I've had very good success with growing Sweet Potatoes in straw bales. In this video, I'll show you step by step how to do it. I'll show you from the very beginning, when you start by growing your own Sweet Potato slips, to when you finally harvest the Sweet Potatoes.
You start by growing Sweet Potato slips. Sweet Potato slips are sprout that have been broken off from a Sweet Potato, then placed in water until they grow roots.
While you are growing your Sweet Potato slips, you can condition the straw bale that you are going to use. That is accomplished by watering the bale and adding some nitrogen fertilizer. I will tell you the exact amount I use in this video, along with how long to to use it. While you are conditioning the bale, the temperature inside the bale can rise of over 120 or 130 degrees F., or about 48.8 to 54.4 degrees C.
After the bale is conditioned and the temperature inside the bale has fallen to 90 degrees F., or 32.2 degrees C., it's time to prepare the bale to plant. I begin by pushing my trowel into the top of the bale repeatedly, to loosen up the straw and make room from some soil to go down into the bale a little ways. Next I added soil to the top of the bale of straw and push it into the bale using my hands while wearing gardening gloves. I wear gloves because it safer and much easier on my hands. I continue to adds soil and push it into the bale until I think it can hold anymore. Once the soil has been added to the top of the straw bale, I make some planting holes where I plan to plant my Sweet Potato slips by pushing my trowel down into the bale again. When I have some holes made, I refill them and push the soil down into the hole.
Planting the slips is very easy. All I do it make a hole using my hand (with gloves on of course), then I drop the roots of the slip into the hole and fill dirt in around it.
I water the straw bales using drip irrigation. The water comes from our well. If you are interesting in using drip irrigation, you should make sure you have a back flow preventer. Most cities and towns require it. My main irrigation lines are 1/2 inch. I come off from the main line using 1/4 inch tubing. At the end of the 1/4 inch tubing are emitters, or drippers. Each emitter has a flow rate....1/2 gallon per hour, 1 gallon per hour, or 2 gallons per hour. I usually give each bale about 2 gallons of water per day during the hottest part of summer.
Harvesting Sweet Potatoes grown in straw bales is about as easy as it gets. You simply pull straw apart and pull out the Sweet Potatoes. Do digging is required, although you can dig below to bale if you want. I've actually found a few Sweet Potatoes doing that. Let us know if you've ever tried to grow Sweet Potatoes in straw bales before. Thanks for watching!

This is not a sponsored video, but as an Amazon affiliate, I earn a commission from any items purchased using my affiliate link below.
The compost thermometer I use to monitor the temperature of the bale: https://amzn.to/40Vyec7
The trowel I was using in this video: https://amzn.to/3sANcrn

Some of the videos that I've done on Sweet Potatoes.
Here is how I condition the bale:    • Conditioning, Planting and Growing a ...  
Here is how I prepare the bale to plant:    • Preparing A Straw Bale For Planting A...  
How To Start Sweet Potato Slips:    • How To Grow Sweet Potato Slips To Pla...  
Sweet Potatoes Grown In Straw Bales Huge No Dig Harvest, Red Garnet:    • Sweet Potatoes Grown In Straw Bales ...  
Garnet Red Sweet Potato Harvest Grown in Straw Bale:    • Harvesting Garnet Sweet Potatoes Grow...  
Yellow Jersey Sweet Potato Grow Bag Harvest:    • Grow Bag Sweet Potato Reveal  Harves...  
Harvesting 4 Types of Sweet Potatoes Grown in a Straw Bale:    • Straw Bale Sweet Potatoes  Four Type...  

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I garden in zone 6b, in the state Kansas. I would love to hear from you, so feel free to comment, make suggestions, ask a question, give tips, tell about your garden, or even offer constructive criticism.
Thanks for watching!

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