Sweet Potato Experiment!

[Barnowl]

3 weeks - finally growing roots - slips next?

Went to Sainsbury's today to get Kumara but coudn't find any - just unnamed sweet potatoes

[Barnowl]

[Doris_Pinks]

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

[cacran]

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.

[Marymary]

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.  :) 

[Jeannine]

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

[cacran]

So if they had loads of roots, would they not grow?

[Jeannine]

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

[mc55]

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. 

[mikey]

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

[Jeannine]

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

[cambourne7]

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 :-)

[cacran]

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?????? ???

[manicscousers]

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  ??? :)

[mc55]

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.

[Doris_Pinks]

I planted 10....................................the bl**dy slugs have eaten all but one!!!!! >:( >:( >:( >:( :'( :'( :'( :'(
All that effort for nothing! Well for one! ;D

[manicscousers]

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  :)

[Doris_Pinks]

You are a love!  Thanks! :-* :-* :-*

[Kea]

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!

[artichoke]

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?

[Trixiebelle]

Are they climbers then? Hope so ... run out of soil space  ::)