After our semi-successful sweet potato project last year, we decided to do it again. It takes a while for them to start rooting and then develop the slips that you pluck off and plant, but we figured we might as well start now.
 |
| Organic Sweet Potatoes |
Be sure you ALWAYS start with organic sweet potatoes. This goes for any potato or plant that you are trying to start/root from store bought. The reason is that regular produce (non-organic) is often treated with with a chemical that inhibits sprouting, for obvious reasons. Organic will of course be chemical free.
We just slice them in half...
 |
| Sweet Potatoes in a Glass of Water |
...and then do the time honored "three toothpicks and a glass of water" method. Last year we tried another method but we found that even though this is perhaps a bit more work, they seemed to sprout faster this way.
 |
| Rooting Sweet Potatoes in Water |
I just lined them up on top of the fridge where they can get natural light and we can see when the water needs to be added/changed. 2nd Man looks up on top and sighs...I'm cluttering up the top of the fridge...but he knows the end result is worth a few weeks of rooting sweet potatoes in this way!
Time to get the gardening started, somehow!
I can't remember, did you get any sweet potatoes from your slips? I tried them this year too but started my slips too late. I don't think I will get any sweet potatoes out of them as a result. I tried the same two methods with a slight difference, I put soil in the tray. I only half covered the sweet potatoes. I found this faster than the toothpick method. I was also told by a horticulturalist friend that bacteria can form in the holes made by the toothpicks. Seeing as you have just started your experiment perhaps a third tray might be worth experimenting with. Sorry 2nd man!
ReplyDeleteI've started some of my slips already (some varieties take longer than others to break dormancy), but I always use whole sweet potatoes. I've never seen anyone cut them in half to root them before. Learn something new everyday.
ReplyDeleteI have done this before but I have never cut my potatoes in half. I had bought the smallest sweet potatoes I could find (ones that would fit into a glass and went from there by inserting toothpicks so that they rest on the glass rim but the bottom of the potato not touching the bottom of the glass; adding water when needed.
ReplyDeleteThis process I believe will also work using russet potatoes.
Found a link that may help some of you who would like to try this....................
http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-plant-and-grow-sweet-potatoes/index.html
Also found this link as well.
http://theorganiclemon.com/2012/03/01/how-to-root-a-sweet-potato-for-planting/
Yep, my fingers are itching to get into that Spring garden dirt, too.
ReplyDeleteWill you be growing these in containers/raised beds, or in a more traditional garden?
ReplyDeleteThey look like my favourite type - the orange fleshed Jewel. You can also grow sweet potatoes from the "roots" they send out - just nip 'em off and place in soil.
ReplyDelete1st Man,
ReplyDeleteI haven't started my sweet potatoes in water. I just wait for the little eyes to start growing then cut the potatoes up. I may have to start them in water this year.
Oooo I'm going to try this!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid we had one of those old piano with the tall back. Mother let us would start a sweet potato plant in a quart mason jar. We used one that would go about half into the jar. Left it whole and no toothpicks. I remember once we had one that had runners about 5 or 6 feet long. We placed it the middle of the piano and the runners would run across the top and down the sides. Long time ago but I have never forgotten.
ReplyDelete