Growing Boniato (tropical sweet potato) in Florida

Planting^{1, 2, 3}

Grow boniato the way you would sweet potatoes. In South Florida it can be planted year-round. The archived UF/IFAS boniato fact sheet describes vine cuttings 8 to 10 inches long taken from the tip or middle of vigorous vines. In commercial South Florida plantings, 'Picadia' is the fall and winter type and 'Campeon' the summer and fall type. The UF/IFAS root crop production chapter notes that importing sweet potato or boniato planting stock is illegal because of soil pests and that there is no Florida program producing disease-free 'Picadito' stock, so planting material can be hard to find.

Growing^{1, 3}

Yields and performance vary a lot from plant to plant, and yields are lower than for ordinary sweet potatoes. Boniato's leaves are deeply lobed, which helps tell it apart from orange sweet potato.

Pests and diseases in Florida^{1, 2}

• Sweet potato weevil: A serious pest of boniato.
• Nematodes: Also a serious problem.
• Root decay (Rhizopus, Diplodia, Fusarium): The archived fact sheet says these rots keep boniato from storing long.

Harvest^{1, 2}

Dig 120 to 180 days after planting; the archived fact sheet puts the average season at 150 days. The roots are tender and bruise easily, and they do not keep long once harvested or cooked. Boniato is sensitive to cold: store in a cool, dry pantry above 55 F, not in the refrigerator.