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?

When my dad was a boy in the hills of Mississippi they raised sweet potatoes for human consumption and to feed to the hogs. They dug the potatoes, piled them in a big pile, covered them with straw and covered them with dirt. No drying process at all. I assume the hay and dirt was to insultate them to keep them from freezing. I've never seen anyone spread them to dry before housing.

fireboy, you'll need high temps and full sun to grow your sweetpotatoes; will you have that inside?

As for "curing" , which is what you are referencing to when you mention "spread out
the sweet potatoes in the sun for 7 to 10 days after digging them", that is so any scars heal (which would cause them to rot or not store very long) as well as to increase the sugar levels. You'll need warm temps for that as well. If you can't "field cure", i.e., lay them in the sun as you've mentioned, you can cure them in a hot room preferably 85º for about ten days or so. Around here we do it both ways, leave them lay in the field during warm days (and nights!) or leave them to dry for a day in the sun so the dirt on them is easily dusted off then cured in a hot house, tobacco barn, hot garage, etc.

Jim, what you've described was you dad "clamping" the potatoes, so they store through the winter. I imagine in Mississippi the days were warm enough he field cured them before clamping.

Shoe (sweetpotato lover!)

This message was edited Nov 16, 2011 3:41 PM

Hey Shoe you have a dmail. Sorry to interrupted everyone, carry on.

After I dig sweet potatoes I leave them in wicker baskets in the kitchen. Once the weather turns really cold outside, I put them in the garden room where the winter temps stay around 65 during the day and 45 at night. I've not had a problem with any of them going rotten.