From slips to harvested roots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sweet potatoes are commonly propagated using slips, which are young shoots grown from mature sweet potato roots. Once these shoots have developed sufficiently, they can be planted directly into the soil, where they establish themselves and gradually produce new storage roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Mavronero, we propagated sweet potato slips, allowed them to develop healthy roots and transplanted 21 young plants onto our river terrace. This process allowed us to follow their development from propagation through to harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harvesting the roots reveals the results of months of growth beneath the soil, where the plants gradually develop the enlarged storage roots that we recognise as sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The importance of temperature and seasonality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sweet potatoes are warm season crops that grow best when temperatures are favourable. Under suitable conditions, some varieties can mature in approximately 90 to 120 days, although the exact growing period depends on the variety and environmental conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cooler weather can significantly slow their development. During winter, sweet potato plants may enter a period of reduced growth, particularly when temperatures fall below their preferred range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Mavronero, the slips were planted in November, meaning that their development extended through the winter months. Although sweet potatoes can mature within a few months under favourable conditions, cooler temperatures and seasonal changes can extend the time between planting and harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This experience highlights why growing calendars cannot always be applied rigidly. Observing local conditions and the plants themselves is essential when deciding when to harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sweet potato storage roots develop underground, making it difficult to assess their size and maturity without disturbing the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Careful harvesting helps minimise damage to the roots, which is important because cuts, bruises and other injuries can affect their storage quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The harvested sweet potatoes at Mavronero varied in size and shape, illustrating the natural variation that can occur in a crop. Each harvest provides an opportunity to observe how the plants have developed under the conditions they experienced throughout the growing season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harvesting is not the final stage in producing sweet potatoes. Unlike many freshly harvested vegetables, sweet potatoes benefit from a postharvest process known as curing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curing involves keeping the harvested roots under warm, humid conditions for a period of time. This allows minor surface injuries to heal and helps prepare the roots for storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During subsequent storage, starches in the roots are converted into sugars, contributing to the characteristic sweetness associated with properly handled sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The precise curing conditions and duration matter. Commercial recommendations commonly involve maintaining temperatures around 29\u00b0C and relative humidity of 85 to 90% for approximately four to seven days. These conditions may differ from the practical arrangements available on a small farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Mavronero, the harvested roots will be left to cure over the coming weeks before their flavour is evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This stage is a useful reminder that the quality of a crop depends not only on cultivation but also on what happens after it leaves the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regenerative farming involves continuous observation, experimentation and adaptation to local environmental conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By documenting the sweet potatoes from propagation and planting to harvesting and curing, we can build a more complete understanding of their growing cycle in our Mediterranean environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The experience also demonstrates the importance of accounting for seasonal temperatures when planning crops. A plant that can mature within a few months in warm conditions may require considerably longer when its development overlaps with winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These observations help inform future planting decisions and contribute to the knowledge we are building through practical cultivation at Mavronero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Introducing different crops into an agricultural landscape creates opportunities to explore their suitability under local conditions and diversify production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sweet potatoes are an interesting crop to observe because of their propagation method, underground storage roots and preference for warm weather. Their performance at Mavronero will help us evaluate how they fit into our wider approach to regenerative farming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every crop adds another opportunity to learn from the land, understand seasonal patterns and improve future cultivation practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the sweet potatoes now harvested, the next stage is curing and observing how their flavour develops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results will help us assess this growing cycle and consider what could be adjusted in future seasons, particularly regarding planting dates and the influence of winter temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the first slips to the harvested roots, this crop has provided another opportunity to document the relationship between propagation, seasonal conditions and postharvest care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harvesting sweet potatoes at Mavronero marks the culmination of a growing process that began with the propagation of young slips and continued through the changing seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The experience highlights three important lessons: successful cultivation depends on understanding a crop’s temperature requirements, growing periods vary with environmental conditions, and postharvest curing plays an important role in developing sweet potatoes’ characteristic flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By observing each stage and documenting the results, Mavronero continues to explore practical regenerative farming approaches adapted to Mediterranean conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). \u201cSweet Potatoes.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n North Carolina State University Extension. \u201cPostharvest Handling of Sweetpotatoes.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n North Carolina State University Extension. \u201cChapter 8: Crop Production Management \u2013 Sweetpotatoes.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR). \u201cSweetpotato Production in California.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mavronero. \u201cGrowing sweet potatoes from slips: from propagation to planting.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every harvest tells a story that begins months before the crops are ready to leave the soil. At Mavronero, observing and documenting each stage of cultivation helps us understand how plants respond to local conditions and how seasonal changes influence their growth. This season, we harvested sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) from slips planted on our … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flora","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4651,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644\/revisions\/4651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mavronero.cy\/wp-content\/uploads\/5-25.png\")
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<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhy harvesting requires care<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Curing sweet potatoes: developing sweetness after harvest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Learning through observation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Supporting crop diversity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n