| Start about a month before it is time to plant sweet potatoes outdoors. Begin with organic sweet potatoes. I got some at the farmers' market because I figured a variety grown locally would probably do best in my soil and in the climate where I live. I chose skinny sweet potatoes because I wanted ones that would fit in the glasses I planned to use. You can cut your sweet potatoes in half, but you don't have to (I did for some but not others. In retrospect, I recommend cutting the sweet potatoes in half because it doubles the number of plants you'll end up with.)
Put toothpicks in the middle of your sweet potatoes, like shown in the picture below. Then put the sweet potatoes in glasses of water so that half of the potato is submerged in the water and half of the potato is above the water. (The toothpicks serve to prop up the sweet potatoes so that half stays above the water line.) Place the potatoes in a sunny window.
Sweet potatoes in cups of water near the window, held up by toothpicks
Then... wait. In retrospect, I shouldn't have used clear glasses because those sweet potatoes grew algae. Check your sweet potatoes every few days to see if you need to refill the water.
Starting to grow leaves
REALLY growing leaves - and roots!
In a few weeks, your sweet potatoes should have grown leaves and/or roots. Then it's time to plant them outside. Sweet potatoes are not fussy about good soil. And, in fact, since I am planting them in hopes of improving my soil, I purposely put them in really bad soil. Plant them about 9 inches apart. Here's a photo of them several weeks after I planted them:
Sweet potatoes growing in our garden
Eventually, I'm told, they will take over the entire area. I interplanted beans with my sweet potatoes because I figured the sweet potatoes can take over the ground and the beans will grow up the poles.
Another way to plant sweet potatoes is by using cuttings of sweet potato plants. Today, a local gardener told me he heard that this way will net you more sweet potatoes than if you plant actual sweet potatoes. I think I will try this in the future, but taking cuttings off of my current plants and seeing if I can get them to sprout roots. |
