Veg How Many Slips From One Sweet Potato?

[Freeholder]

I'm trying sweet potatoes this year for the first time. I ordered just a few slips of a variety that I haven't seen in the grocery stores, but want to produce some more slips from grocery store sweets. I need about three dozen more slips, and am wondering how many potatoes I need to buy to get that many? I looked it up and most of the websites (some of which are questionable) say 3-5 slips per sweet potato. A few say up to 15-30 slips per sweet potato. That's a huge difference! Help!

Kathleen

 

[philkar]

We usually get 5 to 10 slips per potato. And we do the dirt method. Put the potato in some sort of container I used old foil pans like for dressing. Filled pan about halfway with soil. Push the potatoes half way down in soil. Wet soil when it gets dry. And when the slips were about 10 to 12 inches tall we pulled them off and put them in the ground! We had a great crop this past year and are getting ready to start our slips now. Good luck however you choose to grow them!

 

[AlaskaSue]

Good info! I’ve yet to be successful but keep trying. One o’these days I’ll have Alaska-grown sweet taters! Regular spuds I can do with my eyes closed but these have been a bit of a challenge….

 

[philkar]

Good info! I’ve yet to be successful but keep trying. One o’these days I’ll have Alaska-grown sweet taters! Regular spuds I can do with my eyes closed but these have been a bit of a challenge….

They love the heat of the Deep South but I bet you can do it. We really just put them in the ground, keep them weeded and watered, and dig in the Fall. They are low maintenance for us. Too much water is bad but we don't generally water them once they are established.

 

[AlaskaSue]

They love the heat of the Deep South but I bet you can do it. We really just put them in the ground, keep them weeded and watered, and dig in the Fall. They are low maintenance for us. Too much water is bad but we don't generally water them once they are established.

Oh, that is great info actually. I got one started last year but pretty sure I over did the water. Trying again now…. We actually grew sweet potatoes and watermelon commercially when I was a kid in Okla… it it is very different up here, lol!

 

[Freeholder]

We usually get 5 to 10 slips per potato. And we do the dirt method. Put the potato in some sort of container I used old foil pans like for dressing. Filled pan about halfway with soil. Push the potatoes half way down in soil. Wet soil when it gets dry. And when the slips were about 10 to 12 inches tall we pulled them off and put them in the ground! We had a great crop this past year and are getting ready to start our slips now. Good luck however you choose to grow them!

Thank you! I was planning on doing the dirt method (it's recommended by Sand Hill Preservation Center -- he sells a lot of old sweet potato varieties).

 

[Raggedyman]

They love the heat of the Deep South but I bet you can do it. We really just put them in the ground, keep them weeded and watered, and dig in the Fall. They are low maintenance for us. Too much water is bad but we don't generally water them once they are established.

Oh, that is great info actually. I got one started last year but pretty sure I over did the water. Trying again now…. We actually grew sweet potatoes and watermelon commercially when I was a kid in Okla… it it is very different up here, lol!

sue
sweet posts are actually "tropical tubers" . . . a sheet of 6mil BLACK PLASTIC sheeting 10' wide, with small holes (4X4") for your sets spaced at 18" apart cut out in the middle of that sheet and you'll do much better. we grow them under black plastic here in the mountains of WNC and they do very much better than if planted uncovered. they LOVE heat and will be damaged by cold - anything below 60* and they are pretty well dormant . . .

5 FACTS FOR GROWING FABULOUS SWEET POTATOES ​

1. Sweet potatoes are alive and they breathe.
   Never store sweet potatoes in a sealed plastic bag; ethylene gas produced by potatoes respiration will damage them. Rather use paper bags, boxes or wooden crates. Although they may be covered loosely by a tarp, this is not necessary. It is more important to store the potatoes at about 60°.
2. Do not toss or drop sweet potatoes into storage containers.
   Sweet potatoes will appear firm and indestructible when you dig them. They're not! A drop sufficient to crack an egg is sufficient to produce a tiny bruise on the sweet potato which, after a few months in storage will turn into a large rotten spot, often ruining the entire potato.
3. Sweet potatoes are tropical plants.
   Sweet potatoes start to shiver in storage and will eventually die at 50°. Although they will remain a good-looking corpse for a few days, they will ultimately develop pockmarks and a hard cone. The technical name for this is “chilling injury”
4. Sweet potatoes need to be cured.
   Starting immediately on the day of harvest, cure your sweet potatoes at 85 - 90° for five days. During this time the sweet potato will grow a second skin which becomes an incredibly effective seal. After curing, you can leave a sweet potato on the kitchen counter for several months without noticeable moisture loss. Without curing the sweet potato will last only a month or two in storage. Curing also initiates flavor development.

Providing proper curing conditions for five days requires planning. Think about a large closet or bathroom with a small electric heater. Keep the curing space at 80 to 90% humidity for best results.
5. A newly dug Sweet potato is virtually tasteless.
A sweet potato does not reach flavor potential until it has been cured and stored for a few months. Eat sweet potatoes when they’re new if you must, but don't judge them until after New Year's Day.

 

[AlaskaSue]

1

sue
sweet posts are actually "tropical tubers" . . . a sheet of 6mil BLACK PLASTIC sheeting 10' wide, with small holes (4X4") for your sets spaced at 18" apart cut out in the middle of that sheet and you'll do much better. we grow them under black plastic here in the mountains of WNC and they do very much better than if planted uncovered. they LOVE heat and will be damaged by cold - anything below 60* and they are pretty well dormant . . .

5 FACTS FOR GROWING FABULOUS SWEET POTATOES ​

1. Sweet potatoes are alive and they breathe.
   Never store sweet potatoes in a sealed plastic bag; ethylene gas produced by potatoes respiration will damage them. Rather use paper bags, boxes or wooden crates. Although they may be covered loosely by a tarp, this is not necessary. It is more important to store the potatoes at about 60°.
2. Do not toss or drop sweet potatoes into storage containers.
   Sweet potatoes will appear firm and indestructible when you dig them. They're not! A drop sufficient to crack an egg is sufficient to produce a tiny bruise on the sweet potato which, after a few months in storage will turn into a large rotten spot, often ruining the entire potato.
3. Sweet potatoes are tropical plants.
   Sweet potatoes start to shiver in storage and will eventually die at 50°. Although they will remain a good-looking corpse for a few days, they will ultimately develop pockmarks and a hard cone. The technical name for this is “chilling injury”
4. Sweet potatoes need to be cured.
   Starting immediately on the day of harvest, cure your sweet potatoes at 85 - 90° for five days. During this time the sweet potato will grow a second skin which becomes an incredibly effective seal. After curing, you can leave a sweet potato on the kitchen counter for several months without noticeable moisture loss. Without curing the sweet potato will last only a month or two in storage. Curing also initiates flavor development.

Providing proper curing conditions for five days requires planning. Think about a large closet or bathroom with a small electric heater. Keep the curing space at 80 to 90% humidity for best results.
5. A newly dug Sweet potato is virtually tasteless.
A sweet potato does not reach flavor potential until it has been cured and stored for a few months. Eat sweet potatoes when they’re new if you must, but don't judge them until after New Year's Day.

Wow, wow, wow! Raggedy, that is really great info! Thank you! I feel encouraged to try again this year esp with this new info. You ROCK, thank you!

I hope to report back with a good return this year

 

[Raggedyman]

sue
curing sweet potatoes is incredibly important not only for the TASTE but for keeping them we eat the sweet potatoes we dig in mid september AFTER the first of the year. they will keep for almost an entire year if they're cured properly and carefully handled.

we cure ours do in a down stairs bath room. door shut and towel stuffed under the door. we keep an electric heater running at 95 for 5 straight days.

we dig ALWAYS plant them (here) last week of may and we ALWSYS dig them mid september. rain would be the limiting factor in that. too much water is bad but not as bad as too little. we've had them bigger than footballs

 

[Freeholder]

Agreed! Thank you, Raggedy! I've been struggling with 'where am I going to store sweet potatoes?' because at times our indoor house temperature drops into the forties during the winter. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. Maybe before next winter we'll have more of the house insulated and be able to keep it warmer in here, but I can't count on it. On the other hand, I might be able to keep a small space heater in the storm shelter closet, and just keep that one space warm. Or store the sweet potatoes in the bathroom, LOL! That might work, because we do try hard to keep the bathroom warm.

I don't know if growing in black plastic would be as necessary here (south-central KY, zone 6b), but I was thinking about doing it just as weed control, since the sweet potatoes are probably going to get planted in a new addition to the garden this year. Do you think they'd get too hot here, if they are planted in black plastic?

Kathleen

 

[AlaskaSue]

sue
curing sweet potatoes is incredibly important not only for the TASTE but for keeping them we eat the sweet potatoes we dig in mid september AFTER the first of the year. they will keep for almost an entire year if they're cured properly and carefully handled.

we cure ours do in a down stairs bath room. door shut and towel stuffed under the door. we keep an electric heater running at 95 for 5 straight days.

we dig ALWAYS plant them (here) last week of may and we ALWSYS dig them mid september. rain would be the limiting factor in that. too much water is bad but not as bad as too little. we've had them bigger than footballs

GREAT info to bear in mind, Raggedy!! I really think I can do this, this year. Good to know about curing, will keep in mind.

Zounds, I cannot wait to see planting time…!

 

[Kathy in FL]

Here is a piece of an article for growing sweet potatoes in colder climates.

Growing in Cold Climates
Articles on how to grow potatoes won’t help you here, because the crops are different from planting to harvest. But growing sweet potatoes can be done even up in Alaska. Plant in full sun. If it’s still cold outside, keep your babies in a greenhouse or a sunroom. Use strong ultraviolet lights if necessary. Introduce plants gradually to the outside to harden them off.



Maintain an ambient temperature above 60 degrees for the foliage and between 70 and 80 degrees for the roots. You can achieve this several ways. Install a greenhouse thermometer to keep the ambient temperature at 60-70, which your tomatoes will love, but use additional heating methods for small cups of soil. Use a warmer, such as a heating pad covered by a waterproof barrier, and set containers atop. Black plastic draws sunlight toward the soil. If you heat your greenhouse, give sweet potatoes the coziest spot. Transplant as necessary because the roots grow fast. If you move them outside during the day, carry them back in during cold nights. Do not set out permanently until all danger of frost has passed. In zones 5 to 8, cover soil with clear or black plastic a few weeks before planting outside. Test soil temperatures then cut x-shaped slits in the plastic and insert plants directly through the holes into the ground. Fold flaps back around the stems and tack down with rocks or landscape pins. This keeps the soil warm and moist while foliage flourishes in the cooler air. If the summer becomes a scorcher and plants wilt, spread a thin layer of light-colored straw over the plastic, beneath the foliage. Keep soil moist but not wet. Do not apply much fertilizer because this will encourage foliage growth instead of large tubers.



Cold and erratic climates may require that you use containers for growing sweet potatoes and save the ground space for growing beets. Twenty-five-gallon planters, painted dark colors and set atop concrete or blacktop, draw in heat. Cover the soil with plastic, as described above, and insert plants through slits. Is your location still too cold for growing sweet potatoes? Keep plants in a greenhouse through the entire growing season. Use large, dark containers such as plastic storage totes with drainage holes drilled in the bottom. Greenhouses can nurture your plants when snow falls outside. Whether in the ground or in containers, a stainless steel meat thermometer can gauge soil temperature. Choose the largest possible container size. Smaller containers result in small, cramped roots.

 

[AlaskaSue]

For sure I rushed things last year. Good info Kathy, thanks. I’d sure love to be as successful with sweet taters as I am with regular spuds!

You guys really rock, ya know!

 

[Raggedyman]

Agreed! Thank you, Raggedy! I've been struggling with 'where am I going to store sweet potatoes?' because at times our indoor house temperature drops into the forties during the winter. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. Maybe before next winter we'll have more of the house insulated and be able to keep it warmer in here, but I can't count on it. On the other hand, I might be able to keep a small space heater in the storm shelter closet, and just keep that one space warm. Or store the sweet potatoes in the bathroom, LOL! That might work, because we do try hard to keep the bathroom warm.

I don't know if growing in black plastic would be as necessary here (south-central KY, zone 6b), but I was thinking about doing it just as weed control, since the sweet potatoes are probably going to get planted in a new addition to the garden this year. Do you think they'd get too hot here, if they are planted in black plastic?

Kathleen

Kath
that plastic is important for several reasons - heat is one - and you would be fine in central KY - but another is that the plastic keeps your runners from rooting and growing a buch of small tubers all over the place. what you should have when you dig them is a central cluster of 8-10 large tubers directly under the location of the original set and a within perhaps 18" of that central location, a few other tubers off each side.

if you've ever had a store bought sweet potato that has "stringy ends" that's a form of "chilling injury" a sweet potato begins to go dormant below 60 and begins to die below 50.

 

[Raggedyman]

some other stuff on sweet pots:

FARM - Tip for sweet potato growers

FARM - I planted sweet potato slips this summer. Why can't I find any sweet potatoes?

 

[Martinhouse]

There is an older homesteading couple I watch on YouTube and they say to plant whole sweet potatoes on their side two to four inches into the soil. They will grow plenty of nice healthy shoots that will have lots of roots on them. They can reach into the soil and twist off a shoot without digging up the whole potato with other shoots on it, if they don't need a lot at once. They've done videos of harvesting and their results are really excellent.

 

[Raggedyman]

in the past I have started my slipps in the corner of the compost pile doing EXACTLY that. I haven't grown sweets for the last 2 years and will not plant white pots this year either. its just gettin' ta be too much for an ol hillbilly ta keep care of

 

[AlaskaSue]

in the past I have started my slipps in the corner of the compost pile doing EXACTLY that. I haven't grown sweets for the last 2 years and will not plant white pots this year either.

I managed to actually get potato berries summer 2020. Grew taters from them last year and saved some for this year. Mostly grow from spuds I save over winter. It always fun to try new things! I greatly appreciate your input!

 

[TerriHaute]

Kath
that plastic is important for several reasons - heat is one - and you would be fine in central KY - but another is that the plastic keeps your runners from rooting and growing a buch of small tubers all over the place. what you should have when you dig them is a central cluster of 8-10 large tubers directly under the location of the original set and a within perhaps 18" of that central location, a few other tubers off each side.
View attachment 326453

I have been growing sweet potatoes for over ten years now, and the Raggedyman method is the method I use (central Indiana). I plant 12-14 slips, Beauregard variety, purchased at a local garden center. I plant them in a row, about 18 inches apart, and mulch with 6 foot wide pieces of 5mil black plastic on either side of the row. Grass clippings are added between the plants and I pretty much forget about them until it is time to harvest. I only water them if there has been very little rain. The vines cover the black plastic and hold it down in the wind. I have had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes every year without fail, enough for DH and I for an entire winter even with giving some away. To cure them, I put them in the greenhouse under a tarp for a week. I store them in sturdy vinyl mesh bags that I wash and reuse every year. Our house is on a hill, our garage is mostly underground at the basement level and it makes a fine root cellar. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and winter squash keep there very well.

Freeholder, I can't imagine how many sweet potatoes you'd have from planting 3 dozen slips!!

 

[summerthyme]

sue
sweet posts are actually "tropical tubers" . . . a sheet of 6mil BLACK PLASTIC sheeting 10' wide, with small holes (4X4") for your sets spaced at 18" apart cut out in the middle of that sheet and you'll do much better. we grow them under black plastic here in the mountains of WNC and they do very much better than if planted uncovered. they LOVE heat and will be damaged by cold - anything below 60* and they are pretty well dormant . . .

5 FACTS FOR GROWING FABULOUS SWEET POTATOES ​

1. Sweet potatoes are alive and they breathe.
   Never store sweet potatoes in a sealed plastic bag; ethylene gas produced by potatoes respiration will damage them. Rather use paper bags, boxes or wooden crates. Although they may be covered loosely by a tarp, this is not necessary. It is more important to store the potatoes at about 60°.
2. Do not toss or drop sweet potatoes into storage containers.
   Sweet potatoes will appear firm and indestructible when you dig them. They're not! A drop sufficient to crack an egg is sufficient to produce a tiny bruise on the sweet potato which, after a few months in storage will turn into a large rotten spot, often ruining the entire potato.
3. Sweet potatoes are tropical plants.
   Sweet potatoes start to shiver in storage and will eventually die at 50°. Although they will remain a good-looking corpse for a few days, they will ultimately develop pockmarks and a hard cone. The technical name for this is “chilling injury”
4. Sweet potatoes need to be cured.
   Starting immediately on the day of harvest, cure your sweet potatoes at 85 - 90° for five days. During this time the sweet potato will grow a second skin which becomes an incredibly effective seal. After curing, you can leave a sweet potato on the kitchen counter for several months without noticeable moisture loss. Without curing the sweet potato will last only a month or two in storage. Curing also initiates flavor development.

Providing proper curing conditions for five days requires planning. Think about a large closet or bathroom with a small electric heater. Keep the curing space at 80 to 90% humidity for best results.
5. A newly dug Sweet potato is virtually tasteless.
A sweet potato does not reach flavor potential until it has been cured and stored for a few months. Eat sweet potatoes when they’re new if you must, but don't judge them until after New Year's Day.

I agree with everything, except using regular black plastic. If you can't get Solar Film plastic from Johnny's, use dark green garbage bags. They block weeds, but warm the soil, not the plastic. The difference for melons and other heat living plants is amazing.

Summerthyme

 

[Freeholder]

I have been growing sweet potatoes for over ten years now, and the Raggedyman method is the method I use (central Indiana). I plant 12-14 slips, Beauregard variety, purchased at a local garden center. I plant them in a row, about 18 inches apart, and mulch with 6 foot wide pieces of 5mil black plastic on either side of the row. Grass clippings are added between the plants and I pretty much forget about them until it is time to harvest. I only water them if there has been very little rain. The vines cover the black plastic and hold it down in the wind. I have had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes every year without fail, enough for DH and I for an entire winter even with giving some away. To cure them, I put them in the greenhouse under a tarp for a week. I store them in sturdy vinyl mesh bags that I wash and reuse every year. Our house is on a hill, our garage is mostly underground at the basement level and it makes a fine root cellar. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and winter squash keep there very well.

Freeholder, I can't imagine how many sweet potatoes you'd have from planting 3 dozen slips!!

I honestly have no idea how many potatoes we are likely to get from that many slips, myself! But planting on new ground, I thought we'd better not count on having really good yields. And we eat quite a lot of sweet potatoes, since we can't eat bread and stuff like that. Plus, my brother and his wife will be here, so we are growing for them, too. If we get lots, I can cook some for the dogs and poultry, too.

Thanks for all the good advice, everyone!

Kathleen

 

[Martinhouse]

Kathleen, it sounds like you might need to plant about 365 sweet potato slips!!!! (: (:

Seriously, if you plan to use a lot of them, you need to plant a lot of them.

 

[China Connection]

Just 30?

Well for a start how big is the mother sweet potato. I have them up to a couple of kg.

 

[fish hook]

I always start a few sweet potatoes in the house, about 1/3-1/2 covered with water. I start them early so the slips run and make a long vine. Take the long vine and cut pieces about 6 inches long, root them in a glass or vase of water, have all the slips you want.

 

[Tang1492]

Sweet Potato slip increase - According to the book Vegetable Crops Fifth Edition By Thompson and Kelly published by McGraw Hill in 1957 most sweet potatoes produce sprouts only on one end. If the sweet potato is treated with various chemicals or heated at 110 degree F for 12 hours it will produce sprouts all along the potato length thereby increasing the sprout production many fold. I have heated sweet potatoes in the oven at 110 degrees for 12 hours and have excellent results with many sprouts produced all along the entire length.

 

[Samuel Adams]

Incidentally, after getting the first dozen or so slips off a sweet, I’ll “plant” it in a sunny and finished compost pile (with many others) and continue to let them sprout slips until mid June.
I get my sweets in as early as possible, and just keep adding until early July.

Always get a bounty crop, even off the later planting’s.

 

[anna43]

One sweet potato in a vase in my kitchen window will usually put out more than a dozen slips. Also, if they start vining, you can cut the vines into shorter lengths and put them in water to root increasing the number of slips to plant.

For the first time this year, I've put sweet potatoes into potting soil to see if I can get slips that way. So far nothing has come up.

I cure my sweet potatoes in the sun for a day, if it's not too wet out, or in the garage if it's warm enough or sometimes in the dining room. Once cured I put them on cardboard spread on a table in the basement and I've had them keep for two years. With last summer's drought, they did not keep as good this year. I just keep an eye on them and if they need to be used, I cook them, puree and freeze or cook enough to slip the skins, cut into chunks and can. Obviously, I prefer to keep them unprocessed as that is by far the easiest way.

I pile up a berm and plant sweet potatoes in the berm. It makes them easier to dig without cracking them. The only issue I've ever had with sweet potatoes is voles. One year they decimated my crop.

I also keep track of date when planted and try to dig them at 100 days. I have covered them when frost is forecast in the fall, but most years they are ready to dig before that happens. I generally plant around Memorial Day. We've had frost as late as June 1, but May 15 is more typical. Mid September would be an early frost but that happens fairly often. We'll have a couple days of frost and then typically several weeks of beautiful fall weather so the effort of covering them for those couple days is worth it..

 

[Martinhouse]

Anna43, what state are you in? Your weather sounds a little bit farther north than I am, but it's always hard to tell for sure that way. I am in NW central Arkansas.

 

[anna43]

Northwest Iowa so closer to Minnesota and South Dakota than Missouri by a lot!