Sweet Potato Update

Since our last plant update, our sweet potato sprouts have really taken off...

Many of the sprouts, called slips, have grown tall enough (about 5 inches) to remove from the top of the sweet potato and begin developing into their own starter vines which will eventually be the vines we grow new sweet potatoes from.

To remove the slips, we gently twisted the longest and strongest sprouts where they met the base of the potato until they twisted out. By twisting off the slips, a hole is left in the potato flesh and a good base is left on the bottom of the slip.

Next up, we placed our newly detached slips in a shallow bowl of warm water, stem side down and leaves hanging off the rim.

Once again, we placed this bowl in our sunny window next to our main potato sprout plant and if all goes well, in a few days we should see the beginnings of roots growing from the base of these slips.

After this stage, we should be able to plant the rooted slips in soil so they can start growing bags full of sweet potatoes for the remainder of the season.

We left the shorter sprouts on the main sweet potato to keep growing to the right height until we eventually twist them off as well. From what we understand, new sprouts will continue to grow on this starter potato for quite a while, generating new slips.

We'll be sure to keep you posted!

P.S. Find our full tutorial and keep up with our progress for planting sweet potatoes here.