I left it in the soil for about 4-5 months, and many of them ended up looking like this. I’m wondering if there’s something besides time that caused the weird shape.
@Landry
This one got hollowed out by bugs. Maybe yours got damaged and just grew over the wound?
@Landry
That shape though! 
I don’t grow sweet potatoes, but could it be that the soil was too hard? Maybe it couldn’t grow downward and went wide instead. Just a thought!
Lin said:
I don’t grow sweet potatoes, but could it be that the soil was too hard? Maybe it couldn’t grow downward and went wide instead. Just a thought!
W I D E potato.
I’ve grown sweet potatoes before, but this hasn’t happened to me. It kind of looks like they fused together. Maybe the soil was too hard or dry? Try adding some peat moss next time to keep it loose.
I grow sweet potatoes too, but I’m just an amateur. Don’t worry, it’s still totally edible.
There’s nothing wrong with it! Stores just don’t sell weird-looking ones. Growers always get odd shapes with root veggies.
Ren said:
There’s nothing wrong with it! Stores just don’t sell weird-looking ones. Growers always get odd shapes with root veggies.
Haha, true! But I’m growing these for commercial sale, and if they look like this, the supermarkets won’t take them.
@Amari
Have you thought about selling to companies like Imperfect Foods or Misfits Market?
That’s the sweet potato mothership!
It’s perfect the way it is. Wash it off, give it a little love, and appreciate its hard work!
It probably went through a drought. The skin cracked when it was watered again, and the ridges are just new growth after the split.
Gray said:
It probably went through a drought. The skin cracked when it was watered again, and the ridges are just new growth after the split.
Thank you for this explanation! I had the same issue. My first year growing sweet potatoes, and a lot had cracks filled with dirt. It wasn’t insects, so now I know to water them better. I focused too much on tomatoes and beans during our dry summer.
It’s just not grocery store pretty. Otherwise, it looks juicy and delicious!
I planted a whole sweet potato once. When I dug it up, the original one got huge and too fibrous to eat. Hopefully, yours is still good!
Looks like a bunch of sweet potatoes fused into one giant monster!
Nothing’s wrong—they’re all unique and beautiful!