How to Grow Sweet Potatoes in Australia: Slips and Planting
Updated October 2026
Slips, a warm long season, mounding, even watering, and curing for sweetness and storage
Sweet potato is a warm-season root crop grown for its sweet, starchy tubers and its vigorous trailing vine. It is not a true potato and it is not grown from seed. Instead you plant slips, which are rooted shoots, and the plant rewards you with heavy yields even from fairly poor soil, as long as it gets heat and a long frost-free run.
The vines sprawl across the ground and smother weeds while the tubers swell underground. Give a sweet potato full sun, warm soil and room to roam, then leave it largely alone. The two things that make the difference between a bland, starchy harvest and a sweet, creamy one are a long enough warm season and a proper curing step after lifting.
If you want to grow your own sweet potatoes, this guide covers how to make or buy slips for planting, when to plant sweet potato in every Australian region, how to plant and care for the vines, and how to harvest and cure the tubers so they taste their best.
🌱 Plant profile: Sweet Potato, with sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.
Growing From Slips
A slip is a rooted shoot that sprouts from a sweet potato tuber. You can buy slips from nurseries, but they are easy and cheap to grow yourself, and growing your own lets you choose your variety and start at the right time for your garden.
How to make your own slips
- Choose a healthy, firm tuber. Either half-bury it in moist sand or seed-raising mix, or suspend the lower half in a jar of water using toothpicks.
- Keep it warm, around 24 to 29 C, in a bright spot. Shoots sprout over a few weeks.
- When the shoots reach about 15 to 20 cm, twist or snap them off the tuber.
- Root the slips in a glass of water or pot them up in moist mix. Roots form within a week or so.
- Plant out once the soil is warm and frost has passed.
Start the process about 6 to 8 weeks before your planting-out time. One tuber can throw many slips over several weeks, so keep snapping off new shoots as they appear.
Buying sweet potato slips for planting
If you would rather not grow your own, nurseries and garden centres sell sweet potato slips in spring, often by variety name, and specialist suppliers post them during the planting season. Look for fresh slips with healthy green leaves and plant them within a few days, standing them in a glass of water if they have to wait. In Western Australia, buy WA-grown slips: our Perth calendar notes that quarantine rules block sweet potato plants from the east coast.
How to plant sweet potato slips
Plant slips into warm, loose, mounded soil once the soil temperature is high enough. Our regional notes put that point at about 17°C in Sydney, 18°C in Adelaide and 20°C in Melbourne and Perth. Push each slip in deeply so only the top two or three leaves sit above the soil, water it in well, and keep the soil moist for the first couple of weeks while it roots. Give the slips plenty of room and let the vines run.
When to Plant Sweet Potato in Your Region
Sweet potato slips go in once the soil is warm and frost has passed. These are the planting months for each of our regions from our planting data, and the warmer your region, the longer the window. Each region links to its full vegetable planting calendar, and the Sweet Potato plant page has spacing, companions and care notes for your region.
| Region | Plant slips | Local note |
|---|---|---|
| South East Queensland | September to February | |
| Northern Rivers NSW | September to February | |
| Sydney & Coastal NSW | October to December | A genuine Sydney win on the frost-free coast: plant slips Oct to Dec once soil passes 17°C, harvest 15 to 17 weeks later. West: plant after last frost. |
| Melbourne & Victoria | October to December | Plant slips Oct to Dec once the soil reaches 20°C. Vines need five to six frost free months before the May frosts, so it is risky but possible. |
| Adelaide & SA | October to December | Plant slips Oct to Dec once soil passes 18C. Harvest before winter; cold wet soil rots tubers. A long hot summer suits them. |
| Perth & WA | September to December | Plant slips Sep to Dec once soil passes 20C; later slips cannot bulk a tuber before the autumn cool. Source WA grown slips; quarantine blocks east coast plants. |
| Tasmania | Not recommended outdoors | Unsuitable. Slips need five warm months and Tasmanian summers are too cool for tubers to bulk up. |
| Canberra & ACT | November and December | Very marginal. Plant slips Nov to Dec in the warmest bed; harvest before the April frost. Expect small yields. |
| North Queensland | September to February | Late dry/wet season. Sweet potato is tropical staple. Plant Sep to Feb; harvest dry season. Grows year-round. |
| Darwin & Top End | September to February | Late dry/wet season. Sweet potato is tropical staple. Plant Sep to Feb; harvest dry season. Grows year-round. |
A Warm, Long Season
Sweet potato needs about 4 to 5 months, roughly 100 to 150 days, of warm, frost-free weather to size up. It loves heat and grows best when the soil is consistently above 18 C. Cold, wet soil makes slips sit and rot rather than strike, so there is no benefit in planting early.
In cooler or short-season areas you can still grow a crop. Warm the soil with black plastic or mulch before planting, use cloches early in the season, and choose short-season varieties. Remember that sweet potato is not frost tolerant at either end, so plant only after the last frost and lift before the first cold snap.
Our data shows how tight the season gets in the south. Melbourne can plant slips from October to December, but the vines need five to six frost-free months before the May frosts, so it is risky but possible. Canberra is very marginal: plant in November or December in your warmest bed, harvest before the April frost and expect a small crop. Tasmanian summers are too cool for the tubers to bulk up, so our Tasmania calendar leaves sweet potato out.
Slips Calculator
Tell the calculator the size of your bed and it estimates how many slips you need. It assumes rows about 75 cm apart, with slips spaced along the row at the spacing you choose. Row spacing stays fixed at about 75 cm.
Add about 10 percent spare slips, as not all of them strike. Rows are assumed at 75 cm apart.
Position and Soil
Give sweet potato full sun and the warmest spot you have. It likes loose, free-draining sandy loam and slightly acidic to neutral soil, around pH 5.5 to 6.5. Heavy clay restricts the tubers and makes them forked and small, so loosen the bed deeply and add compost and grit if your soil is heavy.
Avoid very rich, high-nitrogen soil. Too much nitrogen pushes lush leafy vine at the expense of tubers, so feed lightly. On reasonably fertile ground you often need no extra feeding at all.
Mounding and Ridging
Plant slips into raised mounds or ridges about 20 to 30 cm high. Mounding improves drainage, warms the soil and gives the tubers room to form and expand. It is one of the most useful things you can do for a sweet potato crop.
Push each slip in deeply, leaving only the top 2 to 3 leaves above the soil. Buried stem readily grows roots and tubers, so deep planting pays off.
Watering
Keep the soil evenly moist while the slips establish and through the main growth period. Even moisture gives the best-sized tubers. In the last 3 to 4 weeks before harvest, reduce watering to firm up the skins and improve storage.
Avoid two extremes. Waterlogged soil rots the tubers, and erratic wet-then-dry cycles cause cracking as the tubers swell in sudden bursts. Lift and redirect the vines occasionally so they do not root at every node, which otherwise scatters the plant's energy into many small tubers.
Growing in Containers
Sweet potato grows well in a large container, half-barrel or grow bag of at least 40 litres. Plant one to two slips in a free-draining mix, set it in full sun, and water consistently through the season. Bush or compact varieties suit pots far better than rampant vining types, which need a lot of room to roam.
Varieties
| Variety | Flesh / skin | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beauregard | Orange flesh, light skin | Widely grown and reliable, with good yields. About 90 to 110 days, a solid first choice. |
| Northern Star | White flesh | A good keeper bred in New Zealand, suited to warm conditions. Drier, starchier texture. |
| Owairaka Red | White flesh, red skin | A classic kumara type, attractive and popular, performs well in warm gardens. |
| Murasaki | White flesh, purple skin | Japanese type with a nutty, chestnut flavour and firm texture. Striking on the plate. |
| Georgia Jet | Orange flesh | Early and quick, the pick for cooler and shorter seasons where time is tight. |
| Centennial | Deep orange flesh | Sweet, moist orange type that stores well. A dependable all-rounder. |
Harvesting
Sweet potato is ready when the lower leaves start to yellow, once the tubers have sized up, or simply before the first frost in cooler areas. Gently fork into the edge of a mound to check tuber size before committing to lifting the whole plant.
Lift carefully on a dry day. Start digging well away from the stem, as tubers can extend 30 cm or more from the base. The skins are fragile and bruise easily, so handle them gently and do not scrub them hard. Brush off loose soil and let them dry, but do not wash them before curing.
Our plant data puts a healthy plant at around 1 to 2 kg of tubers, and the young leaves are edible too.
Curing and Storage
Curing is the key step for both sweetness and storage. Cure freshly dug tubers for about 4 to 7 days in warm, humid conditions, roughly 27 to 30 C with high humidity around 85 to 90 percent. This heals the skins and converts some of the starch into sugar, which is exactly why cured sweet potato tastes sweet and creamy rather than bland.
After curing, store the tubers somewhere cool but not cold, around 12 to 15 C, in a dark, airy spot. Do not refrigerate them. Fridge temperatures cause chilling injury, giving a hard core and an off flavour when cooked. Cured tubers keep for months, and the flavour often improves over the first few weeks.
Region and season note
Australia runs on southern-hemisphere seasons. Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide plant slips from October to December once the soil is warm, and harvest in autumn before the cold. Perth starts in September, Canberra is limited to November and December, and Tasmania is too cool for tubers to bulk up. South East Queensland, the Northern Rivers and the tropical north have the longest window, from September to February, with the tropical crop planted in the late dry and wet season and lifted in the dry. In cool southern gardens, plant the warmest months only, warm the soil first, and choose short-season varieties.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make my own sweet potato slips?
Take a healthy, firm sweet potato and either half-bury it in moist sand or seed-raising mix, or suspend the lower half in a jar of water, in a warm spot around 24 to 29 C. Shoots sprout over a few weeks. When the shoots reach about 15 to 20 cm, twist or snap them off and root them in water or pot them up, then plant out once the soil is warm and frost has passed. Start about 6 to 8 weeks before your planting-out time. Use certified or healthy untreated tubers, as some supermarket ones are treated to stop sprouting.
When do I plant sweet potato in Australia?
Plant slips once the soil is warm and frost has passed. Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide plant from October to December, Perth from September to December and Canberra in November and December. South East Queensland, the Northern Rivers and the tropical north have the longest window, from September to February. Tasmania is too cool for a reliable crop. Sweet potato is not frost tolerant, so it needs a long, warm, frost-free run of about 4 to 5 months to size up.
Why are my sweet potatoes all vine and no tubers?
Too much nitrogen is the usual cause. Rich, high-nitrogen soil pushes lush leafy vine at the expense of tubers, so feed lightly and avoid heavy nitrogen feeds. Vines that root at every node where they touch the soil also spread the plant's energy into many small tubers, so lift and redirect the vines occasionally. Full sun and a long warm season help the plant put energy into roots.
Why do I need to cure sweet potatoes?
Curing heals the skins and converts some of the starch into sugar, which is why cured sweet potato tastes sweet and creamy rather than bland and starchy straight from the ground. Cure freshly dug tubers for about 4 to 7 days in warm, humid conditions, roughly 27 to 30 C with high humidity around 85 to 90 percent. Curing also toughens the skins so the tubers store for months.
How do I store sweet potatoes, and why not the fridge?
After curing, store sweet potatoes somewhere cool but not cold, around 12 to 15 C, in a dark, airy spot. Do not refrigerate them. Fridge temperatures cause chilling injury, which gives a hard core and an off flavour when cooked. Cured tubers keep for months and the flavour often improves over the first few weeks.
Can I grow sweet potato in a pot?
Yes. Use a large container, half-barrel or grow bag of at least 40 litres, with one to two slips in a free-draining mix, in full sun. Keep the water up consistently through the season. Bush or compact varieties suit pots better than rampant vining types, which need a lot of room.
How long do sweet potatoes take to grow?
From planting slips, sweet potato takes about 4 to 5 months, roughly 100 to 150 days, of warm frost-free weather to mature. Warmth speeds it up and cool conditions slow it down, so in cooler areas choose short-season varieties and warm the soil to make the most of the season.
Where can I get sweet potato slips for planting?
Nurseries and garden centres sell slips in spring, and specialist suppliers post them in the planting season. You can also grow your own from a healthy, untreated tuber by sprouting it in water or moist sand about 6 to 8 weeks before planting time. In Western Australia, use WA-grown slips, because quarantine rules block plants from the east coast.
How many sweet potatoes do you get from one plant?
Our plant data puts a healthy plant at around 1 to 2 kg of tubers. Yields are best in full sun, loose mounded soil and a long warm season, and too much nitrogen gives lush vines with few tubers.
Can I grow sweet potato in Melbourne or Canberra?
Yes, with care. Melbourne can plant slips from October to December once the soil reaches about 20°C, but the vines need five to six frost-free months, so it is risky but possible. Canberra is very marginal, with a November and December planting window and a harvest before the April frost. Tasmania's summers are too cool for a reliable crop.
See also: How to Grow Potatoes and How to Grow Pumpkin
See also: Sweet Potato in the Plant Library
Plant profile
The sweet potato profile has sowing times for your region, companion plants and common pests.