I used to order sweet potato starts from a seed company and I was always surprised at how puny looking they were. Plus they didn't do all that well after being transplanted into the garden. So, I decided to learn how to grow my own starts. Easy and frugal.
Remember when you were a child and sprouted a sweet potato in a jar of water? Well, that's what we are going to do. Place the potato stem end up in a jar of water, suspended by tooth picks you have stuck in it's sides. Keep jar filled with water and place in a sunny windowsill. It will sprout fairly quickly.
Memories of Second Grade Science
When the sweet potato is filled with nice long, leafy sprouts it is time to proceed to step two. Pull the sprouts off of the potato and place them into a jar fill with water. Place this jar into the sunny windowsill. Discard old potato.
Starts Developing Roots
Once the roots on your sweet potato starts are fully developed it is time to plant in the garden. Sweet potatoes are easy to grow and are a good hot weather plant. Just watch out for the bunnies; they love the leaves.
God bless,
Pam
I like sweet potatoes too.We haven'tryed to grow them,but should. Maybe a few this year. Blessings jane
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration! I'm going to start one right now as there is one left in the 'tater basket. Never grown potatoes before, how do you plant the sweet potatoes? Just like "regular" taters & can you do it in straw?
ReplyDeleteI just plant the starts in well drained, lightly fertilized soil. I have never grown sweet potatoes in straw. Try it and let me know how it works out.
ReplyDeletePam