{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "record_type": "plant",
  "slug": "sweet-potato",
  "common_name": "Sweet potato",
  "botanical_name": "Ipomoea batatas",
  "family": "Convolvulaceae",
  "summary": "Sweet potatoes are tender tropical vines grown from slips and need full sun, warm soil, a long protected season and careful curing of their edible storage roots.",
  "categories": [
    "root and tuber crop",
    "warm-season crop",
    "container crop"
  ],
  "growth_habits": [
    "trailing",
    "climbing"
  ],
  "lifecycle": "Tender perennial, grown as an annual",
  "difficulty": "Moderate",
  "requirements": {
    "light": {
      "minimum_direct_sun_hours": 6,
      "preferred_direct_sun_hours": 8
    },
    "soil_ph": {
      "minimum": 5.5,
      "maximum": 6.8
    },
    "container": {
      "minimum_volume_litres": 20,
      "minimum_diameter_cm": 30,
      "plants_per_container": 1
    },
    "spacing": {
      "minimum_cm": 30,
      "maximum_cm": 45
    },
    "planting_out": {
      "minimum_reliable_temperature_c": 18,
      "frost_tolerant": false,
      "label": "Plant slips",
      "note": "Plant after frost risk has passed, once the soil is reliably warm; protected cultivation is most dependable in the UK."
    },
    "harvest": {
      "typical_uk_months": [
        "September",
        "October"
      ]
    }
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "rhs-growing-sweet-potatoes",
      "publisher": "Royal Horticultural Society",
      "url": "https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/sweet-potatoes/grow-your-own",
      "supports": [
        "botanical_name",
        "warmth",
        "light",
        "propagation",
        "containers",
        "spacing",
        "watering",
        "training",
        "harvest"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "umd-growing-sweet-potatoes",
      "publisher": "University of Maryland Extension",
      "url": "https://extension.umd.edu/resource/growing-sweet-potatoes-home-garden",
      "supports": [
        "family",
        "storage_roots",
        "light",
        "soil_temperature",
        "propagation",
        "spacing",
        "watering",
        "harvest",
        "curing",
        "storage"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "osu-sweet-potato-production",
      "publisher": "Oklahoma State University Extension",
      "url": "https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/sweet-potato-production",
      "supports": [
        "soil",
        "soil_ph",
        "fertility",
        "rotation",
        "propagation",
        "spacing",
        "problems"
      ]
    }
  ]
}