Sweet potatoes

conradmum

lisa26 wrote: »

I'd like to have a go at this....what do you need to do to get the shop bought potato to produce shoots? Could I grow them in a pot?

When I did it I half buried the tubers in damp sand (lengthways in shallow trays) and put them in a propagator. I think it took a week or two for them to start sprouting just little tiny green bits from the knobbly bits of tuber. Then the it took a while for the shoots to grow to about 2 inches. I then broke them off and planted them about 1/2 inch deep in pots of compost (still in the propagator). Once the roots filled the pot I potted them on until it was warm enough to put them in the greenhouse.

I should warn you this process isn't foolproof. One tuber I had just rotted.

If you're putting them in a greenhouse I would start the process early March, or early April if you're planting them outside.

If you don't have a propagator you could try putting your containers in plastic bags on a warm windowsill. My experience is that they grow best when they're kept warm.

Miss_Bubbles

Evening,
Will be trying to grow some this year after finding this thread! I'll let you know how i get on...fingers crossed!

Megansmum

Miss_Bubbles wrote: »

Evening,
Will be trying to grow some this year after finding this thread! I'll let you know how i get on...fingers crossed!

me too!! I bet there will be a few new sweet potato growers after this great informative thread. Thanks for all the advice.

lmentry

I have only recently eaten sweet potato after finding it in a 'baby weaning' cookbook we were using for our daughter and, after reading through this thread, think I will have a go at growing some too!

Hopefully will have some success with this and other vegetables on my garden plot this year as my one resolution is to take more care of what I grow (feeding, watering, bug squashing......etc).

Good luck to all the growers out there.:)

KazLA

I love sweet potatoes and will try to have a go at this - thank you!

lynzpower

is there any hope at all of growing these in containers?

conradmum

I should think they'd be okay Lynzpower. The tubers stay fairly close to the root of the plant. They aren't huge plants. From memory they grow around 4/5 feet high, similar to a tomato. The pots would have to be about 12 inch, though, and the usual rules of regular watering and food once the compost was exhausted would apply.

I'd say if growing in pots was the only alternative to growing outside then it's definitely the better option, especially with the summers we've been having lately.

betterbargains4u

alanobrien wrote: »

Certainly is, T&M sell slips you can find them here;

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/search.html?section=all&search=sweet+potatoes

BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN USING THIS SITE !!!!

I ordered from them before Christmas and they have taken another unauthorised payment from my account. :mad:
I have emailed them 4 times now, to try to sort this out and they have not bothered to even acknowledge my contact.
I am now having to do a chargeback through my bank !!
I am posting this wherever I see their name mentioned on internet forums, as a warning, that if you do buy from them....watch your bank account to make sure they don't take any unauthorised payments from you.

yellowdots

Thanks for all the useful information in this thread. I'm going to give this a try too.

I was wondering though would cutting the sweet potato in half length-ways and letting it dry out a day or so prevent it rotting while trying to get the shoots growing?

conradmum

yellowdots wrote: »

Thanks for all the useful information in this thread. I'm going to give this a try too.

I was wondering though would cutting the sweet potato in half length-ways and letting it dry out a day or so prevent it rotting while trying to get the shoots growing?

I didn't think of that or try it, but maybe cutting the tuber might make it more prone to rotting? I think the exposed flesh, even though dried, wouldn't be an as effective barrier to bacteria as the tuber's outer skin.

But I have no idea really.