Freezing temperatures won't damage them unless they're near the surface of the soil. If a frost hits and you dig them up quickly, they'll store as well as if you had dug them before the frost. The Old Farmer's Almanac reports that most sweet potato varieties are ready for harvest about 100 days after planting.
Can you leave sweet potatoes in the ground too long?
Separate the sweet potatoes and let them dry in the sun for no more than 30 minutes. Handle gently to avoid bruising. Sweet potatoes left in the ground will continue growing until frost, although growth slows as the weather cools. Soil temperature below 55°F will damage the taste and storage quality of your tubers.
What happens if you leave sweet potatoes in the ground over winter?
After a hard frost, a sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) usually look like something the cat left out in the rain, limp, rotten and dead, but as long as the roots survive it will come back in the spring. Sweet potato vine grows as a perennial in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11.
How long should sweet potatoes be in the ground?
Sweet potatoes mature in 90 to 170 days and they're extremely frost sensitive.
How long can potatoes stay in the ground before they rot?
Once the plant dies, the potatoes are finished growing in size. However, the skin on the potato does harden and cure to make it stronger for storage. We recommend leaving the potatoes in the ground for about 2 weeks after the plants have died off.
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