Sweet potatoes are a nutritious crop than can be grown successfully in Iowa, if given a little extra attention.
Sweet potatoes have two basic flesh types, dry or moist.
Moist-fleshed types are often called yams, although a true yam can only be grown in tropical climates. 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.