Sweet Potatoes

[JimWWhite]

A week or so ago I reported that we'd found a crate of sweet potatoes we'd stored in the garage last fall so they'd keep through the winter. They did. We ate pretty much all we had in another crate we had in the pantry in the house but we'd forgotten about the ones out in the garage. When Teresa was cleaning out the garage a week or so ago she found them and almost all of them had slips coming out the big end of the tubers. She was going to toss them but I stopped her and lopped about an inch off each one making sure I got the slips on each chuck. There were a bunch. I sat them in water for a couple of days and cleaned out a 4'x8'x12' box that I'd not planted yet and made three 'furrows' about five inches deep with a v-shaped hoe. Then I dropped the chucks in with the slips pointing up, spaced about ten inches apart and covered them up loosely. Some of the slips were peeking through but most were not. I just watered them in good and added a bit of organic fertilizer and waited. I'm happy to report that last night when I went out every single chuck that I planted has come up and most have their first set of leaves on them. Looking healthy and happy. These were the Beauregard variety of sweet potatoes. Very orange and very sweet. I gave the extras to my co-workers and some of the sweet potatoes I'd lopped the tops off of. They were still edible and were very good.

 

[catjac1975]

Can I ask why you did not just plant the whole potato?

 

[baymule]

Great job Jim!

 

[JimWWhite]

Can I ask why you did not just plant the whole potato?

I probably could have but according to something I read, probably in Dick Raymond's Joy of Gardening, they said to simply twist off the slips and plant them directly in the garden. I just figured to give them a little bit of something to hold on to would work and it looks like it did. Besides, we were able to use the rest of the sweet potato even though they had been in the garage for months. The cut ends 'healed' quickly and they look like they'll keep for a few weeks. The ones we baked that night were as good and sweet as they were last fall. The folks at work loved them too.

 

[Smart Red]

What a serendipitous accident!

 

[dickiebird]

Oh how I love to grow sweet potatoes!
I just received a card in the mail that my order from Sand Hill Preservation will be shipped soon, funny but I don't remember ordering any slips from them.
Oh well, they'll be shipped soon!!!

THANX RICH

 

[so lucky]

It appears that I have planted two different kinds of sweet potato slips. About half seem to be a bush variety, half vining. One of the vining pieces was just a cut piece of vine, with no roots, when I stuck it in the ground, just to see if it would work. I can't tell it from the other vines now.

 

[JimWWhite]

SoLucky, I didn't know you could do that. Pretty cool. Teresa has a sweet potato plant in the house she started during the winter. Maybe I'll take a cutting from it tomorrow and try just sticking it in the ground. I'd like to see that work.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've done that before Jim. Just keep the soil damp for about a week or two. You'll be surprised. Just take maybe three leaves off the bottom of the cutting and stick it in the ground.

 

[JimWWhite]

Just an update, the sweet potato slips I salvaged have completely taken over the 4'x8'x12" box I put them in. Every single slip or chunk of sweet potato I planted came up and is thriving. Can't wait for the fall to see what we get. Someone at Teresa's work asked her for some of the remaining slips and I gave them about 20 small sweet potatoes that had slips yesterday. I'm thinking they have enough time to make so they'll have a pile of sweet potatoes in time for Thanksgiving.