Japanese Sweet Potato (White Satsumaimo)

I planted these white Satsumaimo (Japanese Sweet Potato) slips on 26 November or roughly 8-months ago. I used to harvest them after 6-months, but the tubers where not as large as I wanted, so now waiting 8-months.

Step 1 - cut all the vines and set them aside. The tips will be used to make new slips.

Step 2 - Move the container to an area where the container can be flipped over and the dirt pressed down. It is best to do this while the soil is dry. Less messy that way. 

Step 3 - Press down the soil and sift through the soil to find the tubers.

Step 4 - I always weight my bounty to track how productive the container was. For this container I got 2.3 kg (5.1 lbs) of tubers.

Step 5 - Re-energize the soil for the next planting. I added a new bag of cheap garden soil (10kg/22lbs) for some organic content and minerals, two hands full of nutrients specific for potatoes (Potassium, Nitrogen, Phosphorus) and 4-5 hands full of fertilizer (more organic content).  The same soil can be used for several years, as long as the soil has not been infested by some sort of pest or fungus.

Step 6 - Make and plant slips using the vines set aside earlier. I cut the tip of a vine about 8-9 inches long. Remove all the leaves except the top 3-4. Plant the slip as deep as possible. Try and not allow the leaves to touch the soil. I plant the slips about 5 cm (2 in) apart. In my case, I was about the plant 17 slips in this container. 

Step 7 - Water well and water everyday for the next week. Japanese Sweet Potato slips will begin to root in 2-3 days and by 7-10 days they will have a pretty good root system.

Step 8 - Place the tubers outside in a dry cool locations for 10-14 days to cure.

(08/07) I cooked one of these tubers today. It was sweeter than expected. I usually use white Satsumaimo in lew of yellow potatoes, but not sure if I can use these since they are too sweet.