What is the worst to happen without proper curing? I would say that they will not likely be as sweet. I don't know about the keeping qualities. Yesterday I dumped a basket of sweetpotatoes from a year ago. They looked solid though they had some sprouting....I cure mine 8 days at 85 degrees and not well ventilated.

Derbika, I am a commercial grower of sweet potatoes in North Carolina. I have grown, cured, and stored sweet potatoes for a number of years. Curing aside, there are a number of factors that may affect the taste of sweet potato. Do you know the type of variety you have? Is it an orange flesh or white flesh variety? White flesh varieties are typically drier, and will have less sweet taste even after curing and storing. Variety type, quality of seed, and growing conditions can all play a role in the flavor of sweet potato. A previous poster was spot on with the idea of slow roasting to increase the sweetness. Also, green(fresh) sweet potatoes are also excellent for cutting and frying. Not the healthiest way to eat them, but great nonetheless. Curing is done for a couple of reasons. First, to help heal any skinning to the roots from harvest. Second, curing helps start to turn starches in the sweet potatoes to sugar. The curing process is only a few days. However, it can take weeks for the roots to develop a good sweet flavor. Artifical heat works well, but the sweet potatoes will cure themselves out eventually if you do absolutely nothing to them. I would suggest storing them in a dark, well ventilated area and continue to sample. I think you will find they will continue to get sweeter as time goes on. Good Luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Scott Farms

Normally it is still hot when I dig them in September or October. I just put them in old plastic dairy crates in the sun for about ten days. Our relative humidity also is pretty high. That works very well for me, easily allowing us to eat from the same batch fully two years later. Last year my sweet potatoes were late to finish and we had cool weather. At first I set them out single layer on a dark sheet on the lawn with heavy clear plastic over them to trap the sun's heat. I turned them 2-3 times during the day to even out the warmth. I also kept a thermometer under the plastic to monitor temps. It never did get as warm as I would have preferred. I brought them in every evening. Later, I resorted to putting them in the car by day. However, by then it just was not getting very warm even in the car. The potatoes have kept until now, almost a year since put away in the dark basement. But no way will any from this batch make it all the way to next year. Buds are breaking....I did eat first the smaller ones and any that began to show signs of losing internal moisture. So even my best sweet potatoes from last year don't have the usual storage life. (I did not grow any to cure this year.)

Thanks. I threw most away and save those that had the smallest of eaten parts. I'll eat them as soon as they cure. Do you think the holes are from grubs or can voles do that type of damage too? Curing is iffy because I cannot bring them inside with proper heat and humidity. No room inside and short growing season. I'm in a zone 5 microsystem. I put them on cardboard/newspaper on an eastern facing stone porch and cover with a tarp. It has worked before as the potatoes have tasted good, but I just dug them today and an unexpected frost is coming tonight. This year could be a total loss.