Allotments 4 All

I can't believe at long last I might have a slip  ;D  ;D

Is it a slip down near the root?

Can I put cocktail sticks through it to suspend it in the water or should I have done this when I first started it?

What do I do now??? 


http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/Sinbad7/000_0032.jpg

Personally, I would plant it in a pot of compost.

courtesy of bob flowerdew on gardener's question time  ;D
Bob: You can grow them successfully here but you can't just plant them like you would an ordinary potato because they don't sprout in the same way. You have to put a sweet potato in really quite intense heat. Many of them from supermarkets are treated with an anti-sprouting agent, so it's a good idea to give it a good scrub and clean it first. I put mine into moist sand, and then, as soon as the sprouts have got two or three inches tall I bring them out into the light, detach them from the tuber, and I put them into an ordinary compost and grow them on in a propagator. Once they're growing strongly, I pot them up and I keep them in a greenhouse. You must train them up strings - to give them more light and stop them rooting everywhere. They do need quite a lot of water but they don't need a very rich soil. Take some cuttings in late summer, root them, keep them indoors on a sunny windowsill through the winter so next season you'll have an even better crop than if you'd grown them from tubers

Thanks for your replies but are they slips down near the root?

When others have posted their photo's the slips seem to be at the sides and top.

they usually grow up, the roots are at the bottom

Typed a reply and it disappeared - grr!

I think what's happened is that the potato has been in the water the wrong way up.  I've done that before and the slips grow underwater!  The white roots look like slip roots, not the roots the potato grows in the water so take care with them.  The slips are a little small to remove yet so I'd put the potato back in water keeping the white roots submerged until the slips are around 3" long then carefully remove them with the roots if possible and pot them up. 

Many thanks  ;D

I put the fat end in water so thought I had it the right way up   ;D

So should I suspend it in water?  Can I put cocktail sticks through it now so it looks like maicscousers?

Are you saying you sweet potato looks like manicscousers :o ??? ???

LOL, is that a serious question??

I think if you looked at my photo even I couldn't pretend it looked like manicscousers. 

I am asking about the cocktail sticks.

 ;D ;D ;D
at least it is a 'sweet' potato  ;D

LOL, Thank goodness for that  ;D

Better than a "couch" potato anyday....   :)

Hi,

My sweet pot slips today, can I pot them on yet??  :)

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54/Sinbad7/100_9325.jpg

I know you said 3-4 inches ceres but they don't look far off  that and they seem very strong and sturdy  :)

Couldn't wait any longer for a reply, so have just potted them on.  3 so far.  I am delighted   ;D

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt54

Oh well done.  I left one in a pot to produce the slips and my partner ate it. :o

Of the 50% that survived from T+M I'm trying to find groundig greenhouse to plant them... but plants for the sale are multiplying...  :-[

never mind, saddad, only 6 days to go and you'll have all that room  ;D