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Vegetable
Sweet potato
Ipomoea batatas
A heat-loving vine that grows vigorously through Adelaide's summer and gives tubers in autumn. Plant shoots (slips) once the soil is warm, in loose, well-drained soil. Avoid too much nitrogen, which gives masses of vine and few tubers.
- SunFull sun
- Spacing40 cm apart
- First pick16–21 weeks
- FrostFrost tender
- HeatHandles heat well
- Sow depth100 mm
When to plant where you live
Checking your area…
Add sweet potato to my gardenVarieties (3)
- BeauregardOrange-fleshed, reliable and fairly quick to mature
- Purple-fleshed typesDeep purple flesh; striking and sweet, often slower
- White-fleshed (e.g. Hawaiian)Dry, chestnut-like flesh; good for roasting
Neighbours
Grows well with
From seed to plate
Plant
40 cm apart, seed 100 mm deep. Full sun.
Water
Moderate.
Feed
Low nitrogen.
Pick, from about 16 weeks
Dig when leaves yellow.
Good to know
- Grow your own slips by sprouting a tuber in a jar of water or damp sand in spring
- Harvest before the first cold snap; cure in a warm place for a week to sweeten
- Young leaves are edible, cooked like spinach
Common problems
- Few tubers, lots of vinereduce nitrogen, lift trailing vines to stop them rooting along the stem
- Tubers crackingwater evenly
- Rotting in cold wet soilplant in mounds or raised rows
If you use a garden chemical, follow the label exactly. Try organic options first, and ask the community or Plant Doctor if you're unsure.
Where this information comes from
- Australian seed company regional sowing charts (temperate zone) (germination, low confidence)
- ABC Gardening Australia fact sheets (growing, medium confidence)
- ABC Gardening Australia: Sweet potatoes (fact sheet) (growing, medium confidence, checked 27 Oct 2026)
- Gardenate: Growing Sweet potato (comparison only) (growing comparison, medium confidence, checked 27 Oct 2026)
- Sustainable Gardening Australia: planting guides (sowing window, medium confidence)
Reviewed by AI cross-check (Claude), not a horticulturist on 27 Oct 2026. Version 2.