Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Doris_Pinks on April 16, 2007, 14:00:07
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All 3 started on the same day, from the same bag of organic sweet potatoes.
Started off in same size jam jars, and are sitting next to each other on my kitchen windowsill.
The difference,
from left to right :-
Cut in half, pointy end up, other half, blunt end up, whole potato, blunt end in the water!!
Was curious to see if I could get more slips by cutting them in half! ;D
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/bermujan/SweetPotatoes.jpg)
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I was just going to start slips from a supermarket one (bought a bag of Kumara from Sainsbury's, reduced to 40p!).
So what is the best thing to do? When using a whole potato should I put the blunt end in the water?
Ones cut in half - did the one with the blunt end up produce more slips?
How often do I need to change the water?
Sorry to ask so many questions! :-[ I so love the texture and flavour of Kumara that I'm desperate to get slips from them. :D
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my sweet potato has been out for 3 months and nothing
i have a few spikes that have formed over the last month but there till only 1-2 mm long :'(
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Thats OK Tora, my first year for giving them a try so from my very scientific ::) experiment I conclude...................
whole potato blunt end in water did the best, and yes when cut in half, the one with the blunt end up is producing better looking and more slips.
I never had to change the water, but am topping up like mad at the moment, oh and they are in a south facing window.
Did them "a la" grow an avocado seed, toothpicks in the sides and bottoms in the water.
Loads of advice on this site if you "search" Sweet Potatoes, and the wikki is very informative too, thats where I have been gleaning my knowledge from! ;D
Cam, are they in a south facing window? If I get excess slips, maybe I could send you some in a month or so's time?
Hope this helps!!
Here's to us all having home grown sweet pots! ;D
DP
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maybe thats the problem i have been changing the water every couple of weeks
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Cambourne, I have just had a look at my soil experiment.I had put them in damp soil as per 1 option on the net. I bought a packet with 4 in, quite small and when I got home I found I had 2 fat large ones in the fridge so I planted them all. I have just had a peep in the soil,the 4 small ones have done nothing at all, the 2 fat ones are covered in roots. I wondered if the few to a bag deal are different in some way.
XX Jeannine
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Very impressed with the number of slips obtained - I have only managed 4 from two sweet potatoes
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I'm using two cut-down plastic milk containers sitting on top of the web server. As soon as a shoot gets about 2" tall I rub it off and place it in a small container until it roots, usually a few days. Once rooted, they are potted into 3" pots and put outside with all the other seedlings, bringing them in on cold nights.
So far I have 6 rooted slips, all from the yellowy skinned tuber. The Red one is much slower getting started but is now producing a large number of small shoots.
I'm not so sure that it matters much which way up the tuber is stacked in the jar. It would normally lie down if left to its own devices, JUST LIKE ME.
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;D ;D ;D Eristic!
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Thanks Doris ;)
I was just examining my Kumara potatoes and noticed that one of them has tiny what appears to be roots and a few tiny shoots already! ;D I'm going to put this one in a glass of water.
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Well done Doris Pinks !!
I have also been doing the Kumara which I also got from S and over the week-end noticed some little slips starting. Also had whole tuber in water, pointed side up. The other variety has been in the water for some time now and nada. Will try and take some photos and post later in the week. But they are no where as impressive as yours.
Jitterbug
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Apparently they will also produce shoots if kept in hot water cylinder cupboard I assume in water.....not sure where I got this information I can't remember. I guess once the shoots form you don't leave them there too long or they will etiolate.
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??? Now i see where i am going wrong, my husband bless him :-* did not say anything about being in a south facing window, i got them in the green house ::) I'll go and fetch them inside and wait for the magic :o
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I've got loads of slips off the one supermarket sweet potato I started off in February but mine are long trailing things - the longest nearly 3 foot which I have potted up. Is it cos they are a different variety [no idea what mine are] or cos of lighting/heating?
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i think thats the problem i changed the window and they were under a radiator when the shoots where starting to pop though but now the heating off there not getting the warmth.
Will give it more heat and see if that works.
Its going to be quite cool here tomorrow idea for digging so i will pop the heating on tomorrow morning.
Cambourne7
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Thanks to this thread I've now got 9 potted in water ready to sprout ;D Never grown them before!
Unfortunately I didn't have any toothpicks so I used to long knitting needles and skewered 3 on each ... which means ....
If I knock ONE over they ALL go down ::)
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My first one took ages to get going and in desperation I put 4 more (smaller) ones into water. The big one produced two really good slips, but I don't think its going to do anything else. One of the smaller ones has only just grown one root, but the smallest potato has around 12 slips developing on it :o
They are on the attic windowsill - next to a window which is open more of less all the time, so I don't really think heat makes much difference.
Hoping to pot them up at the w/e and then will keep in brick greenhouse until the end of May.
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I cheated and ordered 10 Beauregard slips from T+M yesterday...
:-[
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Unfortunately I didn't have any toothpicks so I used to long knitting needles and skewered 3 on each ... which means ....
If I knock ONE over they ALL go down ::)
Knit one slip one !!!!!!!!!!! :)
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Cast 'em all off the dining room table ;D
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3 weeks - finally growing roots - slips next?
Went to Sainsbury's today to get Kumara but coudn't find any - just unnamed sweet potatoes
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Barnowl mine are organic unamed.........exciting to see if we get any potatoes at the end at all! ;D ;D
The slips that I took off and have now put into another jam jar on the windowsill, are already rooting after 3 days! :o :o
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I know I sound thick but what are 'slips'?
So, if I want to grow some sweet potatoes, is this right.
I can get some from supermarket and instead of eating them, I put them in a jar with water touching the fat bottom of the potato. I hold the rest out of the water by piercing the spud with cocktail sticks, or similar, to balance it on the rim of the jar, I guess so the bottom is free to root. I just keep topping up the water to original leval as it goes down. When it has rooted and sprouted, what do I do then?
I do love eating them so hope I can grow some up North.
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A slip is [as i learned here last year when i asked the same question] a shoot from the plant [bit like a normal potato sprouting]. When you get the sprouts coming out of the SP you carefully pull them off & put them in another glass of water where they grow roots. You then have a long vine with leaves at one end & roots at the other which you can plant up in a pot of compost. I've got this far with 2 potted up & lots more waiting but I'm not really clear about what happens now. Perhaps someone who knows could enlighten us both. :)
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I dug my 'in soil' ones up today and put them in water, dumb idea off the net, loads of roots, no slips XX Jeannine
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So if they had loads of roots, would they not grow?
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No, I don't think so, you still have to pull off the slips and plant them, I supect I did it wrong and was supposed to place them on the soil rather than bury them. I will look it up again. XX Jeannine
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I potted up my first 7 slips today, they are now sat at the greenhouse looking a bit shocked. Gave them a good water so hopefully they'll be OK.
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following this thread with interest
dumb questions:
why cannot a Sweet Potato just be planted in the ground after 'chitting' ???
Are you all doing this to get loads of plants from just one tuber ???
Do Sweet Potato produce tubers just like normal Spuds ???
Are they difficult to grow ???
Love to eat them, dripping in Butter (before the Chloresterol went mad) but have never grown them
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It is the way they are grown Mikey the slips are planted at about a foot long. I have never grown them before but I have seen them planted many times. n The flavour is excellent newly dug too. XX Jeannine
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I have just pulled off the first sprout from my SP and popped it into another glass of water :-) there are 5 more which are not yet big enough to pull off but i have at least one :-)
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My sweet potato has only developed three shoots which are miniscule at the moment. Have been on with it since the first post on here. They don't rush, do they? So I have to wait for it to get.... how long?????? ???
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we only got one from our shop bought one so planted it still attached to the sp..it's growing and no more have appeared ??? :)
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I planted about 20 a couple of weeks ago and have 6 more in pots and quite a few (very small) slips still on the parents. Going to put them into the greenhouse I think.
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I planted 10....................................the bl**dy slugs have eaten all but one!!!!! >:( >:( >:( >:( :'( :'( :'( :'(
All that effort for nothing! Well for one! ;D
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I planted 10....................................the bl**dy slugs have eaten all but one!!!!! >:( >:( >:( >:( :'( :'( :'( :'(
All that effort for nothing! Well for one! ;D
doris, if the five I've got in pots survive, I'll have 2 over, you're welcome to them..I'll let you know when they're ready :)
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You are a love! Thanks! :-* :-* :-*
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My kumara have produced heaps of slips but I'll probably need them all as the slugs just seem to eat everything I plant at the moment. i've got rows of stalks where I planted my dwarf french beans despite slug protection!
One of the slips grew 4 cm in 9 hours!
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My slips come from sweet pots my daughter was about to throw out in September because they had grown sprouts. Grabbed them from her and nursed them through the winter, potted them up, and planted them out in lateish May. They are now 8 bushy little plants, not large, but showing signs of wanting to climb the poles I have put in. Is this about right, or too late or too early?
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Are they climbers then? Hope so ... run out of soil space ::)
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Has anyone successfully grown these? Saw another thread which seemed to suggest they take up lots of space but may only give 1-2 potatoes. Would love to know if this is the usual as I only have a small but very full allotment!
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They certainly trail Trixiebell... and are related to Morning Glory so probably do climb. My indoor one only produced one tuber last year Gwynleg but it did weigh almost 5lb... I'd put it in the greenhouse in that hot july and it never rooted away from the watering pot next to it... my problem..
;D
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Kea, maybe Kumara is the most suitable sweet potato for producing slips. I have only one tuber and had loads of slips and they do grow surprisingly quickly! I tried producing slips with a different kind of tuber last year and it did nothing for several months. It finally produced 3 slips in summer, which was obviously too late.
I hope the slips will actually produce lots of tubers... I will be gutted if they fail.
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I don't know but I've put 3 Kumara in jars and they have produced a lot of slips and when I take them off more grow from the same 'eye'. One set from one kumara grow really fast and tall, you can almost see them growing. Another one the slips have remained short so there is a lot of variation. This is probably because the plant breeders in NZ have ignored kumara until recently as an exportable crop. Now they will breed out the flavour like they did the Kiwifruit! Oh yes they did! i was at the conference where they talked about breeding out the flavour and making them bigger so the US would buy them as Americans like bland fruit, supposedly!
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here you are, dp..piccies of the remaining 2 sweet pots, got roots on if you're interested :)
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Here are my Beauregard Slips in the border... when I planted them out, they are getting going now.
(http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e190/Plot52/SweetPotatoBed07.jpg)
;D
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What a lurvely greenhouse Saddad. I still have not grown any slips from my sweet potato. Just tiny sprouts that seem to get no bigger. :'(
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these are the ones in the poly border, just starting to climb..not as organised as you, sad, not as much room in between ;D
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Kea, I didn't know what happened with kiwi fruits! It's crazy to breed out the flavour in my opinion. ::) I hope our Kumara grow well... we can keep good flavoured Kumara going secretly here in UK while commertial growers breed out the flavour. ;) I think Kumara is by far the best flavoured sweet potato you can buy in UK. I know orange-fleshed one is very popular but I find it too stringy and watery, no better than winter squashes. Kumara tastes very similar to sweet potatoes I used to eat in Japan, which are not available over here.
I have now finished planting my Kumara slips - I think one tuber produced about 20 good-sized slips. Ones planted out earlier have established already and new shoots are showing through the soil. :)
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Hi
All but one of my slips have died and this one is now about 7 inches long and i think ready to be planted out.
I am going to harden it off over the next week and plant out in about 2 weeks.
I have added a tiny amount of miracle grow to the water and there a healthy root system established.
I was hoping to pop it out today but the temp is quite low outside and the rain is falling like rods so i have left it on the window ledge.
cambourne7
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Oh yes please Manics! Will PM you! ;D ;D
Think I have one that survived the slugs............better than nought I suppose! :-\
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cambourne, have you got a handy cloche, the sweet pots need quite a long time to produce the roots..ours are only 4" long and I've planted them :)
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Don't sit there for to long or Saddad or the blighters will climb up them legs. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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cambourne, have you got a handy cloche, the sweet pots need quite a long time to produce the roots..ours are only 4" long and I've planted them :)
Hi
No cloche but there forming good roots at the mo and when i make the bed i will add blood, bone & Fish to the soil to help get them going.
I do have a coldframe plastic cover i plan on using this for the year round courgettes so i have crops thoughout winter i might try and put it together for the sweetpotato :) Which might save me having to get it hardened off :)
Cambourne7
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Question, ! have twisted off eight slips and they are growing happily :), but two slips that are still on the sweet spuds have long vines with leaves, these are a foot and two foot long but there are no white roots forming do I leave these on the potato in the glass ??? or what, help I'm stuck. :-\ ??? ;D ;D ;D
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Don't understand Kev?
Have you not twisted off the 2 slips that are growing on the SP and put them in water?
I thought that was when they started to show roots and not when they were growing on the original SP?
Confused of Nottingham
I've planted 6 slips out and they're looking very miserable ::) Mind you, I would be miserable in this weather as well.
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Loads of questions others have asked haven't been answered, and I wanted to know too - so I did a search and found this page which has nice simple clear info about sweet pots and answered all my q's
http://www.annettemcfarlane.com/Stories/Sweet_Potato.pdf
Hope this is helps someone, I'm dying to have a go, but as usual am probably too late :-\ might try anyway, practice for next year
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Trix all the ones I potted had small roots on them when they were still on the SP, a few that didn't I put in water and nothing happened to them so I potted and they died, because these ones are so big I didn't want to take off the SP and they didn't gain any roots and died. I will check out Jayne's findings cheers for that. ;D ;D ;D
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some of mine had roots when I potted them and some didn't, they all seem OK - I've watered them pretty well (the ones I got from T&M last year were really long, but had no roots - the instructions were to pot them up and keep for 3 weeks before planting out). Mine were all different sizes, but generally very small.
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It might be worth a mention here, but the folks in the US don't use the water, they put the sweet potato in damp soil and when the slips are about 8 inches they twist them off and plant them, they never go into water. I tried this and it was slower to get the slips, in fact someone sent me some as I thought mine would not make it. Of course they have and I have several now, I potted them straight fom the mother spud into soil, no rooting in water. They are all fine.
XX Jeannine
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yea but jeannine your magic :-)
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So, do you just lay the sweet potato onto damp soil or bury it? ???
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I seem to have heaps of slips but haven't had time to get them planted. However if my squash is anything to go by the weathers not good enough. My squash plants have been in the ground for over 3 weeks and no growth at all. In fact because they are small the slugs have eaten two.
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Kea,
I'm glad you said that - I thought it was just me! My ciourgettes and squashes don't seem to be doing well either. Do they need hot dry weather? I'm new at squashes, thought I'd done something wrong.
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My courgettes were all eaten so planted some more in the greenhouse. they are thriving but I am scared to put them out!
My Pumpkins are very slow outside. Gave one away which my friend grew indoor, it grew really big until she planted it out then it seems to have stopped growing. My Butternut squash plants are all but gone :'(
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They like it sunny...something we're lacking at the moment.