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Ipomoea batatas
Growing calendar
Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.
Guides
- How to Plant Sweet Potato Slips: Timing, Depth and Spacing
- Sweet Potato Soil Prep: Ridges, Low Nitrogen and Roots Instead of Vine
- Sweet Potato Care: Watering, Feeding and Managing the Vines
- Sweet Potato Growing Calendar: The Whole Season Step by Step
- Sweet Potato Pests and Diseases: Wireworm, Weevil, Voles and Rot
- Curing Sweet Potatoes: How to Make Them Sweet and Store for Months
Common problems
Start from what you can see on the plant.
Pests and diseases (57)
Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.
Vine Overgrowth
MajorDisorder
Leaves grow large and dark green and the vines keep running vigorously, but no flowers or fruit set. In sweet potato the tubers fail to bulk up.
Root-lesion Nematode
MajorPest
Elongated blackish brown necrotic lesions form on the root surface and fine roots rot away. Above ground the stand is uneven and plants stay small with pale foliage.
Tobacco Cutworm
MajorPest
Many larvae gather on the leaf underside and graze the tissue away, leaving white skeletonized patches. Once they disperse they cause heavy damage to leaves, pods and fruit.
Scarab Grubs
CommonPest
The plant wilts despite watering and growth halts abruptly. Lift the plant and there are almost no roots; dig into the soil and white C-shaped grubs appear.
Root-knot Nematode
CommonPest
The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.
Southern Blight
OccasionalDisease
The stem rots at soil level and white silky mycelium spreads over the crown and the surrounding soil surface. Brown sclerotia the size of rapeseed then form and the plant wilts and dies rapidly.
Violet Root Rot
OccasionalDisease
The tree gradually loses vigor and the leaves shrink, sometimes wilting abruptly in summer. A purple-brown or white mycelial mat covers the root surface and the bark peels away easily.
Bacterial Canker
Disease
Leaf margins scorch and die back, and splitting the stem reveals browned vascular tissue. Scabby, bird's-eye lesions form on fruit and shoots.
Brown Leaf Spot
Disease
Small light brown to gray-brown spots form on the leaves and enlarge into irregular lesions. When they merge the whole leaf dies and plant vigor drops sharply.
Sclerotinia Rot
Disease
The crown, stem or head rots in a water-soaked way and is covered in white cottony mycelium. Black sclerotia later form inside and on the surface, and the plant wilts and dies.
Black Spot
Disease
On roses, dark brown lesions with radiating edges form on the leaves, which yellow around them and drop. On pear, sooty black lesions appear on leaves, fruit and the calyx of young fruit, deforming the fruit.
White Rust
Disease
Creamy white slightly raised irregular pustules form on the leaf underside and burst through the skin releasing white powder. The upper surface turns pale yellow and heavy infection ruins appearance and market value.
Fusarium Wilt of Cucurbits
Disease
Part of the vine wilts during the day and eventually the whole plant dies. The stem splits lengthwise near the soil and exudes gum, and the vascular tissue is browned when cut.
Bacterial Soft Rot
Disease
The crown or the head becomes water-soaked and soft, then collapses into a slimy mush. The rotting tissue gives off a distinctive foul odor.
Root Rot
Disease
Fine roots rot brown to blackish brown, growth stops and the lower leaves yellow. The plant wilts easily in the daytime and eventually dies outright.
Gray Mold
Disease
Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.
Leaf Spot
Disease
Small round brown to gray-white lesions appear on the lower leaves, the centers turning gray with tiny black specks. As they multiply the leaf yellows and drops early.
