PlantSowGrow
How to grow Sweet Potato (Beauregard)
Ipomoea batatas
Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes from rooted cuttings ("slips"). Needs a warm, sunny spot — a greenhouse, polytunnel or large pots on a hot patio.
At a glance: Sow late April to mid May, harvest from mid August.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Sweet Potato (Beauregard): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water in dry spells, especially as crops swell
- Soil
- Light, warm, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 30 cm, in black-plastic-covered ridges or 30 cm pots
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- A general fertiliser before planting
- Harvest
- About 110 days from sowing
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 8–11
Step by step
- Late March – late April · 3 weeks before the last spring frost
Pot Up Slips on Arrival (optional)
Stand the slips in water overnight, then pot each into a 9 cm pot and keep them indoors, somewhere warm and bright, until planting.
- Late April – mid May · 2 weeks after the last spring frost
Plant Slips
Plant slips 30 cm, in black-plastic-covered ridges or 30 cm pots apart in rows.
- 10–21 days after “Plant Slips” · Early May – mid May
Check Slips Have Rooted
New leaves mean the slips have rooted. Keep them warm and weed-free.
- 14–30 days after “Check Slips Have Rooted” · Late May – early June
Water and Feed
Water well in dry weather and give a tomato feed every two weeks.
- 110–140 days after “Plant Slips” · Mid August – mid September
Harvest
Lift carefully before the first frost, when the leaves start to yellow.
- 7–21 days after “Harvest” · Late August – early September
Cure and Store
Cure somewhere warm (25°C+) for 10 days, then store at 13–15°C — never in the fridge.
