How to Plant Sprouted Purple Sweet Potatoes? A Detailed Guide to Purple Sweet Potato Planting Methods

Everyone knows purple sweet potatoes and has eaten them; they are sweet and fragrant. So some people want to start a business growing purple sweet potatoes. How should purple sweet potatoes be planted then? What are the methods for planting purple sweet potatoes? Let me explain them for you below! Purple sweet potatoes have strong adaptability. To keep the roots of purple sweet potatoes loose and aerated and to ensure their fertility, it is better to plant them in sandy loam soil rich in organic matter.

Purple Sweet Potato Planting Methods

1. Choose good purple sweet potato seed

There are many varieties of purple sweet potato. Those suitable for planting in Zhejiang include: Japanese Purple Sweet Potato King, Violet, Zhezi No. 1, Vietnamese Early Maturing, etc. First, choose good seed. Purple sweet potatoes intended for breeding should be left in the ground for a few more days so the tubers mature. After digging them out of the soil, dry them in the sun for two days to make the seed dry and to kill pathogens. It is best to store the whole plant in strings to reduce damage to the tubers. Generally, cellar-type heat preservation and insulation technology is used to ensure the storage quality of the seed potatoes.

2. Raise seedlings at the right time

In mid-March, when the temperature reaches about 15 degrees, they can be taken out of the cellar for seedling raising. First make a seedbed. Choose a sheltered, sunny, high, well-drained site with good soil permeability and rich in organic matter for the seedbed. The seedbed is 1.2 m wide and 20-30 cm thick, and the length depends on the plot. Apply 10 loads of decomposed human manure and urine per mu as base fertilizer. Place the seed potatoes horizontally in a connected row on the seedbed. Generally, about 15 kg of seed potatoes are used per sq m, with the tail end touching the soil and the head and tail in the same direction, with a row spacing of about 5 cm. Cover with 2 cm of fine soil, moisten the soil with a sprayer, cover well with plastic film, then cover with an overhead film to retain moisture and heat, and earth up in time. When the sprouts grow to more than 20 cm, they can be cut and inserted into the field.

3. Plot selection

Although purple sweet potato is a genus and species of tuber crops, because its growth habits differ from other tuber crops, choosing different soils has a certain effect on the product quality of purple sweet potatoes. Black soil, sandy soil, and yellow soil are suitable, and slightly higher, sunny terrain is best. Choosing the land is crucial to the quality and yield of purple sweet potatoes. Generally, it is suitable to choose fertile soil with relatively high organic matter. Dig deep and form ridges. Ridge planting is best, as this helps expand root activity and also facilitates irrigation and drainage. Purple sweet potato is a crop that forms tubers underground, so it needs a deep, loose, and lively good soil environment. The soil should be deeply plowed 25-35 cm 15 days in advance. Deep furrows and large ridges are better, achieving deep plowing and fine soil. The ridge spacing is generally 60-70 cm, and the ridge height is 25-30 cm. In combination with deep plowing of the land, apply 250-500 g of 47% Lorsban per 677 sq m in a 1000-fold solution to the soil layer, then plow deeply to control underground pests.

4. Careful planting management

Purple sweet potato is a high-yield and high-efficiency crop and requires a relatively large amount of fertilizer. In addition, because of ridge planting, it is inconvenient to apply topdressing. On fertile plots, applying sufficient base fertilizer all at once is the most labor-saving. Generally, apply 40-50 loads of high-quality organic fertilizer per mu [www.cyonE.com.cn/], and 35-50 kg of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and compound fertilizer. All organic fertilizer is broadcast before plowing, and compound fertilizer is used as pocket fertilizer when forming ridges. Plant early at the right time. Purple sweet potatoes are generally planted once a year. When the temperature is above 15 degrees, the earlier the cuttings are inserted, the better. Generally, spring potatoes are cut from late April to early May, and the field growth period is more than 170 days. There are two cultivation methods: conventional and plastic film mulching. Early insertion at the right time and plastic film mulching cultivation help increase yield. Generally, the density is 4000-5000 plants per mu, using narrow ridges and a single row, with a row spacing of 60 cm and a plant spacing of 30 cm. It is better to insert the potato seedlings horizontally and diagonally, and it is appropriate to bury three nodes. More nodes means more tubers. After ridging purple sweet potatoes, while the soil is moist, apply a herbicide once to prevent weed growth. After cutting, cultivate 2-3 times within 15 days, and combine cultivation with earthing up and repairing ridges. Purple sweet potatoes are afraid of waterlogging, so after rain, excess water must be drained promptly. Fertilization should follow the principles of mainly organic fertilizer with chemical fertilizer as a supplement, and mainly base fertilizer with topdressing as a supplement. Base fertilizer accounts for 70% of the total fertilization amount, and topdressing accounts for 30%. The general yield per mu is 2000-2500 kg. It is required to apply 50 kg of organic compound fertilizer per mu, or 15 kg of urea + 15 kg of potassium sulfate + 25 kg of calcium superphosphate. In the early stage, pay attention to checking and replanting seedlings. In the middle stage, lift the vines in time. When lifting the vines, do not disrupt their direction; after lifting, put them back in place. Because purple sweet potato vines grow vigorously and have many adventitious roots at the nodes, lifting the vines is key to increasing the yield of purple sweet potatoes.

5. Pest and disease control

Purple sweet potatoes have relatively few pests and diseases. The main pests and diseases include cutworms, sweet potato weevils, black spot disease, and root nodule disease. Sweet potato black spot disease generally occurs during the seedling stage and can be controlled by soaking seed for 10 minutes in a 1000-fold solution of 50% carbendazim powder. Root rot, also called rotten root disease, can be controlled by spraying twice during the growing period with a 1000-fold solution of 50% thiophanate-methyl. Cutworms and sweet potato weevils can be controlled by spraying with a 600-fold solution of trichlorfon.

How to Plant Sprouted Purple Sweet Potatoes

1. First prepare a transparent container, a plastic bottle (glass bottle), preferably similar in size to the purple sweet potato. Because the bottle mouth is too small, the bottle needs to be split in two

2. Then fill the bottle with water and put the sprouted part of the purple sweet potato on top. Do not put it in the wrong way. After four or five days, you will find that the tender white root hairs gradually emerge, and leaves also grow (during this period it is best to change the water every day).

3. Then day by day you will find more and more roots (during this period it is best to change the water every day). This was taken today. I forgot to change the water, so the root hairs had a bit of green algae, so I rinsed them slightly with water.

Purple Sweet Potato Seedling Raising Methods

1. Find a small box that can be used for raising seedlings, fill it with soil, and set it aside.

2. Cut the already sprouted purple sweet potatoes into pieces and arrange them separately in the seedling raising box.

3. Cover the arranged purple sweet potato tuber pieces with soil, soak them thoroughly with water, and place them in the sun to wait for seedlings to emerge.

4. After the seedlings have reached a certain height, remove the young plants, keeping as many roots as possible when taking them out.

5. When the temperature is suitable, transplant them to the field, fertilize and irrigate in time.

6. Greenhouse seedling raising can also be used, or plastic film can be covered early, both of which can bring purple sweet potatoes to market very early.

Purple Sweet Potato Planting Time

The planting time for purple sweet potatoes is generally mid-February. In mid-February, when the temperature reaches about 15 degrees, they can be taken out of the cellar for seedling raising. First make a seedbed, place the seed potatoes horizontally in a connected row on the seedbed, with a row spacing of about 5 cm, cover with fine soil, moisten the soil with a sprayer, cover well with plastic film, and cover with an overhead film to retain moisture and heat. When the sprouts grow to more than 20 cm, they can be cut and inserted into the field. Purple sweet potatoes grown for seed are required to be harvested in mid-to-late October, while fresh-eating purple sweet potatoes are delayed until early November, and must be fully harvested before frost. Before storage, clean the potato cellar, remove the surface soil, and disinfect it. Before entering the cellar, dry the purple sweet potatoes in the sun for 1-2 days so the wounds heal. During storage, pay attention to ventilation and dehumidification in the early stage, and to heat preservation and moisture retention in the later stage.

For sprouted purple sweet potatoes, how should they be planted? Let me tell you, do not cut them open. Plant the sprouts. After some time, they will first grow some vines, and then the vines should be cut into sections, and these vines should then be planted as cuttings. This is relatively widespread. In the north, seedlings must be raised in spring. In some places in the south where there is no winter, they can be planted.