The Sweet Potato Saga Part IV

Does this seem like a long process to anyone else? Well, it is. Remember I started by soaking these potatoes in water in late January, with a harvest expectation sometime between July-September. So here we go with the next big phase. The slips are ready to be cut from the potatoes and placed in water. From here they will root in prep for placement into the soil.

By now they are growing leaves like mad and pretty happy to be outside in the heat. The heat is making them explode in growth. It’s where they are meant to be.

So many slips! Pick a container and put them in it. Roots are tender and do not love sunlight, so in hindsight, a clear vase maybe wasn’t the best choice. But they are growing just fine. Keep that water cleaned!

When the slips grow to about 6 inches on the potato, they are ready to be cut and placed into water. To grow the slips, the energy and nutrients from the potato are being used (of which there is plenty), then once you cut the slips, in order for them to continue to grow and sprout roots, they need the leaves to photosynthesize. So you need lots of leaves like these beauties below!

Again, all these pictures are taken in late February-March, about 4-6 weeks after I started the potatoes in water. It’s been cold and they haven’t gotten the best direct sun. You can see how happy they look in the sunlight on these warmer days when we can put them outside (below).

Cutting the slips from the potatoes is not rocket science and they started sprouting roots all up and down the stem from any place they were touching water within only a few days. I’m telling you, this entire endeavor was pretty gratifying. My kids loves it. Just cut anywhere near the base of the potato. Be brave.

I didn’t cut all of them, just a handful. I’ll cut and start a handful every few weeks. I’m planning on planting them in phases so hopefully we can harvest all through late summer through fall. Any extras we have make a great donation to the food bank, but generally I want to plan it so we have what we need to eat when we want them.

Until next time… here we are just hanging out, sproutin’ some roots.