Two Ways to Start Sweet Potato Slips

Would you like to try your hand at growing sweet potatoes at home? Growing sweet potatoes is not like growing regular white potatoes. Sweet potatoes are related to morning glories and are grown from slips. Slips are rooted shoots that are grown from a mature sweet potato. It's pretty much a small sweet potato seedling. You can purchase sweet potato slips from online or local nurseries or you can start your own. You want to start your sweet potato slips about six weeks before your areas last frost date. For me that's April 15th. So I start the slip process around March 1st. I use my previous years homegrown sweet potatoes for slips. If purchasing, an organic sweet potato is the best option. This will ensure your potato has not been sprayed with chemicals that could impair slip growth.

Here are two different ways I start my sweet potato slips.

First, select a few sweet potatoes to root. Save the largest sweet potatoes for eating. The smaller ones are actually better for producing slips. The ideal size sweet potato for producing slips is about two inches in diameter. On average, it takes about 4 weeks to sprout your sweet potatoes.

Method 1: Start sweet potato slips in water

Stick a few toothpicks around a sweet potato and put it in a jar of water. Make sure the bottom part of the sweet potato is submerged in the water and the top part is exposed to air, as shown in the photo above. The part of the sweet potato that's submerged in water will grow roots. The slips will grow from the areas of the sweet potato that are exposed to air. Don't forget to add, or completely change the water in the jar after several days. This ensures the water remains fresh and the rooted part of the potato wet. Take the shoots from the sweet potato by twisting them off of the potato. Once you have the slips, place them in a jar of water for about two weeks. When a good amount of roots have developed on the slips, they are ready to plant in the garden. After seven seasons of growing, here is a little tip from my own experience. Don't put this rooted slip in the garden just yet. Pot it up with some potting soil. Take care of it like you would a tomato or pepper seedling indoors. When this seeding grows a bit more mature, plant it in the garden. You can extend your growing season this way. My husband and I were able to produce some huge tubers with this method!

Method 2: Start sweet potato slips in potting soil

Place a small sweet potato in a pot and fill it with potting soil. Do not cover the sweet potato completely. Using a heating pad under the plants will increase growth rate. Leaving part of sweet potato exposed to sunlight will help with sprouting. Check the pot often and don't let the potting soil completely dry out. A few weeks later, you should have a lot of sweet potato slips ready for the garden. Take the slips by twisting them from the sweet potato. To me, this is the easier way to start sweet potato slips, as it takes less of my attention. Really, just making sure the soil doesn't dry out will be the only thing you'll have to check during the entire process. Sweet potatoes love heat! Plant the slips outside when soil temperature reaches 60- 65 degrees F.