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has anyone ever grown sweet potatoes during the winter months?
I have a large trash can with holes in it[can't remember what i used it for]and I was wondering if I could use some top soil and grow some sweet potatoes in my green house?
i would like to hear from anyone who has had experience with this.

We were thinking of it a couple years ago...after we bought the vine and thought like you it would be nice--but gave up since there was a lot of time included so I wish you luck.
I came across a good website you might think helps; it comes with pictures and step by step instructions.

diynetwork.com/howto/how-to-plant-and-grow-sweet-potatoes

It comes with a caution: there are vine types and bush types, you should know which one to buy.

Barb, that would be an interesting experiment anyway. Give it a try and let us know how it works. I know you can grow irish potatos in just about any kind of container, including hay bales, so why not a garbage can in a green house.

The only way we've ever grown them is in ground. Digging is just a whole lot of fun

ve

I've grown sweet potatoes in really large pots and it works really good. I was just wondering how it would work during the winter months. I was wondering if the cold air will keep them from growing. the last pot I used was a pretty good sized one and my brother came over one afternoon and backed over it. It was no big deal to him, but it was to me. We had almost a dozen sweet potatoes that were not ready to harvest. He just shrugged his shoulders.

Barb, the shorter days might have more effect than anything else.
But like VE said...try it! Ya just never know!

Do you think if I put a light over it in the greenhouse that it would work? Have to admit that I didn't think about the shorter days! I was also thinking that I could try growing them in grass clippings instead of top soil. Who was it that grew regular potatoes in hay, I was just wondering if grass clippings would work for sweet potatoes. What do you think?

I've grown regular potatoes in hay...but I broke off "flakes" and put them end to end so there wasn't much if any light getting to my eyes. I don't know if grass clippings would work unless they were pretty thick & then you might end up smothering the sweet potato? I really have no idea on those.
Are you going to plant slips or the whole potato? That might make a big difference. I think slips would need dirt to spread their roots while a whole potato might grow the slips first & then make taters?
Try both ways! It could be your research project for the winter?
Not sure about the artificial light either, but worth a try.

I plan on making the grass clippings pretty thick and am going to plant the whole potato.
I have a pot that is just about ready to harvest and I was going to reuse the same soil, but was going to add two containers of red wigglers and I am going to water it with fish emulsion.
You said that you broke off "flakes", what are "flakes"? I'm going to try both grass clippings and soil to see which one works the best. I'll let you know!

Sorry! I can't grow sweet potatoes on winter. They die on cold seasons. You can grow plants like that if you have a special garden where there is a heater that can maintain a temperature for the potatoes to grow.

To grow well Sweet Potatoes need both warm days and warm nights so if there in Mississippi you can be sure that your temperatures will be warm enough you can grow them and get some tubers.
You might want to check with your Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension Service office to see if they have information about this. About all I can find is from Purdue.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ho-136.pdf

Barb, a "flake" of hay is from a square bale. When you grab a handfull it will sort of break off/tear off...that's a "flake". When feeding livestock you generally specify if you are feeding one or 2 flakes of hay or more/less, especially when feeding horses. If you take the twine or wire off a square bale it will also sometimes automatically break apart...those can be called "flakes" too.

As too the sweet potatoes....don't let anyone discourage you. You won't know for sure unless you try. I've had soooo many people tell me that certain things won't grow here, sometimes they are right & sometimes I am successful.

thanks, everyone for your responses. I'll let you know what I have decided to do.