I guess you’re looking for an update or something. I don’t have a lot of light at the top of my bookcase so mine were getting long and spindly enough that they were attacking anyone (read my wife) that got too close. So I gave them a haircut. This morning, I cut them back to maybe three good leaves on each start and threw the trimmings in the compost.
They are sending more starts out, but each one I cut back will send a sucker out at each leaf node. I’ll probably have to give it another haircut or two but maybe a couple of weeks before they are to go outside I’ll put those cuttings in water and root them, maybe one leaf node for roots and two nodes for suckers.
You don’t even need to root them before setting them out. Just cut them off and stick them in the ground. If you keep soil damp for a couple of weeks, most of them will root that way.
I tried to start slips last spring....but boy that water got disgusting. I ended up planing one, out of 75 slips. Oh well. I do know they grow well in our back garden. The more clay and nastier the soil, the better they grow.
Thanks Ridgerunner. I started a big ol' honkin organic sweet potato about a week ago and it is just now starting to get some fuzzy little roots but no evidence of actual slips. Appreciate it.