The Best Vegetables to Grow in a Food Crisis - Sweet Potatoes

Food shortages are expected to begin impacting the US this summer. I encourage anyone 

who has some space to at least have a small container garden or even plant some 

edible veggies interspersed in your landscaping beds where they might not be 

noticeable if you have a strict homeowners association.

Japanese Red or Purple Sweet Potatoes

(Creamy white inside)

Sweet potatoes are one of the easiest vegetables to grow at the lower elevations. However, I don't know how they grow Upcountry. They do need adequate water but are forgiving if they experience a dry spell due to lack of county water, rainfall or not having time to water.

Japanese Red and Garnet Starts

(aka slips)

One store bought sweet potato, placed in a container half filled with water, will produce

a lot of plant starts in a short period of time.

Growing in 15 Gallon Fabric Pots

I've only grown sweet potatoes in containers and the recommendations in my sweet potato posts are for container growing. Use at least a 15 gallon capacity pot. I prefer fabric pots which are widely available now at very affordable prices. It's easier to reach into the potting soil in a fabric pot to find the tubers that are large enough to eat.

 

Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes

(Purple inside)

I've had the best results with the variety known as Japanese Red or Japanese Purple.

They're available in markets just about everywhere. They're reddish purple on the outside and creamy white inside.

Stokes Purple is my second best recommendation. Second only because they have a limited distribution on Maui but can usually be found at Down to Earth, Whole Foods and probably other natural food stores. Sometimes they're just labeled as "Purple Sweet Potatoes".

They're purple inside and out.

Young Sweet Potato Leaves are Edible

In a food crisis it's best to give priority to calorie dense veggies unless you have a lot of growing space and adequate water. One of the very cool things about sweet potato plants is the young leaves are edible and can be used as a salad or cooked green.

There's also a looming fertilizer crisis. If that should impact Maui I have a few recommendations to add nutrients to the soil. If you cook fish/soft shellfish, save 

the skins/shells and add them directly into the containers or compost them in 

a separate container with some potting soil. If you poach or boil fish/shellfish 

in water you can use the water for your plants.

If you eat eggs, save the shells. When dry they can be crushed and added to the potting soil.

The shells can be soaked in water for a few days and then used to water plants.

Gardener shares genius eggshell hack to keep tomatoes thriving: ‘We use this throughout gardening season’

For more specific growing information check out my post about sweet potatoes.

Growing Sweet Potatoes

Growing Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are native to the tropics and need warm sunny conditions in order to grow.
In Hawaii they can be planted at any time during the year.

Sweet Potatoes Growing in Smart Pots

 It would seem that sweet potatoes should be easy to grow in Kihei but after three years I still haven't mastered them. Although they will grow during the hot summer months, my best results were from slips that were planted between October and December and harvested in the winter/spring. Sweet potatoes need at least four months to grow large enough to harvest.

Some Varieties Produce Flowers

Young sweet potato leaves are edible and can be used like spinach.

Japanese Red/Purple & Garnet Starts

(aka slips)

Sweet potatoes are grown from slips - the vining leaves that sprout from a sweet potato that's placed in water. They can be ordered online in the late spring or you can grow them yourself. The problem I encountered when purchasing online was that there were countless names I had never encountered at the market. Unfortunately, the slips I chose produced tubers that were starchy rather than sweet and it was a waste of money.

I use a paring knife and dig into the sweet potato just below the slip to remove it. You can see the scars on the garnet sweet potato in the above photo where the slips were removed. Then I put the slip directly into the jar of water and let it develop some roots.

Just Planted Garnet Slips

As soon as roots develop, I plant the slips into the potting soil. I normally plant 3 to 4 

slips in a 15 gallon container.

Japanese Red/Purple

Some varieties need a lot of space to vine and don't grow very well in containers. Because I'm growing them in 15 gallon Smart Pots, most of the sweet potatoes I've harvested weren't very large even when I let them grow for 6 months.

Stokes Purple

So far my best results were with Garnet, Japanese Red (also called Japanese Purple) and Stokes Purple. Garnet, Japanese Red/Purple can be purchased at almost any market on Maui. Stokes Purple is available from Whole Foods and Down to Earth. Both were very adaptable to containers.

The orange sweet potato, in the top photo, was one with no name from Whole Foods. I wasn't successful at growing Hanna Sweet or Okinawan as they vined heavily and weren't suited to container growing. Unless you're familiar with a wider range of sweet potato varieties than are typically available on Maui, I recommend growing your own slips from your favorite varieties available locally.

Pickleworm Damage

In my garden, pickleworms, slugs and snails were the problem pests. The pickleworm is active during the summer months and they will dig under the soil and eat the tubers. The snails and slugs eat the leaves which wasn't a big problem until this year when Rat Lung disease became an issue on Maui.

Sweet potatoes when grown in the ground can be very invasive - similar to horseradish or mint. After I harvest them from the containers I don't have to replant slips as they will regrow just from the stringy roots that remain in the soil.

 Growing Sweet Potatoes

Growing Sweet Potatoes in a Bucket

Sweet Potatoes: The Ideal Plant for Your Hawaiian Garden
Sand Hill Preservation
The Ultimate Purple Sweet Potato Guide

Salt & Pepper Sweet Potato Fries

Maple Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie

The Best Sweet Potato Recipes