The sweet potato the not so distant relative to the potato, and it’s distant enough that it might be tough to tell them apart from yams. In different parts on North America, they are actually still called “yam” although they are genetically very different. They can have a range of skin colors from light orange to almost purplish hues and those with darker tones typically have a higher concentration of beta-carotene. Containing many vitamins and micronutrients sweet potatoes are considered a staple food and are favored for increased cultivation in countries where vitamin deficiencies are a health concern. As far as cultivation its best for warm temperatures 75 degrees Fahrenheit being the best average temperature, the sweet potato tubers like to grow in well-aerated soil and avoid saturation with water.

Sweet potatoes like to spread its good to consider the area for size in order to avoid it overcrowding your garden, its best to avoid other plants that like to spread like squash.

When planting sweet potato tubers plan for a maturation time of two to nine months in some good warm weather. When well cultivated they are an annual summer crop, not to say that sweet potato cannot grow in a variety of conditions they are very resilient and almost never require pesticides. Sweet potatoes are somewhat easy to plant as long as you avoid the cold if your spring season is cold you must plant them indoors first and then move to the garden. Soil conditions can vary but a suggested pH of 4.5 -7.0 and again avoid too much water.