Well, I thought sweet potatoes were going to be a breeze for me, but I must be doing something wrong. I have 8 slips in a raised bed with new soil from a bulk materials place (it's 60% compost, 30% cushion sand, 10% lava sand). I planted in June so they've been in the ground about 3-4 weeks. Funny thing is, I planted the 2 extra I had, just willy nilly, in the front yard flower bed because I didn't want to waste them. Low and behold, the ones in the flower bed are doing amazing and about 3 times the size of the ones in the back. It does get afternoon shade from about 4 pm on. The back gets full sun in Fort Worth so pretty hot. Here is a pic of what the problem looks like. Any ideas?