This baby grew quite a garland of vines. We chopped these babies into pieces and planted all of them.This baby grew quite a garland of vines. We chopped these babies into pieces and planted all of them.
There was hardly any water left in the container, and a huge root structure.There was hardly any water left in the container, and a huge root structure.
Up the chains and into the rafters.Up the chains and into the rafters.
And then... June 11, 3 1/2 months after starting. The vines had grown up the chains of our grow lights.And then... June 11, 3 1/2 months after starting. The vines had grown up the chains of our grow lights.
Roots! We really should have changed the water more frequently, because it was pretty ripe by this point.Roots! We really should have changed the water more frequently, because it was pretty ripe by this point.
Two months of growth, April 11Two months of growth, April 11
Starting to form roots, March 11Starting to form roots, March 11
Sprout!Sprout!
The mother potato sprouting, March 11, a month after placing in water. We also added some soil and fertilizer to the water at this point.The mother potato sprouting, March 11, a month after placing in water. We also added some soil and fertilizer to the water at this point.
Mother sweet potato in water, February 11. It quickly became obvious that this was too small, so we transferred it to a larger container.Mother sweet potato in water, February 11. It quickly became obvious that this was too small, so we transferred it to a larger container.
After two months of growth, this mother has quite the root structureAfter two months of growth, this mother has quite the root structure
  • This baby grew quite a garland of vines. We chopped these babies into pieces and planted all of them.
  • There was hardly any water left in the container, and a huge root structure.
  • Up the chains and into the rafters.
  • And then... June 11, 3 1/2 months after starting. The vines had grown up the chains of our grow lights.
  • Roots! We really should have changed the water more frequently, because it was pretty ripe by this point.
  • Two months of growth, April 11
  • Starting to form roots, March 11
  • Sprout!
  • The mother potato sprouting, March 11, a month after placing in water. We also added some soil and fertilizer to the water at this point.
  • Mother sweet potato in water, February 11. It quickly became obvious that this was too small, so we transferred it to a larger container.
  • After two months of growth, this mother has quite the root structure

And finally in our series on neglectful gardening: starting sweet potato slips.

Generally sweet potatoes are grown from slips: green vines that sprout from one of last year’s sweet potatoes, plucked off the mother potato and planted in the ground to grow more sweet potatoes.

It’s easy to start sweet potatoes at home. If you grow your own, save some for growing slips the next season. If you don’t have your own, you can either a) buy slips from a local garden center or mail-order seed company, or b) try starting slips from purchased sweet potatoes. If you go with option b), use organic sweet potatoes, because they will be less likely to have been sprayed to prevent them from sprouting.

To encourage the mother potato to sprout, you can either submerge it partially in water and let it live there like a bunch of flowers, or partially bury it in sand or soil. It will also need warmth to sprout, and you’ll want to start it very early compared to when you want to plant your slips, because it can take several months for the slips to really get going.

Once the vines are several inches long, you just pull them off and plant them in your garden. Easy cheesy.

This is where the neglectful part comes in. I opted for the water method, and many weeks later, had nothing to show for it. (In the future I would probably go with the soil method so that the whole potato can be buried and encouraged to sprout. Plus it’s less likely to grow algae.) I probably wasn’t giving the mother potato enough warmth, so she was slow slow slow.

Eventually it started to sprout, but growth was still slow. I forgot all about the sweet potato. Many weeks (months?) later, I came back to find the sweet potato had taken over our basement and was growing through the rafters. Seriously.

By the time I got to them, the vines were 6 feet tall. There were only a few vines, though, and I wanted to plant a couple dozen slips. Instead of planing a 6′ slip, I chopped the vines into sections and planted all of them. Sweet potato slips are remarkably resilient, and thus far they seem to have all survived.

I got them planted later than I really wanted, so I hope they have enough time to give us a substantial harvest like last year.

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  1. The sweet potato that kept on giving | CoMo Homestead

    […] kept a single sweet potato from last season as our stock for sweet potato slips for this season. I got them planted in the garden way late, and it definitely affected our yield. We only got about […]