Sunning Sweet Potatoes when it gets warmer?

I want to grow sweep potatoes in a tote inside during the winter.
One major problem that I see from the many post I've read is that you
have to spread out the sweet potatoes in the sun for 7 to 10 days after
digging them up or they won't taste right or will not taste very good,
and I don't want that.

So, what I'm wondering is if I know I won't be able to spread out the
sweet potatoes in the sun for 7 to 10 days in say Jan or Feb, due to it
being cold and little sun when they are ready. So what if I store the s/p
until the weather is warmer and then lay them out for 7 to 10 days?
Would that work to help change the taste to what they should taste like?

The long and the short of what I'm proposing and asking is this:
- grow the s/p in a tote inside in the winter
- when they are ready to be harvested dig them out
- clean and dry them, put in storage
- when the weather turns warmer later lay the s/p in the sun for
7 to 10 days

Will that work?

Below are links to some good info I found on growing sweep potatoes:

Sweet Potatoes In Containers
from:http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0614520324855.html
Makes a good point about where to start the sprout in water or soil.

You say potato, I say Sweet Potato
http://blog.gardenharvestsupply.com/2008/12/03/you-say-potato-i-say-sweet-potato

Sweet Potato Harvest
from: http://homeplaceearth.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/sweet-potato-harvest/

Grow Sweet Potatoes — Even in the North
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/growing-sweet-potatoes-zm0z11zsto.aspx

How to Grow Sweet Potato Plants Inside
http://www.ehow.com/how_8086002_grow-sweet-potato-plants-inside.html

Growing Sweet Potatoes in a Tub
from:http://www.suburbanhomesteading.com/growing-sweet-potatoes-in-a-tub/garden#more-1421

I think I may have found the answer myself:

http://www.ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/how-to-grow-sweet-potatoes/

Curing process. Away from direct sunlight, spread the sweet potatoes
out to dry for several hours. Once dry, put them in a newspaper-lined
box and leave them in a dry, ventilated area for 2 weeks. This process
will convert the sweet potatoes’ starches to sweet sugar. Once cured,
store in a cool, dry place until ready to cook. Sweet potatoes can be
stored for up to 10 months with little reduction in quality.

Hi, and

This is what I found online, but no personal experience here.

"Sweetpotatoes should be handled as little as possible after harvesting to prevent cutting, skinning, and bruising. The roots must also not be exposed to the sun for more than an hour or so after digging because of sunscald damage. To prevent infection by disease-producing organisms, the roots should be brought to storage immediately after harvesting and cured.

STORAGE (Quoted or modified from USDA Ag. Handbook 66 and other sources)

Store at 55 to 60 F and 85 to 90% relative humidity. Sweetpotatoes are usually stored in non-refrigerated commercial or farm warehouses. The primary purpose of storing is to permit orderly marketing during several months after harvest. Sweetpotatoes should first be cured by holding at 85 F and 90 to 95% relative humidity for 4 to 7 days. Curing helps prevent the entrance of decay organisms by healing cuts and other injuries received in harvesting and handling. Such injuries should be kept to a minimum by careful handling. If the curing temperature and relative humidity are lower than recommended, healing is slower and less effective in preventing subsequent decay in storage or marketing.

Usually, sweetpotatoes will not keep satisfactorily if they have been exposed to excessively wet soil conditions just before harvest; chilled before or after harvest by exposure to temperatures of 50 F or below for about a week, or subjected, upon harvest, to a delay of 2 or more days before being provided with optimum conditions for healing.

Prompt curing after harvest is stressed, but it is especially important for sweetpotatoes that are harvested during or after a period of cold weather. Enough ventilation should be provided during curing to prevent accumulation of carbon dioxide, depletion of oxygen, or condensation of moisture.

Holding: After curing, the temperature should be reduced to 55 to 60 F, usually by ventilating the storage with outside air. The relative humidity should remain at 85 to 90% during storage. Most cured cultivars will keep satisfactorily for 4 to 7 months under these conditions."
j

janezee, Thanks

Yea, that gives me some more knowhow. I'm waiting for the slips and I'll be giving it a try.
Thanks again!fb

looks like this thing is stuck on bold type!

You're welcome. I'll be very interested in your results, since growing them indoors is probably the only way I'd get them to grow here in the cold, damp dark corner of the country.
Good luck!
j

Where are you getting your slips? I am also in so CA, zone 9 and I just harvested my 1st sweet potaoes. These were from a couple of store bought ones that sprouted and I planted the whole potatoes. It was an experiment and the plants grew very well. I pulled them this week as we had a couple of nights that were in the high 30s. They were planted about 120 days ago. I only got one good size potatoe and the rest were long and thin (less than 1 inch in diameter). Next year I will try slips and plant earlier.

Lindacol wrote:Where are you getting your slips? I am also in so CA, zone 9 and I just harvested my 1st sweet potaoes. These were from a couple of store bought ones that sprouted and I planted the whole potatoes. It was an experiment and the plants grew very well. I pulled them this week as we had a couple of nights that were in the high 30s. They were planted about 120 days ago. I only got one good size potatoe and the rest were long and thin (less than 1 inch in diameter). Next year I will try slips and plant earlier.

Whole Foods Market is where I got the sweet potatoes. I'm growing three in water with tooth picks holding them up in a small plastic tub.

As slow as they are growing it'll be a month before I get them planted. But, as warm as it has been the last two winters I think I might be able to get away with growing some in a tote inside the house. If all goes well that is!

I bought from Whole Foods and not from Albertsons because all I've read about them using chemicals to keep from growing eyes and slips on the spuds.

I did kind of a little test on three large Iris potatoes from Albertsons. I laid them out in the light in our kitchen to see if they would grow eyes on them. After about three weeks only one very tiny eye on one tater showed up.

So, I took one of those that did not grow any eyes and scrubbed it with a hand brush and soap to remove any chemicals, I scrubbed it hard. Laid it back out in the light. After about three more weeks it started growing the tiny, smallest eyes I ever saw on a spud!

It's been over five weeks now and the eyes other than being green
have gotten only a tiny bit larger, how strange!

Well, lots of luck next year keep me posted on your success!