Author Topic: Sweet Potato Progress  (Read 1191 times)

Offline MoWin

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Sweet Potato Progress
« on: March 16, 2014, 05:40:05 PM »
I have grown my own sweet potato slips or starts for almost 40 years. I have always done them like this. It occurred to me that some of you might be interested in how I do this. This year I didn't have one that I saved from our own, so I took a nice sweet potato that I bought from the store. It was a nice size without blemishes. Not organic, but that shouldn't matter. I filled a pint jar with water and stuck the pointed end down about half way in the water. After about 2 weeks I started seeing little white roots put on in the water. Yesterday I twisted the first slips off of it. Normally if  I carefully twist the slips off, more will grow there. I can get many starts from this one potato. Here is a picture of it today. This is after I pulled the slips off yesterday.

See the little white roots on the bottom half of the sweet potato?
Here are the slips I twisted off yesterday. Aren't they pretty?

Now not all sweet potatoes will do this for you. I had one this year that started to rot instead of putting roots on. I guess it is kind of luck. Once I twist the slips off, I put them in water to get roots. Then they can be transplanted into potting soil until the outside temps are warm enough. Here in northwest Missouri, that would be towards the end of May. Sweet potatoes like warm weather. We make a hill about a foot high of soil and as long as we need. I then plant a slip every 12 or so inches on top of this hill. Each of these should produce 4-5 nice sized sweet potatoes, so as you can see, I get a lot off of this one sweet potato. I water them daily for the first week, then usually leave them alone except to weed and try to train the vines to lay along side the hill instead of sprawl all over the garden. LOL It is pretty simple really and very cost effective. I hope this will encourage some of you to start your own sweet potatoes.  ;D
Blessings,
Winona
Winona in northwest Missouri
Wife to Kevin
Mom to Carolyn, Cathryn, Isaiah, Hazel, and Jon
Grandma to Ashton, Ava, Noah, Izabella, and Maddison
Furbabies: Aeris, Buddy, and Callie

Offline luv2bmom

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Re: Sweet Potato Progress
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2014, 08:02:45 AM »
Thank you for the pictures and explanation of growing sweet potatoes!  I'm the only one who will eat sweet potatoes so i've never had them in our garden!  :)  it's really neat how you do it Winona!!!!
Pixie, wife to Coby
mother to Megan, Amanda
and to our beloved late son Braden
Baboo to Mont, Ada, Brinly and Brielle
mil to Warren and Marcus

Offline Momtoseven

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Re: Sweet Potato Progress
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2014, 10:36:55 AM »
Winona,

I cannot believe my good fortune - I have been wanting to grow sweet potatoes here.  I have very good luck with regular potatoes and I thought I should branch out a bit.  Your pictures are just what I needed.  Thank you sooooooo much.

Ellen