When to plant Sweet potato in Nossa Senhora da Luz

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Sweet potato

Sao Domingos, Cabo Verde

Sweet potato is a trailing vine you grow from vine cuttings (slips), not from seed and not by planting the root.

Sweet potato in Nossa Senhora da Luz, rain-fed and with irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant 7 Dec 2026 – 2 Mar 2027 opens in 10 weeks
Expected harvest about 33.2 t/ha
Harvest From 7 Mar 2027 to 30 Jul 2027, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest 90–150 days after planting
Work it takes 70–148 days per hectare, by hand

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 1 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Nossa Senhora da Luz leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.

Planting after 2 Mar 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Nossa Senhora da Luz

Rain and temperature 96%
The soil 96%
The lie of the land 76%

For sweet potato in Nossa Senhora da Luz, the lie of the land is the tightest of the three at 76%. You cannot flatten it, but you can farm it: plant along the contour rather than up and down, ridge or tie ridges to hold water on the slope, and expect shallower rooting than the crop would manage on flat ground.

The 2027 season in Nossa Senhora da Luz

Rainy seasonsOne each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expectedAugust 2027 to October 2027
Rain in a typical yearAbout 267 mm
This season's rainLeaning dry — September looks short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early.
What that supportsenough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers3 kinds of ground. The season below is the largest that farms — about 50% of this area.
Agro-ecological zones covering this area
50% enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 81 growing days · about 270 mm · August to October
30% too dry for rain-fed cropping without irrigation; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season no rain-fed season · about 240 mm · August to October
20% enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 79 growing days · about 260 mm · August to October

last updated 16 September 2026

What sweet potato needs to grow here

Soil it likes well-drained sandy, sandy loam or loam soil
Soil sourness (pH) Happiest between pH 5.0 and 6.5
Rain it needs About 750–1,000 mm across the season
Spacing 100 cm between rows, 30 cm between plants
Feed it most with potassium and nitrogen

What it takes to grow sweet potato in Nossa Senhora da Luz

Planting materialAbout 33,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 133 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 50 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 266 kg per hectare
In the shopsA basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established.
Hand work70–148 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a sweet potato crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Soil pH outside the crop's rangeCorrect soil pH (acidifier)Correctable with liming

Grow Sweet potato with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Nossa Senhora da Luz as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Sweet potato in nearby districts

This calendar moves

Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.

Frequently asked questions

Will sweet potato grow well in Nossa Senhora da Luz?

Nossa Senhora da Luz rates as favourable for sweet potato.

When should I plant sweet potato in Nossa Senhora da Luz?

Typically 7 Dec 2026 to 2 Mar 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Nossa Senhora da Luz, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.

Also worth considering in Nossa Senhora da Luz

Keep going

Timing is one question. What the crop needs at every stage, what attacks it and where to sell it are the others.