Growing My Own Sweet Potato Slips

Last year was the first year that I had ever grown sweet potatoes in my garden.  I had one that had started to sprout new growth over the winter, so I decided that once the weather warmed I would tuck it into an empty spot in my garden.  I planted the whole potato, not knowing that there was a better way.  It still produced a couple small potatoes, so I ate one and saved the other for the next growing season.  Over the winter the single potato has sprouted several new vines.  Each vine has the potential to become a new plant in the right conditions, so I am setting out to do it a better way this year.

Starting with the single sweet potato, I stuck three toothpicks into the root so I could soak it in water without submerging the whole thing.  After a few weeks in water the sweet potato started to grow new roots into the water and it sent new shoots up into the air.  Sweet potatoes don't grow exactly like regular potatoes.  The part we eat is actually the root of the plant as opposed to regular potatoes which are tubers that grow off the stems of a plant.  Regular potatoes will send up new stems and the tubers form at the base of the stems that are underground.  Sweet potatoes can be cuttings of new growth that have the opportunity to form new roots (and therefore new sweet potatoes).  To make the slips I waited until the new vines were several inches long and then I broke them off of the rooted sweet potato and stuck them in their own jar of water.  I am hoping that they will develop a strong enough root system of their own in a few weeks.  Once they seem like they are off to a good start and the weather is staying generally warmer, they will be introduced to the summer garden where they can grow to their hearts content.