Murasaki Sweet Potato
Ipomoea Batatas

days to maturity: 110 days
plant spacing: 2 plant per square foot 
sunlight requirements: 6-14 hours
look out for: whitefly hiding on the underside of the leaves, plus the plant spreads like a vine
harvest notes: harvest tubers and cure them indoors to produce more sugars
seasons: spring, summer
annual

Murasaki sweet potatoes are a Japanese variety that has become popular in the U.S. for their unique flavor and reliable performance in warm climates. Unlike orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, Murasakis have reddish-purple skin and creamy white flesh that turns golden when cooked. Their flavor is distinct—nutty, slightly chestnut-like, and sweet without being cloying—making them a favorite for roasting, mashing, or even baking into desserts. In South Florida they grow beautifully, since sweet potatoes thrive in long, hot seasons. Plant slips year round and give them plenty of space to sprawl. They prefer full sun and sandy, well-drained soil, as heavy or soggy soils can lead to rot and too much fertility can make them focus on growing leaves more than roots. They take about 100–120 days to mature, so patience is key, but you can harvest tender young leaves throughout the season to use like spinach in stir-fries or soups. Murasaki sweet potatoes are prized in Japanese and Hawaiian cuisines and are also valued for their nutritional profile, being high in fiber, antioxidants, and complex carbohydrates. 

Sweet potato is a vining plant that will sprawl throughout your garden creating a beautiful dense ground cover, which is one reason why we love growing it in the summer instead of the fall, since it can be quite competitive in a small space where you are trying to grow other annuals. If you don’t have plans for your veggie bed in the summer consider planting a few sweet potatoes and using them as a cover crop, to protect your soil from erosion and weeds. Once you buy one sweet potato plant from us you can use it to make yourself a whole farms worth of new plants if you want to, as the growing tips of the vines can be cut to 6 inch lengths, popped into a jar of water and in 6 days you'll have a fully rooted new plant.