I would be interested in seeing a photo of what a sweet potatoe slip looks like -never tried to grow them before but would like to try
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,91/topic,19540.0 (http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,91/topic,19540.0) Have a look at this thread, there's a photo of the slips growing in water from the tuber.
Here is a photo of what my sweet potato slips looked like once been removed from the tuber (started in water as shown in the link above) and been potted up. They were nearly ready for planting out here.
(http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/picture_library/blog/050506sweetpots.jpg)
I've grown sweet potatoes for two years now, this will be the third and they've done very well for me.
There's more photos on my blog:
http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/wordpress/first-sweet-potatoes (http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/wordpress/first-sweet-potatoes) and
http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/wordpress/sweet-potato-harvest-and-general-tidy-up (http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/wordpress/sweet-potato-harvest-and-general-tidy-up)
http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/wordpress/mostly-tomatoes (http://www.acountrygarden.co.uk/wordpress/mostly-tomatoes)
I'd lik eto grow sweet potatoes this year but the pictures I've seen make it look as if they need a lot of space and I don't have much room. Can the vines be trained up vertically?
( I'm assuming all the tubers grow at the foot of the original slips so could be asking a very stupid question)
yes they can be grown vertically :)
If you look at the links I listed above you'll see my sweet potato harvest from last year, that was all grown in a space of approx 2m x 2m. I let the vines trail underneath my chilli plants, when they trailed too far out of the area I wanted them confined to I just turned the runners around and pointed them in the opposite direction.
Just be careful if you grow morning Glory as well... I got one mixed in with my Sweet Potatoes without realising... they are very similar... both being Ipomea!
::)
Thanks Leonnnie for the photos and links. Once the slips have grown - do you cut them off from the sweet potatoe with a bit of the potatoe and plant or do you divide the sweet potaoe and plant with some of the roots as well. Your advice would be much appreciated.
If you look at the picture in the discussion link I posted above...at the back of the photo you can see the sweet potato tuber suspended in the jar of water. The roots are growing from the base of the potato, the slips are growing from the top part of the potato. When the slips are roughly 10cm (4") twist them off the potato (no roots will be attached) and place the slips into a jar of water. This is demonstrated in the jar at the front left of the photo. The slips will then produce their own roots after a week or so. Once there are some healthy looking roots on the slips pot them into a pot filled with potting soil (demonstrated in the pot at front right of photo). Allow them to grow on for a couple of weeks before hardening off and planting out onto the lottie.
Get them planted out as soon as you can after the last frost, if temps are forecast to drop anything below around 4C overnight then I'd give them extra protection. Leave them in the ground for as long as you possibly can. Most of the bulking up happens in the last few weeks before lifting so even a week or two longer in the ground will make a difference to the size of the tubers. Plant them in the sunniest hottest location you can find. They recommend you grow under black plastic for added warmth, I didn't but we're in the southeast and we have had hot summers recently. Make sure you water them well so that the tubers can swell nicely.
Thanks for your clear instruction Leonnie - I will pop to the supermarket today and start the process - thanks again
Supermarket tubers may be slow to produce slips because they are treated for long storage. If you can, get an organic one as it is less likely to have been treated with growth inhibitors. Wash the tuber well before you start to remove inhibitors if they're present. I tried with supermarket ones and they didn't produce slips for me although others have tried and did get slips. The supermarket varieties are not necessarily bred for our short climate so you may not get a brilliant crop. Last year I had some spare slips which I gave away, this year I have a few names already on the swap list but if your slips don't grow pm me around the beginning of May and if I have any spares I'll let you have them. :)
Thanks for the advice and offer.
I'm going to try growing Kumara which is NZ sweet potato. It is grown in a climate that is more similar to southern England than the other sweet potatoes. It doesn't grow in the part of NZ I come from and I think that is because the humidity is too low rather than the temperature is too cool. Where I live here the humidity is very similar to the places Kumara grows in NZ.
Approximately how many weeks before you plan to plant would you start off growing the slips?
Last year I started mine off in early January, but the location was too cool and they didn't produce anything. I then moved them to a warmer room on 28th Jan. Started twisting off slips towards end of March (as you take slips off more are produced), potted up from 6th to 30th April. Planted out first plants on 6th May (under cloche protection) with the rest following over the next few weeks. There wasn't much difference in size tubers between the first and last of these plantings. First tubers were lifted on 15th Sept, rest were lifted on 7th October. If the slips are ready too early just keep potting them up, personally I'd rather some be ready too early than get a late start, they need all the growing time they can get.
How far apart did you plant the slips?
I didn't record exactly the distance but I say around 40cm (about 15 inches) apart.
Thanks :)
Daft question....when I get my slips of the big pot and put into watre, do i still keep it a warm place? First time I have done this and I have lots of slips from two organic pots...
How many pots should I get from 1 plant do you think? Can I grow them up a bean wigwam do you think?
Yes, keep them in the same warm environment as when the slips were growing on the tubers. Once they have roots plant them into a pot filled with potting soil. Wait until they're showing signs of new growth in the pots before you begin to harden them off. When hardening them off keep them away from frosts. Last year we got temps to 4C overnight, they had been left outdoors unprotected (forgot to bring them back indoors overnight), the leaves wilted but perked up later in the day, anything much colder and I'd guess I would have lost them.
You can grow them up a wigwam, they're a trailing plant. How many pots you get from each plant and how big the tubers are all depends on how well they grow and how long you've been able to leave them in the ground. From last years harvest I'm guessing about 3 or 4 good sized tubers and a few little ones from each plant. Some plants did better, others did not so well. I lost a couple of plants to ants, it was so dry that I found ants nests under the plants, they need moisture to swell the tubers.
many thanks
well that answers a number of questions for me like i have mine in 2 cool a space.
But i was planning on growing my SP in a recycling box thats about 2 ft deep and 2 ft wide and about 3 ft wide what do you think my chances are?
I was going to lay gravel at the bottom and a layer of horse muck with some newspaper and then the rest compost... Only got 1/2 a sweet potato ( organic ) on the go som not planning on lots of slips.....
Was going to but JA in a simular sized container.