The skin and flesh of sweet potato roots range from white to orange to red depending on the cultivar. The sweet potato is a trailing vine which roots down into the soil along the vine. Some of these roots then swell to form the storage root which we harvest and eat. To grow successfully, sweet potatoes prefer both warm days and nights. The sweet potato is a perennial plant in its native habitat, but in our area, it is grown as an annual.
Sweet potatoes take up a considerable amount of space in the garden.
Jewel and Georgia Jet are two moist fleshed varieties recommended for Iowa. Sweet potatoes are planted from slips or transplants. These can be purchased through reputable mail-order firms or grown yourself. To produce your own slips, select a smooth, well-shaped root from the previous year's harvest. Each root will produce several slips, so only a few roots are needed for the home gardener.