thinking of growing sweet potatoes, could use some input

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

sometimes i find really neat stuff when i get curious and do my research. i was floored when i saw there was more than 10 types out there vs. what i've seen listed in catalogs!so much variety listed on Sandhill's site i have never seen so many listed in one location!

 

[hoodat]

I had a surprise the other day. There is a section of the garden where I grew sweet potatos a couple of years ago but lately I have been just letting it do its own thing.it's all thick tangled weeds. Lo and behold in the middle of Winter (such as it is here in San Diego) and with no watering or rain there was a sprout of Okinawan sweet potato. Just a few leaves but how it survived in such a spot is a wonder. Those Okinawa reds must be tough.

 

[so lucky]

Just a word of caution when ordering from the Sandhill site: They don't claim that all those varieties are a great "eating" variety. They are just determined to keep all those varieties going through the years. (Which is a noble task) So you may inadvertently get something that is not very palatable or appropriate for your area.
Maybe when I get more experienced at growing sweet potatoes I might try some of the more obscure varieties, but for now I just want something that is tried and true. But it sure is interesting to learn about all those varieties!

I just realized that I said "all those varieties" 3 times. Geesh!

 

[catjac1975]

I go to the grocery store. I chop off the top, put it in water on my window sill, and eat the rest.
I guess that isn't the way I am supposed to do it.

I plant the slips in the summer, they like sand around here. I worked so hard to give them lovely loamy earth, and they do better in sand.
I also keep them in pots with hardware cloth lining the drain holes because nothing is more disappointing than to see this lovely large sweet potato just to find it has been hollowed out from underneath, and family of mice has moved into your sweet potato.

I don't think that a northern grower can count on them being the right variety for us. I don't know why I can't get them to grow well like this! Mine always rot.

 

[Kassaundra]

I go to the grocery store. I chop off the top, put it in water on my window sill, and eat the rest.
I guess that isn't the way I am supposed to do it.

I plant the slips in the summer, they like sand around here. I worked so hard to give them lovely loamy earth, and they do better in sand.
I also keep them in pots with hardware cloth lining the drain holes because nothing is more disappointing than to see this lovely large sweet potato just to find it has been hollowed out from underneath, and family of mice has moved into your sweet potato.

When I have tried that I just get rotted smelly sweet potato in icky water. Do you change the water out regularly? Do you poke toothpicks in the sides and suspend the pototo, like an alvacodo seed?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

interesting, i keep seeing pics of sweet potatoes put in water to get them to sprout slips. a few years ago i had a store bought tuber i left of the counter for a few months and it started producing slips without needing water. i eventually picked the slips off since i thought they were pretty and put them in small bottle with some water. they grew like that for some time before my cat finally knocked them over and destroyed the slips before they could get outside.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I change the water out every couple of weeks, basically when I need to add more.


One huge difference maker in whether they rot or grow is temperature. I put mine on top of a high bookcase because hot air rises. I’ve found that if the house thermostat is set on 68, they tend to rot. When the thermostat is set on 71, they flourish. I don’t think toothpicks matter nearly as much as heat.


My wife used to want the thermostat on 68. I built a heat box out of plywood, aluminum foil, and an old string of Christmas tree lights. I’d set the bucket holding sweet potatoes on that to get it warm enough for them to sprout. This year, she went with 71. I started these January14th.

 

[greengenes]

When I have tried that I just get rotted smelly sweet potato in icky water. Do you change the water out regularly? Do you poke toothpicks in the sides and suspend the pototo, like an alvacodo seed?

You know, I have had it go both ways, but it seems like once the roots start It doesn't rot. I use the tooth picks like the avocado seed. Or just let the potato scab over and let it set on the window sill. The humidity and temperature down here seems to be the deciding factor on that one.
Sometimes my sweet potatoes start to sprout before I get to cook them and I just peel off the sprouts and set them in tap water.

I had a neighbor who would snap off a cutting toss it into a milk jug and the next time I saw her, she'd hand me the milk jug with a rooted cutting... and It never went bad or smelly. When I try that it almost always rots.
Now that I am thinking about it, I might not ever get a potato to slip again.

 

[catjac1975]

I change the water out every couple of weeks, basically when I need to add more.


One huge difference maker in whether they rot or grow is temperature. I put mine on top of a high bookcase because hot air rises. I’ve found that if the house thermostat is set on 68, they tend to rot. When the thermostat is set on 71, they flourish. I don’t think toothpicks matter nearly as much as heat.


My wife used to want the thermostat on 68. I built a heat box out of plywood, aluminum foil, and an old string of Christmas tree lights. I’d set the bucket holding sweet potatoes on that to get it warm enough for them to sprout. This year, she went with 71. I started these January14th.



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Good info!

 

[the1honeycomb]

I have my slips growing in the living room in a plantable brown paper bag I will plant the whole thing in spring. I tried the japenese potatoes but they had white flesh the turned green when cooked not appetizing!!!
I get my slips from last years potatoes. I start them in January so that I can give them a head start. Good luck with your garden