Edible plant · roots bulbs

Sweet potato

Ipomoea batatas

Also known asKumara · Camote · Boniato · Beni-imo (purple-flesh) · Susskartoffel

intermediate warm-season frost-sensitive aquaponic-ready single

Use in garden planner

Days to harvest

90–150

Yield / plant

2kg

Spacing

30 cm

Daily light

20–30DLI

Environment

The bounded range this crop tolerates.

Temperature

5152535

18–32°C

45.578.5

5.5–6.8

EC (hydro)

01234

1.4–2.2 mS/cm

Daily light

5152535

20–30 mol/m²/d

✓Single harvest

Climate and zones

USDA zones: 8–13 (winter low around -12°C)
Frost: frost sensitive (dies at first frost)
Season: warm (summer, frost-sensitive)

·Outdoor year-round (in zone)

✓Outdoor in growing season

✓Unheated greenhouse / hoop

✓Heated greenhouse

✓Indoor (heated home)

·Indoor hydroponics + grow lights

Growing systems

Root mass: very heavy. Thin-channel systems can't hold this crop.

·Deep water culture (rafts)

·NFT channels

·Vertical / aeroponic tower

·Drip / Dutch buckets

✓Media bed (ebb and flow)

✓Wicking bed

✓Soil bed

Growing media

Medium	pH effect	Retention	Bacterial surface
Soil-based mix (Potting soil)	varies	high	high
Coco coir (Coconut coir)	slightly acidic	high	moderate

Nutrient demand by stage

NPK ratios are relative weights. EC targets shift through the plant's life.

Stage	N	P	K	EC (mS/cm)
seedling	2	1	1	1.2
vegetative	2	1	3	1.8

Companion-growing notes

Heavy uptake of potassium. Co-grown crops with the same demand will end up deficient even at "correct" EC.
High transpiration. Regular reservoir top-ups needed during fruiting.

Aquaponics suitability

Compatible

Fish waste provides enough nitrogen for healthy growth. Supplemental potassium, calcium, and iron may still be needed depending on fish stocking density.

Care notes

A warm-season root crop for media beds or large containers (20 L) with loose substrate. Not suited to NFT or DWC, since the storage roots form in the growing medium. EC 1.4-2.2 mS/cm. pH 5.5-6.8. Temperature: 22–32°C (tropical; frost kills the vine and root formation stalls below 18°C). High light (DLI 20-30 mol/m2/day). Propagate from slips, small rooted shoots grown from a sprouted sweet potato: place a sweet potato in water with the bottom half submerged, and shoots emerge in 2-4 weeks; twist off slips when 15–20 cm long, root them in water and plant. From transplant to harvest: 90-120 days. The vine grows vigorously and can be trained vertically or left to sprawl. Harvest when the vine starts to yellow, digging carefully, then cure the roots at 30°C and about 85% humidity for 5-7 days to convert starch to sugar and heal skin, and store at 13–15°C. The leaves and vine tips are a bonus harvest, cooked as greens.

Notable varieties

Cultivar	Type	Origin	Days	Notes
Beauregard	open pollinated	Louisiana State University, 1987	100	Orange flesh, copper skin. The dominant US commercial variety; ~80% of US sweet potato acreage. Disease-resistant and high-yielding.
Covington	open pollinated	North Carolina State University, 2005	105	Orange flesh, similar to Beauregard but with better storage and disease resistance. Has displaced Beauregard in much of the North Carolina commercial trade.
Murasaki	open pollinated	Louisiana State University, 2008	110	Purple skin, white flesh. Drier and starchier than orange-flesh types; the Japanese-style sweet potato (closer to the Stokes Purple style).
Stokes Purple	open pollinated		120	Deep purple flesh, dry and dense. Very high anthocyanin content. Slower to mature than orange types; not suitable for short-season zones.
Georgia Jet	open pollinated		90	The shortest-season sweet potato available. Specifically bred for the upper South / lower Midwest where the season is too short for Beauregard. Orange flesh, productive in 90 days.