There may not be a one size fits all regimen, but there IS a one size fits 99.9% regimen which has proven to bear fruit for a LOT of growers. I probably have about 300 plants covering at least 200 species and I don't know how many genera - maybe 125 to150. All those plants are treated exactly the same, except for allowances that a little more than half of them snooze the winter away, dormant, in a cold garage where they need no care other than the snow I toss on top of them occasionally through the winter so roots don't dry out. The houseplants and succulents grow under the same lights, get watered ON A SCHEDULE at the same time, get fertilized with the same fertilizer, and manage to remain in excellent health, year after year. It's true that when all you have is natural light, plants will need to be sited in consideration of their light preferences, and temperatures are a consideration, but the portion of the cultural conditions that are provided by the grower that are most apt to spawn trouble will relate to a triangle formed by soil choice, watering habits, and proper nutrition. These three factors are so intimately related that it's difficult to discuss one without including the others unless you're growing in a soil that allows you to water correctly. The idea that different plants require different treatment (other than light and temps) comes largely from the fact that some plants are better able to tolerate adversity. 'Tolerate' somehow translated to 'appreciate', and soon people were believing some plants LIKED soils wetter than other plants. Most of the plants you'll grow perform best when their soils are barely damp - not wet, and never soggy. If you're interested, read the link I left below. It will help you avoid most of the frustration suffered by people new to the growing experience if you put it to practical use. Al Here is a link that might be useful: More here

I have lost potato onion sets to freezing in two attempts here in z7. I would suggest put the flat outside and cover it with a foot or so of leaves or hay, uncover and plant out in early spring.

Sweet taters are similar but different. You do not hill them as they grow but instead make your hill first before you plant your slips. Sweet taters are also much more tolerant of clay soils being able to push down through as a thin root and wedge it as they expand. Of course this ability differs to varying degrees by cultivar and like all root crops looser is always better over all. Also unlike "Irish" taters you don't plant the potato or cut pieces but instead plant sprouts or slips that form from sweet potatoes that are allowed to sprout either in the classic sweet potato half suspended in water with toothpicks in a mason jar or in a sprouting bed, usually damp sand in a cold frame. Cold in the case of sweet taters is a misnomer as unlike regular taters which come from way up high in the cold Andes mountains, sweet taters hail from the lowland tropical bottomlands and they want heat and lots of it so plant these in May or later as long as there is time in the season for them as most need a long season to size up. They also like it a little wetter than regular spuds especially when first set out as slips. When I was a kid we made our ridges then wet them down to a mud pie state before setting the slips for a very dirty day in the field. Today I do it by making a ditch down the top of the ridge prior to setting the slips and then set my slips about 10-12 inches apart in the row and bury them until only the top leaves are showing and then fill the ditch to the brim with water. The key is to never ever let the slips dry out for the first week or so until they have been able to establish roots. Soaker hoses are a God send compared to the days of toting buckets of water to the field. If you can time your planting for an overcast day, or even better week, so much the better. They, too, like a good side dress once established but do not over do it as like the others you'll get great tops at the expense of roots. I just want good thick foliage for supressing weeds and photosynthesis and no more. Let them stress ever so slightly later in the season to send more good stuff to the roots. Like has been said they do need lots of room compared to the non vining irish kind if you're growing the vining type of sweet potatoes. Some can go over six foot or more but I generally reserve tolerating vines only on my melons and pumpkins so I opt for bunch or semi bunch versions myself. I've almost completely settled on the newer semi bunch Covington cultivar but still alot some space to others. My Covingtons go into two one hundred foot rows as my main sweet potato for year round use. herboil, just a note on letting sweet potato vines grow up instead of out. With some cultivars, centennial comes to mind, you will lose nearly half your crop as many cultivars will root at the nodes and make roots (potatoes) there. Me personally, I despise having to hunt and peck to dig sweet potatoes all over God's creation so those cultivars are very low on my list even though I personally like the taste of centennials. For me and mine I like to find my taters exactly where I planted them.

Hi Scarleta, Ciscoe Morris grows spuds in a clean garbage can, with good results. I suppose you could use any large container with drainage. Here's his article from the Seattle Times: Growing spuds in a garbage can is fun, and it's something you can do to get your kids interested in gardening. Any clean plastic garbage can will work. Drill at least four 1/2-inch holes in the bottom for good drainage and fill the bottom 6 inches deep with houseplant potting soil. Mix in slow-release fertilizer, or feed every two weeks with high-phosphorus, soluble houseplant fertilizer. Buy starter potatoes at a nursery, and plant them whole, 5 inches apart, just under the soil surface and water them in. The vines will soon begin to grow and as soon as they reach 4 inches tall, cover all but 1 inch of the lowest vine with compost, wood chips or potting soil. Continue to cover the vines in this way until they grow out of the top of the garbage can. Once the vines bloom, you can reach in and pick the biggest spuds you can find. These are new potatoes and they won't store, but they are delicious for that evening's dinner. Wait to do the main harvest until vines die back completely in fall. You never know what you'll get. My champion harvest was 42 softball-size Yukon Golds. Then for some reason, the next year I planted the same variety and got exactly 9,347,012 spuds smaller than pingpong balls.