Topic: sweet potato slips

[artichoke]

I'm using a few of my smaller organic sweet potatoes from last year's crop, and they are steadily sprouting. To produce that crop, I used a sweet potato my daughter had bought that was sprouting, and she was about to throw it away.

The other thing I did last year, just before the first frost, was to break off the tops of the vines and root them in water, then plant them in pots. Some have died, but I have 9 in bedroom window looking reasonably well (very cold bedroom), and I am hoping they will get away faster when I plant them out in May. They are MUCH taller that the little sprouts from the potatoes, so I am always going to do that in future.

[manicscousers]

I tried that, artichoke, they all died  :(
guess I don't know how to look after them over winter , still, I'll try it again next year  :)

[cornykev]

Saddad show them your pictures, I'm sure they'll like to see your big one.  ;D ;D ;D

[star]

Now that big one IS a sight to behold! And they size doesn't matter eh? ;D

[saddad]

These were last years... 15kg from 10 slips...




But the year before when we had that hot dry July I watered into a bucket buried by the slip and created a monster...
 ;D
 

[miniroots]

I'm confused now.

I've got a half dozen skips growing steadily from a half-potato on a window sill - I thought you had to take them off the potato and root them in compost... but the advice above says to plant the whole potato... What do I do?

And how long do the slips have to be before I pot up?

S

[manicscousers]

no, definitely the slips, each one's a mini plant..ours were between 1" and 3" when I potted them up, they're growing along nicely now but I only got 4  ;D

[cornykev]

Hi Scousers hows it going, I have nine slips growing on in pots and still have others still on the Sweet Potato in water. So whats the next stage, this is my first proper year trying them.     P.S   Miniroots you must have one hell of a big window sill to have five SKIPS on them.  :o    ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[manicscousers]

wow, ck, you're doing better than I did, I only got 4 altogether, the sp's are still on the windowsill but refusing to grow any more  ;D
I potted them on into 5" pots, 2 have outgrown them so they're in the poly border, they do need protection and warm soil, if you're growing outside, it'll have to be after the last frost, or under plastic..they need a good, long, hot season, can't remember how long, I think saddad told us last year, after the monster he grew..
I haven't had the ones I've ordered yet so, they obviously don't think they can go in yet  ;D
maybe saddad can give us some more idea ?

[miniroots]

Mine seem to have stalled a bit - two of them are about 2 cm long, the rest much smaller and they don't seem to have grown at all recently... What to do?

If I pot up the longest ones will it stimulate the others to get a move on?

The potato is starting to look a bit worse for wear...

[manicscousers]

my other 2 are in pots, looking really healthy but standing still, the 2 in the soil are starting to grow, :o still no sign of the ordered ones  :(
I've e mailed the company, maybe today they'll answer..I potted mine on when some of them were about the same size as yours, miniroots, eristic reckoned the remaining ones grow once the bigger ones are removed  :)

[miniroots]

Smashing - I'll do it!

I was going to go for a John Innes No1?  Am I right?

[manicscousers]

mine are in ordinary compost, mixed with some sharp sand, don't know whether I'm doing the right thing but they seem to be okay  ;D