems in coordination with different indicators of when to reap candy potatoes. Generally, yellowing happens prematurely whereas the spuds proceed to achieve consuming dimension beneath the floor. Go away in place as yellowing begins to proceed rising.
Frost within the Forecast
The objective for candy potatoes is to harvest them at consuming dimension earlier than frost. If the frost-sensitive vines die again in chilly climate, the foundation begins to decay. Pull the candy potatoes if frost is forecast or proper after an early shock freeze.
In the event you can’t harvest immediately, minimize away the vines and cowl the crop with soil or compost for insulation. Candy potatoes are vulnerable to chilly injury in soil temperatures beneath 50°F (10°C).
Tuber Test
The actual assure of when candy potatoes are prepared to reap is to check a few the roots to measure their dimension. Usually, full dimension is about two inches in diameter and 5 inches lengthy. If the variability is close to the times to maturity window and leaves are yellowing, checking recurrently is an effective measure.
Test all factors alongside the stem, too, when digging for smaller roots. “Child bakers” develop because the vines root in place, although not as giant because the common planted slips.
Harvest
When all indicators level to prepared spuds, trim the vines for simpler harvesting. Lower them away to dig and raise the roots. If any leaves are nonetheless younger and tender, don’t neglect to select them for recent consuming or tossing in cooked dishes. For big patches, mow the vines earlier than digging.
To reap, use a backyard fork or spade to loosen the encompassing soil and raise the potatoes, taking care to not injury tender skins. Separate any soil clumps from the roots, however maintain off on rubbing or washing away the filth till after curing and storing.
You possibly can wash, prepare dinner, and luxuriate in freshly harvested candy potatoes near selecting time. Curing and storing let their sugar content material enhance for the perfect taste.
Curing
After harvesting, candy potatoes develop into sweeter with curing. Treatment them for every week or two in a heat, humid location so that they convert starches to sugars (develop into sweeter) earlier than having fun with or storing.
Within the dwelling backyard, a porch, shed, or storage may fit for curing. Harvesting in late summer season when humidity and temperatures are nonetheless excessive makes for good curing. The conversion received’t happen in temperatures beneath 70°F (21°C).
Temperatures close to 85°F (29°C) with a humidity of 80-90% are optimum for curing. Per week in a heat, humid spot does the trick. Unfold the potatoes in a single layer to treatment. Candy potatoes retailer with out curing, nevertheless it helps the flavour and seals any callouses or cuts that may result in rot throughout storage.
It’s also possible to treatment candy potatoes by leaving them within the floor for just a few days after clipping the vines. Take care to not expose them to overly moist or chilly situations as they sit, which causes decay and decay points.
Storing
The greens retailer for over six months in a cool area like a root cellar or basement. Optimum storage temperatures are 50 to 60°F (10-16°C) with 85-90% relative humidity. Retailer them in ventilated baskets, crates, or packing containers.
If the temperatures are too heat, the roots sprout and shrivel. Keep away from refrigerating candy potatoes, too, as temperatures beneath 50°F (10°C) could cause off-flavor and even rot.
Freezing
For gardeners with a bounty of potatoes and nowhere to retailer them, freezing is an possibility for lasting enjoyment. Cook dinner the potatoes till close to tender through steaming, baking, and boiling, and allow them to cool at room temperature. Peel and slice or mash for freezing.
Lemon juice helps preserve the potatoes from darkening. Dip slices for 5 seconds in an answer of ½ cup lemon juice and one quart of water. For mashed potatoes, combine in a single tablespoon of orange or lemon juice per quart of potatoes.
Pack them into an hermetic container or sealable bag for freezing, leaving half an inch of headspace.