Growing Sweet Potatoes in Earthtainers.
 

Alright. Here's my plan for growing sweet potatoes in Wisconsin. :twisted:

I'm thinking I will buy a set of red and white slips (haven't picked out the vareties yet but I'll be looking for early/short season and bush vareties. Any suggestions I would love!). I've heard good things about the taste of the white ones being less sweet (that is my husband's complaint, sometimes the sweet potatoes we buy are TOO sweet) and I want to try the red ones for the higher vitamins.

And I will plant them in four Earthtainers. I would make the Earthtainers out of BLACK totes because sweet potatoes love the heat so much. And these will go on the south side of my home on top of a concrete paver patio.

Should I use black plastic mulch on top too? Will these be big enough containers?

And when I plant out (probably first week of June) should I prestart the slips by potting them up and growing inside for a couple weeks? Or put outside in the earthtainers with a hoop/tunnel over the top?

I'm curious if this works well for people. I've always gotten the impression sweet potatoes like it outdoors (non-containerized)...

I have been growing a variety I get in flats at a local nursery called Beauregard. It is orange and sweet and have shorter dtm and many varieties. I grow them in the ground in a 5a zone garden and they are very productive. I don't know about growing them in your 4b garden, but containerizing them is an interesting idea. The soil does warm up so much more quickly and the water supply more reliable. Might give it a try.

I grew sweet potatoes in clay-coloured plastic pots on a patio here in Ontario, Canada. They produced respectably, though the tubers were skinnier than I'd like. I think the soil was too rich perhaps. All in all it worked very well, and I plan on doing it again this coming year.