Question - I took some sweet potato nubs (slips) and stuck them in dirt

[Dover]

in a little container in my kitchen window a few days ago. They were only about an inch long but had tiny roots. I know this isn't quite how it's usually done according to the info I dug up on sweet potatoes, but these little slips have doubled in size already and have little leaves...so now what? Do I let them get taller, do I go ahead and stick them in the garden,....?

Anybody have experience with sweet potatoes?

[Warpy]

1. Let 'em grow

because they make a nice house plant until they get on the unwieldy side, and then you can replant the poor potbound little thing into the garden.

You might or might not get any useful spuds, but it's a pretty plant.

[Dover]

2. You think they'll do okay in the window?

I stuck about 5 slips in a pot that's about 4". The window is n.e. facing.

[Warpy]

3. I know of nothing that will stop a sweet potato vine

including asphalt.

[Dover]

6. Lol! Well I'd like some potatoes out of the deal, and think the Texas sun

might stop these youngster taters in their tracks if not handled carefully. I'd like to get them in the garden, though, asap.

[Alameda]

4. I had a pet iguana once that would climb the walls for

sweet potato greens. They make wonderful house plants. Mine never lasted that long to get into the ground.

[Historic NY]

5. Would they take to an ugly chain link fence?.......

I have cucumbers growing on my neighbor's ugly fence, its a pain to lean over to get them from the other side.

[Dover]

7. I'm sure they'd like any ol' fence. I'm just not sure when to transplant them.

The Texas sun in awfully intense and cruel. Not to mention the grasshoppers!

I would like some taters though.

[druidity33]

8. mulch, mulch, mulch.

that is your answer. Dig em deep if you want more spuds. Make sure you top dress them with a little compost or seasoned manure. water em in good. lay down a HEAVY layer of mulch (straw, rotten hay, etc). if they start to look real droopy, water in the mornings.

you're good to go...

:)

[Dover]

9. THANKS! So go ahead and plent them? They are about 2:" tall.

Or shall I wait until they can reach through the layer of mulch (maybe 8 inches?).

[kestrel91316]

11. They need to get bigger and more robust. 4-6" IMHO.

Won't take but a few days, lol.

[druidity33]

12. agree with Kestrel

wait until they're between 4 and 6" tall (if the pot they're in isn't too small. You said 4", is that tall or deep?). You'll have to keep a close eye on them/it at first. If it has gone to flower already it's probably too late to plant, but it sounds like just a wee little sprout right now.

good luck!


btw, do not spray with water. water the ground under the mulch with a jug/can around the plant.

[kestrel91316]

10. You want those vines sprawled all over the ground to help keep

the soil cool and moist.

I grew them one summer in Los Angeles. They were DEELICIOUS!! No idea why I didn't repeat it. They love the heat.

[LWolf]

13. I've never grown sweet potatoes for food.

When I was a kid, my mom used to put a sweet potato into a vase of water, with toothpicks to hold it up so part of it broke the surface. It grew a massive tangle of roots, and a huge house plant that lasted forever. I don't remember her transplanting them, but she may have done so eventually, and started over with a new sweet potato.

I do know that if you want a crop, you need to get them in the ground now, and that each slip needs to be spaced at least 12" from the other.