Gardening Tip: How To Plant (Grow) Sweet Potatoes Using A Sweet Potatoe...Making Slips

Step One:  Begin this process about a month or two before planting (~January/February).  Start by taking a sweet potato and cutting off about a inch of the bottom. 

Add the cut sweet potato to a cup of water.  Use toothpicks to keep the entire potato from falling into the water.

Step Two:  Place the cup where you would any indoor plant and make sure the water level stays high enough to touch the sweet potato (see picture below). Note the stringy hairs that are growing at the bottom of the sweet potato.  

Also note the important sprouts that are coming out of the top of the sweet potato. This is the beginning formation of your sweet potato plants that you will plant in your garden once they become larger. (~end of March/beginning April or a little later, check guide below).

Step Three:  Cut off the individual plants/slips and plant in your garden as you would any other transplant/seedling.  

Step Four:  The plant will need water, sunlight, and weeding just like any other garden plant.  

Note: The sweet potato plant is very "viney" so you will need lots of room for each plant.  Also you can eat/cook the green leaves as your potato plant grows, just pick some of the leaves from time to time.

Step Five:  Harvest at the beginning of October.  For larger potatoes let them stay in the ground up until Thanksgiving. Perfect time to have these potatoes around the holidays.



Note:  This information should work for those who live in plant zones 7-11. Please verify your zone to be sure.

 More Information on growing sweet potatoes

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