sweet potato slips

[GardenRN]

Ok well I tried making my own sweet potato slips this year. I started some a few weeks ago as a trial run to see how long it would take and everything because I had no idea. Now I have about a dozen that have been separated from the potatoes and even have their own roots in a jar of water.

The question is, because all of these slips are looking really good I hate to throw them away. So, how cold tolerant are sweet potatoes, and, if they're not cold tolerant, maybe someone who is familiar with how fast they grow can tell me if it is reasonable to expect to be able to keep these in pots until the end of April when I can put them outside.

BTW, the groundhog didn't see his shadow!!!! EARLY SPRING YAAAAAAAY!!!!!!

[soil]

plant them in a pot inside, they will grow vines and such. when its almost time to plant out youll have a little "mother" plant to take cuttings off of, then plant those cuttings in your garden.

[gixxerific]

Sweet potatoes do not like the cold.

If I may bust in here. I will be doing the same this year. I did it last year as well but not sure on the exact process.

Do you take the chunk of potato along with the slip and plant that. Or do you just cut off the slip before the actual potato and plant that.

I still have a ton of Sweets waiting for my belly or to become mothers.

[GardenRN]

first you set the potato in a cup/jar of water. About 1/2 submerged. When the shoots start growing off of the potato and are about 7-8 inches long, break them off of the potato right at the contact point. Then put those in water. I put mine in about 2 inches of water. The shoots or "slips" will start to grow roots. When sufficient roots have been established, ou can move into dirt. That's the method I'm using anyways.


Don't forget, sweet potatoes aren't really potatoes at all, so don't treat them as such.

[gixxerific]

I just got finished pulling a sweet out and putting it in a pot with some soil. This is how I did it last year. That and I had a few half buried in the garden. I could not get them to sprout in water. Maybe I was too anxious or it wasn't warm enough. Hard to say, I think I will try a race and put one in a glass of water and see how that fares against the one in soil.

Thanks for the advice on pulling them off. So if I understand you right just yank off the green with NO potato with it and than put that in water. I planted some of my sprouts last year straight in the garden but they had a small chunk of tater with them. They did produce.

I should be trying to get a bunch. Last year plants couldn't be found anywhere and one place I was looking kept waiting and waiting and when they got them in they were gone that weekend. I missed them .

:EDIT: Okay I just put a spud in a cup of water. It is sitting there right next to my other spud so the race is on.

[Odd Duck]

I had a sweet potato, of a variety I liked, that started to sprout in the cupboard. I broke off the slips and planted directly into good potting soil. They are going gangbusters, already (about 4 weeks later). I've probably jumped the gun on my season, but the sprouts were there, so they determined my timing for me.

I don't think it's necessary to put them in water to get them to root.

I have a decorative sweet potato (lime green vine) that I saved from last year and have it split and face down in damp sand (the suggested method I read most often) and it's not starting slips worth a darn. I guess I should have left it in the dark in the cupboard!

[gixxerific]

You are probably good Odd Duck. Just transfer cuttings to the garden later. I hear people will take cuttings of their fall crop and let it grow all winter, they will be just like a vine, than plant that in the spring.

[Odd Duck]

The big problem is limited space under my grow lights. I'm sure the vines will be OK, just leggy as all get out because they're not going to get top priority because I know they're tough and very tolerant. I've got other things that will be begging for space under the lights, so the vines will get pushed to the east window without supplemental lights. Extra rough for them because the cats can get to them by that window!

[GardenRN]

gix, as far as I have read, and what I am doing, yeah no tater on the end of the vine. Although mine are purple, not green. And they have green leaves. But I do tug them off as close to the potato as possible. That seems to be where they want to root. Some of my vines were over a foot long before I took them off the potato!

I can't speak for or against the other methods as this is my first year. But I can say that mine seem to be doing well.

Mine took about a week, maybe a little more before I started seeing roots coming off the potato. But once they did I could see good growth every day. And then it was at least a week after that before the vines started growing from the top. And mine weren't, and still aren't in light. They are on top of the fridge which is a fairly dark spot unless I'm in the kitchen cooking. But as long as everything keeps looking good they can sit there and trail right down the side of the fridge till spring for all I care! lol

Btw, sweet potatoes (if my memory serves me right) are actually a sister of morning glories. If that helps any on the care/light/soil questions.

[Bobberman]

I want to put a dozen or more sweet potatos in this year and start them myself. Last year I had a nice plant and kept the tubers from it! I read that the store bought sweet potatoes must be scrubbed good to get the anti growth stuff they put on them off. also I guess they need some light and a temp o 70 or more to sprout better ! Also it seems that there are many types even n the grocery stores! The green ones are sweet potatoes but what are the brown ones are they yams?

[GardenRN]

I think all that garbage you hear about anti-growth stuff hindering growth of plants from the store is a bunch of bologna! I have heard that about a bunch of different things and never ever had a problem starting things from the store.

Case in point I bought 7 garlic bulbs from walmart that gave me 58 cloves. Every single one of them sprouted a week after I read that garlic should be bought somewhere other than the food store for this reason. But with the garlic on sale it was way cheaper to buy it from walmart than it was to get it at the nursery. So until I have a problem, I'll keep getting stuff from the store.


NOW, to be fair, the sweet potatoes I have are from someone at work who sells her every year. This lady plants about an acre of sweet potatoes every years and sells paper grocery bags full for $5 each. She sells out every year! Raking it in hand over fist! lol. But I work in a hospital where there are lots of buyers and nurses LOVE buying junk from one another

[gixxerific]

I am with you GardenRn. I have had Irish potatoes and garlic from the store all sprout if left too long. Heck I even planted spring garlic from the grocery store last year. It grew but didn't get big but that is the spring planting. It did about as well as the garlic I got from Lowe's.

I also agree with the warm temps for getting slips to grow. Last year they didn't do much till it warmed up even being on a window sill in water. When I put some in the ground later in the season the took pretty fast.

Mine for the moment are in the cold basement, it's -1 outside with only one register in the basement.

Now why can't you get garlic in late summer early fall from Lowe's etc? They had irish potatoes for sale at that time. Do the math on that.

[applestar]

It means you don't want to ask for gardening advice there.

[GardenRN]

Ha, good one applestar.

Probably just the fault of the person ordering for the store

[GardenRN]

I moved one of the vines from the jar of water to a 5" pot of soil today and placed it in the basement (where it is a little cooler) next to the lights for the seed trays. We'll see what happens.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Ok, I'm here for some updates. How are the slips doing?

What is the average number of slips one gets from a sweet potato?

Do you change out the water while sprouting.

A week for roots to show and another week for slips?

Eric

[Bobberman]

I have 8 sweet poatoes in different containers in different areas of the house. I even have two by a register for extra heat! Nothing yet for over a week!

[DoubleDogFarm]

I have 8 sweet poatoes in different containers in different areas of the house. I even have two by a register for extra heat! Nothing yet for over a week!

Well, That's not good bob. What do you think the problem is?


Eric

[Bobberman]

I think the problem is time. Maybe its the tap water with chlorine in it! Temp is around 65 to 70 most of the time! Maybe a little wet peat mixed in would work instead of just water

[applestar]

I was sure I had a thread or a post detailing what I did last year but can't find it at the moment. I briefly referenced it in this post with a photo of my window box covered in black trash bag then a clear one. 1/3 each sand, soil, compost mix. Grew ridiculous number of well-rooted slips.

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139237#139237

The missing post explained how the water method worked well the year before but I thought this way would be even better.

Found the post I was thinking of in this thread. It"s a good one with all kinds of helpful contributions by everybody.
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21912
(I wonder if it should it be a sticky...?)

Oh yeah, go with what I said then, not what I remembered.

[soil]

my potatoes are still slowly growing slips in the dark. there not in water at all. each one has about 10 tiny little slips on it now. ive cut a few off for rooting extra early as an experiment growing them in pots.

[GardenRN]

Tutorial:

Place a sweet potato halfway submerged into a glass of water and leave it on top of your fridge until you start to see sprouts. (better to use untreated potatoes) As shown below;

[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/grnpez/Photo02241342.jpg[/img]

Now, when the slips or shoots have reached a length of 10"-14" break them off at the base. Now is where you can make a personal choice. You can put the shoots in another jar or cup with the bases of the slips in an couple of inches of water, or you can plant them directly into thoroughly moist soil. As shown below.

[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v687/grnpez/Photo02241341.jpg[/img]

Clearly, neither method is more effective. The slips in the pot on the left (white pot) were rooted in water for about two weeks and had roots that were about 3" coming from at least the bottom 2" of the slip.

The slips on the right (purple pot) were planted directly into the soil after being removed from the potato.

Both are doing great.

Note: when the slips are removed from the potato, if the potato is left in the water, it will grow more slips. Even in the same spots where you broke off previous ones. Good luck with your sweet potatoes!

[Bobberman]

Will it hurt if you cut the sweet potato in half before you start!
Thanks for the nice pictures! Garding is truly amazing!

[GardenRN]

Can't vouch for or against cutting it in half. I have seen videos of people that do it that way. This is the first time I have one sweet potatoes. I did watch nearly every video on youtube on starting sweet potatoes.

Large scale slip producers basically lay down a road of sweet potatoes! Then they cover it with soil and when the slips are long enough, they get laborers to go out and they basically just grab a handful and cut them off at ground level, band them together, and send 'em off. It's not a delicate process.

Cutting it in half may work, it also may make the potato more susceptible to rotting. I just don't know.

[gixxerific]

I have yet to have luck with the water method. But putting the potato on soil worked for me last year. One was in the ground the other in a pot on my table outside.

[applestar]

I really think heat is the key. I had started a white sweet potato end of the year and it had started to root and sprout, then the coldest weather arrived with negative single digits and hardly out of the teens and the heater cranking 24/7 trying to keep the inside temp warm, and failing. The silly thing rotted even though it was on the heating mat.

I probably won't even try to start the sweet potato slips until April... 1st year, I started trying to grow them around 3rd week of March or so but they sat like lumps until the 4 day heatwave in late April.

They can't be planted out until it gets hot for good anyway, though I plan to use cloches and low poly tunnels to get the ground warmed up earlier like I did last year.

[gixxerific]

Yea Apple heat is the key I believe. I tried all winter and spring with nothing. When it got warm that is when I tried mine outside and the started grwoing almost immediately.

But starting early isn't bad either if you can get them to go. Since they can be potted up and will grow for while and get strong. I am going to move my little experiment upstairs on the fridge right now actually it's too cool in the basement. The one in the soil has some tiny growth the one in water has nothing.

[garden5]

I've heard the same thing that store potatoes are treated to prevent sprouting. Well, I've got about 4-5 with eyes all over them (whites, not sweets) and I think that this really shoots down that theory.

Oh, and this isn't the first time. I've had just about every bag of potatoes sprout if it sat around long enough. Warmth does help I've noticed.

[gixxerific]

I've heard the same thing that store potatoes are treated to prevent sprouting. Well, I've got about 4-5 with eyes all over them (whites, not sweets) and I think that this really shoots down that theory.

Oh, and this isn't the first time. I've had just about every bag of potatoes sprout if it sat around long enough. Warmth does help I've noticed.

My wife said she wanted red potatoes this year well guess what the reds in the fridge are sprouting so there you go. We will have reds this year.

[garden5]

Reds are GREAT!

In fact, if I usually go with reds over whites.

Of course, mashed sweet potatoes with butter beats all .