If farmers have been planting the same seed potatoes for more than four years, they no longer have the same variety they started with. These changes are reduced by continuously obtaining Certified, Foundation or Breeder seed potatoes. These seeds are kept as pure as possible. After cutting, these cuttings are boxed, stored in a cool, shaded place for three days to allow small roots to form, and then planted in the field.
Then if you like good tasting sweet potatoes, insects, diseases, rats, deer and nematodes too. White grubs, nematodes, and wireworms are just about everywhere, waiting in the soil for a sweet potato to feast on, and they love sandy soils (guess what, sandy soils produce the best sweet potatoes. most beautiful and smooth). Heavy soils make sweet potatoes ugly and encourage rot / disease. The sweeter the sweet potato (like the Evangeline variety), the more likely it is to rot.
Therefore, insecticides and nematicides should be used when producing attractive marketable sweet potatoes. In addition, animals like rats, deer, etc. love sweet potatoes and usually take over fields in surrounding woods, so plant sweet potatoes in the middle of large fields.
Finally, a great harvest of sweet potatoes can be ruined if not harvested properly. Harvest gently, use cotton gloves, prevent metal from touching / scraping, and do not scarring potatoes. Curing at 90% humidity and 90 degrees F for two weeks is one way to help heal scars, but no one wants to eat a sweet potato that’s totally covered in scabs.
The Clemson University Cooperative
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