Do you wonder how many sweet potatoes per plant? The yield that you can get from every sweet potato plant may vary.
The growing conditions, varieties, and how the plant is being cared for will affects the number of sweet potatoes per plant.
But what if the weather is good, the plant is growing well, and no pests and diseases are attacking, what will be the average yield you can get from a sweet potato plant?
How Many Sweet Potatoes Per Plant?
A single plant can produce 5 to 10 sweet potatoes. Some tubers grow big and others may grow small.
When the plant reached its maturity stage, the tubers will grow big. Most sweet potato varieties are harvested when they are 100 days old.
But for some varieties, it can take much longer and needs to wait for about 120 to 170 days.
After those days, you can now start pulling off the plants and get those sweet potatoes under the ground.
It is just normal to see that some of the tubers are big and some are small. If you have a lot of sweet potato plants you can harvest more.
How Many kg/lbs of Sweet Potatoes Per Plant?
If a single plant will produce 5 to 10 tubers, then you can have around 0.45 to 0.91 kg (1-2 pounds) of sweet potatoes per plant.
It is almost a kilo per plant which is great. Some gardeners who grow sweet potatoes are targeting to achieve more harvest so that they can sell more.
The more harvest they can have, the more they can earn money. Growing sweet potatoes can be a good business especially if you love gardening.
Larger size tubers tend to weigh heavily, especially if the plants are not experiencing problems with their growth.
How To Increase Yield Of Sweet Potatoes?
To increase the yield of your sweet potatoes, you need to grow the slips in well-draining soil.
Avoid planting the slips in compacted soil because once the tubers start to grow, they will not grow big because the soil is compacted and it prevents them to increase their size to the max.
If your soil is not good enough, try improving them by adding some compost or any soil mixture to improve the soil quality.
But if your soil is already good enough then the sweet potatoes will probably grow well.
Also, fertilize the soil 2 to 3 weeks before planting. Use low nitrogen fertilizer like 5-10-10 to prevent the plants grows more leaves.
The focus should be on the tubers and not on the foliage so you must use low-level nitrogen fertilizer.
Sweet potatoes are not heavy feeders and they don’t need much fertilizer during their growth.
The Sweet Potatoes Need Enough Sunlight
Make sure the plants are getting enough sunlight for about 6 to 8 hours per day.
The energy coming from the sun will help the sweet potato plants thrive well which can lead to a good harvest.
You need to set up your garden in a well sunny place so that most of your plants will get enough light per day.
The sweet potato plants get their food from the sun. The leaves work and convert the sunlight into a sugar called glucose which the sweet potatoes consume.
Stay away from big trees and shaded places. Big trees have a wide canopy that can block the sunlight away from your plants.
And trees that have big roots will make it difficult for your to harvest sweet potatoes.
Plant Pests and Diseases Resistant Varieties
If you want to have more sweet potatoes per plant, you must choose varieties that are pests or diseases resistant varieties.
You can find some good varieties at the garden centers or nurseries that you can grow in your garden.
But if only a few varieties are growing in your location then just make sure that there will be no pests and diseases will attack your plants.
If pests and diseases attack, you must remove those affected plants to prevent affecting other plants.
Water is Essential for Sweet Potato Plants
The sweet potato plants need 1 inch of water per week. Don’t overwater the plants to prevent tuber rot.
Too moist soil will affect the tubers under the ground which you will not like. The plants can tolerate drought but it is better to keep the soil a little bit moist.
Young plants need more water but once the plants get mature they can survive longer drought.
Lessen or stop watering for 3 to 4 weeks before the harvesting period comes.
Plant More Sweet Potato Slips
For example, you have 20 sweet potato plants and each plant will grow 6 big tubers. Then at the end of the growing period, you will have 120 sweet potatoes all in all.
Aside from big tubers, you can also get smaller size tubers. If each plant will grow 3 tubers you will get an additional 60 small sweet potatoes.
You will get 180 sweet potatoes all in all from 20 plants. You can get more tubers if you will plant more slips and it is possible if you have enough size garden.
You can also grow sweet potatoes in containers if you have limited space.
Harvesting
The sweet potatoes take 100 to 170 days to mature and harvest. You need to know what kind of sweet potatoes you have by asking where you buy or get those slips.
The vines and foliage begin to turn yellow and brown which indicates that the tubers are ready to harvest.
You still need to base the harvest period on the kind of cultivar you have. Some varieties will take longer than other varieties.
Cause Why Sweet Potato Produce Less
If the sweet potato plants are still young, they will produce fewer tubers. Let the plants mature to get more big tubers.
Young plants need time to grow their tubers in big sizes. If you uproot the plants too early, you will get less and smaller size sweet potatoes.
Conclusion:
So how many sweet potatoes per plant? A single plant will produce around 5 to 10 tubers.
Depending on the cultivar, growing conditions, and how the plant is cared for will be the basis of the yield.
The time of harvest will also depend on the plants’ variety. Some may take shorter before they can be harvested and some may take longer.
You can get the sweet potatoes between 100 to 170 days. The plant vines and leaves will turn yellow and brown and dry which indicates the tubers are ready to harvest.