Sweet potato slips are how many gardeners get their sweet potatoes started. Granted, this is not a practice that happens in nature. Sweet potatoes will propagate on their own, if left in the soil from one season to the next. If you’ve never grown this delicious root vegetable. You should give it a try. They’re super easy to grow, but do require a long growing season. They also require warmth.

How to Make Sweet Potato Slips

The technique is easy.  You simply cut your sweet potato in half, perch it upon the mouth of a jar or glass (suspending it by toothpicks works well) submerging the bottom half in water.  Voila!

Place in a sunny location and keep the water level  high enough so the bottom half remains wet and watch your potato sprout.

 

After a while — times vary, but you can expect to wait days, even weeks in some cases — shoots will form on the top of your potato.  You can gently remove these and place them in water, again half-submersed, and roots will develop.

When they reach a couple of inches, you simply transplant the sweet potato slips into your garden and water them in. I always form a shallow well around their base to help direct the water to their root base.

How to Grow Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes like loose sandy soil and don’t need a lot of fertilizer or water, which makes them especially kind to the novice Florida gardener, such as myself.  You can amend the soil with some compost to add nutrients, but don’t worry if you can’t.  These girls are pretty hardy.

 

Depending on the variety, potatoes can be harvested from 100 – 140 days.  I planted my first crop last June and began harvesting in October continuing through December. They don’t like the cold, so the kids and I cleared the remainder out and collected them for storage before the temps dipped too low.

Sweet Potato Recipes

As with any tender transplant, take care with your new sweet potato slips and they will grow fast and furious.   Wonderful news,  because sweet potatoes are not only easy to grow, but they’re as healthy as it gets! The are packed with healthy vitamins and minerals, predominantly Vitamins A, along with vitamins B-6 and C, plus potassium, niacin, calcium, magnesium, and more. Not to be overlooked is the dietary fiber, important for all of us.

My family enjoys sweet potatoes roasted, mashed, baked or broiled. Check out our Deep Dish Sweet Potato Casserole, or Healthy French Fry recipes. And of course, we cannot overlook the classic Sweet Potato Pie. No matter how you slice them, these sweet babies will keep you healthy, happy and hoppin’ ready for a bountiful harvest come fall!