Sweet Potato

[Tig]

Has anyone tried growing their own slips?
Or even succeeded in growing sweet potatoes in their plots?

I have decided that I am going to give them a try in 2008, and I intend to try and grow my own slips as well.

I know we will need to have a warm summer for them to do any good - but I am being optimistic ;D x Tig

[Deleted]

No and no.

It's good to see someone raising this at exactly the right time of year though, rather than in May when it is too late.

Are you also looking for info Tig? I've done a fair amount of looking into it.

Cabbage

[Tig]

I have found some info Cabbage - I know how to try and get the slips going - if I can create a warm enough environment - not sure if they need a lot of daylight to sprout or if they will be OK if I give them the right temperature. But it is worth having a go.

Also, I think I will need to get the soil as warm as possible before I plant them out - so I will create a mound and cover it with black plastic, not sure what is the earliest I will be able to put them in here?
Once growing you shouldn't let them touch the ground, as they can root and form smaller tubers which will take away the growth potential of the main crop - so surrounding with black plastic is advised.
Is this information correct? Can you add anything that may improve my chances of success?
x Tig

[Deleted]

Spot on Tig! As you'll see there is debate as to whether to sprout in the dark (Bob Flowerdew) or in the light. The following text is lifted straight out of my notes, sorry I haven't edited it, a bit time pushed.

My standard answer....

While I‘ve never grown these, here are some tips I found when doing my research (before concluding I wouldn’t bother). Firstly, they are of course not related to the potato, but part of the bindweed family!

You need a long growing season – 4 months plus. Best grown in southern areas in polytunnels, greenhouses or at worse under black plastic – They need heat and do not like to be too wet when maturing (usually in October). Some of the seed companies offer “slips” in their Spring catalogues. However, they appear to consistently send them out too late (ie; in mid-June) for a really worthwhile crop.

The alternative is to buy a shop bought one, Kumara is one I’ve seen recommended. Bob Flowerdew (who says don’t even bother growing outside) suggests starting them off in gritty compost in the airing cupboard (they like the dark). When the slips (shoots) get to a couple of inches nip them off and grow them on in a pot in a frost free place. Ideally you should do this early in the year in order to give you a head start and a chance of maximising the crop.

Do not let the slips touch any bare soil as they will root and grow loads of useless sized tubers. Instead grow them up canes or put down plastic. Harvest generally near first frost and then place in the warmest room of your house for a week or two to let their flavour mature.

Someone else......
SWEET POTATOES

By leaving a few clean sweet potatoes in a container of peat, kept damp and left in the warm in March April, "slips" will emerge from the surface. When they are over 20cm from the soil, trim them off and pot into 1 litre pots and allow to grow on. In late May, after the last frost has finished, remove the potted plants and place them rooted into the soil. Being a semi tropical plants they require at least 110 days to mature. They are vigorous, and once they start growing, will readily spread. They are hardy and unlikely to suffer any foliar problems and should out compete any weeds, once the soil has initially been made weed free. In late September, carefully dig them up. Once dug, you will need to leave them to mature a further week in the warmest area you have in the house, this allows the skins to set and the flavour to sweeten and become true to type.

www.recipes4us.co.uk/Specials%20and%20Holidays/Sweet%20Potatoes%20Origin%20Uses%20Recipes.htm

www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/fsheets/29_04_01/fsheetsq3.shtml

www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/fsheets/24_11_02/fsheetsq7.shtml

Someone else....
Sweet Potatoes

Contributed by Paula Edwards

One of the HDRA members’ experiments for 2002 was a trial of 100 people growing sweet potatoes. I applied but the experiment was hugely oversubscribed. However, the unlucky ones were given an alternative plan growing sweet potatoes as a houseplant.
We had to purchase our own sweet potato from the supermarket, preferably the variety Kumara. I have no idea what my variety was, but it was a bit unusual having purple skin and white flesh.

In March I placed the sweet potato in a large jar so that the middle of the tuber rested on the rim of the jar. The jar was filled with water and placed on a warm windowsill. It was brought into the room at night. In April shoots appeared on the upper part of the tuber. When these grew to 1’ - 2’ long they were cut off and put into ajar of water to root. Don’t leave them in the water too long as too many long roots are a disadvantage. The rooted slips were planted two nodes deep in 10” - 12” pots at the end of May. They spent the summer on the staging of a cool greenhouse.

When we had the first frost some of the leaves dropped off so I upturned one of the pots to see what I had got. There were a dozen or so tubers 6” long and a bit thicker than a finger. They looked as if they would have liked a deeper root run, but the plants were attractive and healthy. The original ‘mother’ tuber was turned the other way up and produced more slips which were potted up in the Autumn and taken into the house ready for an early start next year. The remaining pots containing mature plants were taken back into the house to see if I could bulk up the crop with some more heat.

Some of you may have noticed that Marshalls Seeds were also offering sweet potato slips for the first time last year. They were the variety Beauregard which had done well in trials in Cambridgeshire. They were not cheap but there was a special offer via The Kitchen Garden magazine of 15 slips for £6.90. My slips arrived in mid-June, a month late and in pretty poor condition, but as I had already prepared the bed I decided to have a go. Marshalls suggested that they should be grown on a ridge or raised bed with the soil temperature raised by the use of black polythene. They should be planted through the polythene and kept as warm as possible with the use of fleece or cloches. I watered them via upturned bottles alongside each plant. They grew quite well even though early summer was a bit cold.

The plants were hit by the first frost in October and I lifted the sweet potato tubers fairly quickly. The results were not nearly as good as the home-grown variety in the pots. There were lots and lots of very long thin tubers, which snapped off easily as I tried to lift them. Hardly any were of a useable size. Disappointing as they were quite a lot of work, but to be fair to Marshalls they did refund my money when I complained. I think they would have done far better if they had arrived in mid-May as promised and if the early summer had been a bit warmer. Some people did better than me.

Bob Flowerdew has talked about growing sweet potatoes several times on Gardeners Question Time. He says that they need as long a frost-free growing season as possible. He takes slips from his growing plants in September and pots them on, keeping them frost free, for next year. He says that they are better in a polytunnel than outside. He warns not to let the stems touch the ground. They like to trail and root where they touch the ground and then try to produce tubers at each rooted node. You then get lots of little tubers rather than a few decent sized ones. Keep them off the ground with polythene, newspaper etc or grow them up sticks.

There is a lot more useful information on the website of the University of Illinois www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/sweetpotatol.html. In particular they talk about watering. The plants like lots of irrigation in early summer, then they like it hot and thy, particularly in the last month before harvest. Too much water then makes the tubers split. The sweetness also develops after lifting. Cure them in a warm room 85°F 85% humidity for 10-14 days. Then store at about 55°F

Sorry to be so brief ;D

Cabbage

[Tig]

Thanks Cabbage - I will definately try to get the slips going - and if I do - I will try and grow them outside in the Midlands ;D x Tig

[pdblake]

I tried these last year to no avail, but might have been a bit late. Think I'll try again with CC's method. Not sure about 110 days in Yorkshire though ;D

[Chuckles]

I've probably missed something here feel a Noo Noo moment coming on.........what are slips

[Spruance]

Slips are the sprouted shoots that the sweet potatoes grow from Chuckles. Think seed potatoes.

[Tig]

The pot of compost is warming
Do I need to go for dark or light environment to get the tuber to sprout?
Tomorrow is the day I am going to start - I think I will cover it with aluminium foil and see how it goes.
Optimism eh ;D x Tig

[Tig]

Almost a month after sticking the spud in the pot I can see roots

Hands up all those who thought I was

I wonder how long it will be before I get some activity above the soil

I love a new challenge ;D x Tig

[Tig]

- me ;D

[Tig]

I have my first shoot - I was going to take a piccie - but it is so tiny yet you might not see it even on macro - but wait 'til it grows a bit, and when a few more grow - you will be sick of seeing it (I'm so pleased it has grown )

If anyone else is following progress, or having a go - I didn't cover it with foil, I put a pop bottle over the half of the sweet potato that was sticking out of the soil in the pot. Tig

[Tig]

Ta da ;D (hope you can spot it ) x Tig

[Tig]

Well you should see it now - it is sprouting all over the place ;D

I think I am going to take some of the shoots off and try to root them in water, then plant them up individually in pots, and try to grow them on before planting them out when it gets warm
That's my plan. x Tig

[Tig]

Before I start 'lopping' bits off I have taken a snap - slow start but hasn't it done well, and quite attractive too ;D
The big shoot will come off tomorrow and go into some water for a week or so.
x Tig

[Amo]

Oooooooo! My OH lurrrrves Sweet pots. Perhaps I'll nick one of his and have a go too.

[flowersfriend]

Wow.....That looks great Tig. Well ,done you. Very interesting thread, I'll watch and see how you get on, may try it myself next year, depending on your crop. I love sweet potatos.

[Chuckles]

Feel sooooooo I've never got back round to looking how you've been doing on this

Amazing Tig, you are a clever thing ;D Oooooh I wished I'd been more observant now

[Tig]

I hope other folk want to have a go - the 'slips' can be quite expensive to buy and if we don't get a good summer, and you haven't got a sheltered sunny garden it wouldn't be worth the investment. Hence my DIY efforts And I wanted to see if I could make it work for me - nothing ventured etc
So far I am happy with my little experiment - but will I get a crop? That is the ultimate goal

If I haven't posted enough information to help anyone wishing to try this - shout up!
PS it did take quite a while to get going - but I did start on 12th Jan - not really that warm even on a south facing windowsill x Tig

[Chuckles]

what have you got me doing Tig

Got one ;D and it's now sat 2/3rds buried in a pot of moist compost. Did you keep it inside ? I'd thought about popping it on the shelf above the heater in the kitchen, nice and warm but not hot, not bright but not dark either. I wasn't sure which way to put it in either, there seemed to be a hard bit on one end that looked like where it was attached to roots so that is up hill. OMG I'm mad ;D

[Tig]

Oooh goody, well done Chuckles

Mine was inside on the south facing windowsill with half a pop bottle over the spud to give it a bit more warmth in the early days (it was January though!) I removed it after about a fortnight. I actually sat the pot in a permanent saucer of water until it rooted, had to keep refreshing it though cos it stunk after a couple of days!
I put mine the other way up, with the bit that was detached from the root at the bottom of the pot, however, in one of the 'stories' CpC posted above it says that they will root either way up?
It took a month to see my first sign of a shoot, it will be interesting to see if yours gets going quicker
Good luck x Tig

[Chuckles]

Well Tig this is how mine looks after 7 days. Not a shoot slip in sight yet but I was worried it may be going rotten in the pot so pulled it out for an inspect and it has a root ;D have put it back very gently and won't disturb it again now.

[Tig]

Mine was well rooted (could see them on the surface of the compost) when the first slip showed Chuckles

I have slip No. 1 potted up in some compost after letting its roots grow in some water for about ten days first.

There are another two slips nearly big enough to remove and go for a little soak
x Tig

[Tig]

Update - four more 'slips' removed today, three had grown from below soil level and were well rooted and have been potted on, the one above has been put in some water to get some roots growing.

[carolann]

Hi Tig, I am watching this thread with lots of interest, I have never had Sweet Potato before and have always wanted to try and grow them but it was the cost of the slips. If all goes well with your I will try them next year. When you took the big shoot off did you take some of the skin like you would if you where peeling it? and then put it in water. Also when the roots come do you just put it into compost at the bottom of the pot and then fill it up as you would with normal spud tub growing? Keep posting with lots of pics please so a numty novice like me can follow what has been done. Thanks.

[Tig]

Hi Carolann
Glad this has sparked some interest, I am a budget gardener and that is why I wanted to give this a try, although my main concern is that we won't have a warm enough summer for the sweet pototoes to form a decent crop, that is the 'wait and see' bit I suppose.

I take the slips off with a sharp knife, not with any skin from the 'mother spud'. As the slips grow to about 3" you can see tiny root nodules starting to form on some of them, these I put in water until the roots start growing then pot them up. I will take a pic when I do the next ones.

I am potting them into three inch pots to grow on. I may need to repot them again before it is warm enough to plant them out, but I am learning as I go

From my research, they don't grow like ordinary potatoes, they like to climb, and you need to cover the soil around them with black plastic, because if the tops touch the soil they will root and this will reduce the size of the tubers. (Evidently!) They are members of the bindweed family (and a cousin of morning glory!)
x Tig

[carolann]

Thanks Tig, I wonder if you could grow them in a GH? I have a small one spare I usually grow my Cucumber in it but have put it in the big one this year. It is lined with bubble wrap and does get very hot in there. It already has a small bed in it but it can easily be extended. Now that is a thought for next year.

[Tig]

I think you would definately have success in a greenhouse Carolann, and you can control the watering, they are a little bit fussy when getting close to harvest about not getting too wet, so a GH would enable much better management of their needs.

[Chuckles]

This really is exciting isn't it, well I think it is So glad you started this thread Tig

Carol why don't you try one, or anyone else for that matter. I only put mine in on the 10/3. Nothing new to report on mine yet but I'll not be pulling it out again incase I ruin the root it was growing.

[Tig]

These are the 'slips' I have potted up, mother spud still growing more!



I have one rooting in water, removed on the 19th March (see photo), not got enough roots to pot on yet.



x Tig