6/26/22: Hi, I'm from the Philippines. During my high school days gardening is part of our vocational/agri subject. We plant the slips the way you showed here directly to the ground & yes, you have to water them regularly because they easily wither when the sun dries the soil. The other thing that I want you to know is.. if your slips are already "crawling" on the ground & you see a lot of leaves, you can pluck the top most part about 4 or 5" wash it well & steam it just enough.. set aside. Slice some tomatoes, diced onions with a little seasoning to taste & pour that on top of your steamed sweet potato leaves. It's a very good combination if you have fried or grilled fish! Enjoy a Filipino way of eating simple but nutritious meal! 😋😍
Thanks so much! Since I grow sweet potatoes, & small but plentiful tomatoes, & lots of green onions, this recipe is perfect for me. I have written down your words so I won't forget them. Good Harvests & Health to You!
In September or October take some 8-12 inch cuttings and stick them in moist potting soil . I use small pots or solo cups and they will root easily if you can keep them warm . Keep them as houseplants in a window or a grow light . They won’t grow very fast inside a home . In spring plant them into your garden . I do that every year and then you won’t have to grow slips every spring .
They actually will grow where I live. It is pretty sunny in our winters, so they’d never make it. It is a lot of effort changing the water, too. I personally prefer just rooting new tubers. It is so easy and low effort that I don’t mind. They grow like weeds in the south. You can’t kill ‘em.
As a trained horticulturist I can't say enough how accurate this is and explained extremely well. So many UA-cam gardeners only usually give the quick and dirty methods (which can also work) but fail to take the time to really provide these type of details and truly superior methods. Makes me super glad to see and proud that a fellow North Carolinian is providing this type of content. Keep up the good work, you've earned a permanent subscriber!
Thank you. I try to research a lot so the info I provide is accurate. A lot of these things are just learned experience, but I try to be accurate in the terminology I use where I can.
I'm an Horticulturalist of quite a few years and I've watched many YT vids of exotic plants, veg and fruits but yours is the clearest, non bs video I've ever seen, Kudos.
I’m from the Philippines and how we grow them is like this: we cut slips from the top portion and plant it directly into the ground on a wide cultivated field and wait 3-4 months. After that dig where you planted them and you’ll see lots of potatoes, we get the bigger ones let the little ones grow more. You’ll know when they’re about to give up when you see the leaves on the vine aren’t healthy anymore.
My mom is from Okinawa , I was born there(dad in marines) we used to eat roasted potatoes from the side of the road the most delicious memory as well !!
Did you buy from roasters who were on the roadside or pull them up from the ground near the road? I'm tempted to plant slips+ near a homeless encampment.
Wow you really, single handedly, explained how to feed your family with highly nutritional food during catastrophic event...Easily..But don't forget the leaves are edible as well, clean them in sink (while pretty and green) and cook them like you would spinach. Delish. Great job man...
We started with ONE potato brought from the US years ago..From one, many...Where we live in Turkey no one was producing sweet potatoes at that time....This guy knows what he's talking about!! Excellent advice.... they are so healthy....Go For It!
Don’t forget about the young and tender leaves are also edible and has lots of vitamins! Blanch it and place them in the refrigerator for an hour, prepare a dressing (vinaigrette, salt and pepper) topped it with halves cherry tomatoes and thinly slices of shallot…. Or you can use them in your cooking in place of spinach.
Sweet potatoes make good looking hanging vines. I had an old sweet potato that was going bad so I stuck it in an empty hanging pot outside & it became the most beautiful hanging basket.
When I see good videos like this I usually take my time to appreciate the experts who make these videos possible, it's not easy to help a lot of people make money
I just took my first slips off one of my sweet potatoes. I'm blown away. Especially since they are so expensive in the stores. We purchase only organic so that makes the price higher. Now I can not only get free sweet potatoes but share them with my friends.
Hi I live in the Philippines and we have sweet potato abundantly my tips to you is if you want to grow your sweet potato faster you don’t have to cut your slip into small pieces just plant the whole slip. We usually plant 3 slips in 1 whole.
@@av1421*whole 3 root nodes on 1 vine = "3 slips in 1 whole" Your spelling skills are useless without the reading comprehension to tell why a word was used in the first place.
It is very easy. I think it's easier than the water method. You don't have to worry about changing the water, and it's a lot faster. Just make sure the soil stays lightly moist and you can pretty much set it and forget it.
Thank You!!! I once picked up some delicious purple sweet potatoes from the farmers market. The peels grew in my compost pile, I transferred the slips to raised beds and grew my own. Yum
I have been an avid gardener forever. I am 69 years young. I have never attempted sweet potatoes until now. I live in a zone that will accommodate them. Your video is excellent at explaining what I need to do. It’s up to me, the soil, the weather and our Lord after that. I love sweet potatoes and I can’t wait. I am one who spent the money you were talking about for online sweet potatoes, lol. However, I am going to my local Asian market, which I love, and check it further. Thank you for a most informative video.
@@TheMillennialGardener Good question because I normally choose specific varieties, but I bought a generic "organic red sweet potato" from the store produce section and will do a video on the process through harvest.
Great video watch you both!! I'm in N.Y. this is my 3rd year growing sweet potatoes. I bought an organic sweet potatoe 3 years ago. I start my slips in potting soil in a aluminium pan from the dollar store and place the pan ontop of my hot water heater in my furnace room. Got around 40 already planted in the ground . Rooted them in water first because it was to cold to plant them out but stuck them right in the dirt when i did. This weekend gonna be in the 90s here. And we're having lots of rain.
One of the things you said in the end I feel is worth repeating. Each slip only gives you "a couple of pounds of sweet potatoes". In the past, I would spend so much time digging up the soil very deep, hoping that each slip would travel really deep into the ground in order to produce more sweet potatoes per slip and I never got that. If you want more sweet potatoes, you need to plant more slips. That's the only thing that kind of sucks with sweet potatoes: you need a lot of area to get a ton of potatoes. What I WILL try this year is planting slips in the many large containers that I have and see how that goes.
As always, you give a very detailed instruction on planting. My mom loves that purple Japanese sweet potatoes. I got a few at home. I will try to see if I can sprout them
Dear Dale, you did a fine job describing the best way to propagate sweet potatoes. You explain everything in a clear and concise manner. For those new to gardening, the dvil is in the detail. Thanks for making those detail interesting and fun to learn. Best Rob
@@mrsbougie1402 No, regular potatoes are started differently and require less preparation. You don’t create “slips” like you do with sweet potatoes. Instead, regular potato plants that grow from the eyes on the potato.
I don’t know if you’re still checking these messages, but I live in zone five and came across your video a few weeks ago. I bought some potatoes and actually make up my own soil with various elements and use a plastic container just like you do. Surprisingly, within two weeks, my first slip appeared! Super exciting and I can’t wait to get more. Who knows where I will be at 22 days later, like you were in this video at 6 1/2 minutes! Thanks again
You can get the Murasaki at Trader Joe's for $3.99 for 3 pounds. My family buys a few bags at a time and I got one small potato to produce 7 slips about 3" tall and took about 3w now, I'm near Seattle in zone 8b. I used the same method you did, using an old ziplock container.
My mother grew her sweet potato slips under a cold frame. When planted in the garden she made a "hill" for each slip. We always had plenty sweet potatoes! She sold slips as well as harvested sweet potatoes!
The first year I grew sweet potatoes I put three from the grocery in my 10x20 foot garden. It was summer, okra was already tall. By fall, my entire garden was covered with potatoes. Every year since then, I’ve grown sweet potatoes.
Perfect! Too many folks struggle to grow stuff that just doesn't want to grow there. (I have!). You have found something that likes your dirt & climate. Wonderful!
@@francinewalker8696 I'm in zone 10. Don't know what zone he is in,,,but he's got happy sweet potatoes! They love my place, too, & the (young) leaves are a great spinach substitute. I made chicken florentine using canned chicken, bow tie pasta, & those chopped leaves in place of spinach. No one detected the switch!
I am just outside the Atlanta area and just about to start my sweet potatoes in potting soil tomorrow with my kids. I have watched several videos but this will be the one I show them because you have so much information and the bonus dog footage at the end they will love!
As a gardening noob, I've NEVER been excited about planting anything really but this video is so well done! With supply chain issues we are facing, I am forced to start growing fruits and veggies....thank you so much!
With the condition of the country I've decided to start a garden. Supply chain issues are a concern as well. I would rather learn depend on myself to help my family stay fed.
@@donitadacus5078 me too. Times are scary and am a newbie gardener. The grocery store produce is expensive and looks pitiful for the high price they charge. So started to garden and my adult daughter has had a hand in it as well.
I live in zone 6a and so I started my slip production in January. As an experiment I planted my rooted slips on 5/14 on the top of a hot compost pile, that is moist, and mulched lightly. Night temps are in the 40's and my slips are thriving. The deer won't get to them because the compost pile is too soft for their footing. Today I am going to add a cover to encourage humidity as the wind dries out the surface. Thanks for your video; I learned a lot. I am experimenting in ways to beat the season and be more self sustaining.
Great video! I live in sub tropical part of New Zealand where sweet potatoes provide slits in the kitchen while waiting to be eaten. 😁 I do plant them. A friend of mine just puts the peelings in the ground and always ends up with huge sweet potatoes out of his volcanic soil. He grows them pretty much all year round as we don't get frost where we are. My favorite is one with red skin and purple inside. Even in our region they're expensive now. Thanx for the video.
@@TheMillennialGardener Timelapse, 5-10 days 🧟♂️🦠🍖🔴... (inside your stomach) ua-cam.com/video/KtK3KgSMHe4/v-deo.html .. ua-cam.com/video/oziwBALKCEQ/v-deo.html 🤮 NO fibre !!! Stays in your body and rots away 🤮🤮🤮🤮..... That’s why I’m vegan, lots of fibre if you eat plants and fruit and nuts and berries and tubers and lentils beans et cetera. PH 7, no smell. Which side of history are you on, Jeeffrey Dahmer 👓😩🦠🍖🔴... Or veganism ✅❤️💪😬😉 ??. You don’t hurt your cute little dog 😍🤗🐶🤥🤥🤥.....
@@15SecondsWithMona Heart attack pictures, fatty foods is animaIs cIogged arteries, hard arteries, PH 5, no fibre🧟♂️🦠🍔🥓🥩🍗🍳🧀... 🤮. Vegans don’t stink. PH 7 , plants have fibre ✅😉, vegans are peaceful, Peer review science. Actual pictures of the heart. ua-cam.com/video/15wgYsToORM/v-deo.html !!! ua-cam.com/video/pFPFnhfuLrE/v-deo.html Vegans don’t have this problem because that is the animals. Vegans don’t get clogged arteries, 4% cancer if you’re vegan. Meat based diet 51% death rate. That is extremely high for a frigging burger etc. Gorillas in the wild, have 1 percent cancer. And they never ever eat animals !!! Peer review science !!!! UA-cam delicious vegan food. Time to change ✅❤️😉.
I've grown sweet potatoes for a few years now and always thought it was strange that the vines and flowers looked exactly like Morning Glories. You blew my mind when you said they were, in fact, in the morning glory family!
Yep! Sweet potatoes are in the family *Convolvulaceae,* known commonly as the bindweed or morning glory family. They are not potatoes at all, and it's a misnomer.
Excellent video. I intend to use these tips to grow sweet potatoes. I’m now a new subscriber because I found your videos to be packed with great info & your teaching style is very easy to follow. Excited to view more of your videos. Ty for sharing your expertise.
You did good sir. I have something to add, if you chose to use cuttings, you can buy root harmone bottle, it will help speed up the root growth. Also you forgot to mention the depth of the soil bed, normally 12" deep this give you a little insulation, and aids in nutrients in soil. Collect rain water to use in first week of watering. Rain is higher in nitrogen then tap water. Rain water is far more pure then tap water without all the chemicals! I was stationed in Okinawa, I remember seeing the purple sweet potatoes there!
Hi Former Marine,,, Thanks,,, i know they grow deep: he should have said that,,, They are totally different from white potatoes. Rain water,,,, great idea,, thanks, Those japanese purple potatoes,,, Yum,,, im trying to get it to make slips... (first time),,, thank you
Totally explains why the organic potato I bought at our Natural Foods store never put out slips after 2 months in the potting soil. It rooted itself, but I never thought about it being a fresh potato and taking longer to produce slips. . Great video, as always!
You are extremely good at explaining and showing us step by step. Thank you! No one ever shows you each step, assuming you’ll figure it out. Who would’ve known how to cut a slip like that ? Well done! Much appreciation!❤😊
You do it EXACTLY the same way I do. I grew 750 slips last year and just stuck them straight into potting soil. 100% success, no fuss, no mess. They tend to rot in water.
It’s nice to see the alternative method to starting the slips, thanks for sharing this! I got some going in my garden and I’m so excited to get my own fresh sweet potatoes! 🍠
Hi from Australia. Great tips. I have a bed of two varieties and they're so easy to grow and I've had several kilos (pounds) of potatoes this way. You can't kill them, they grow like a weed, it's so simple to do, every gardener should be doing it. Great channel, love your content and the clear explanations of how to grow plants for food. Keep it up.
Thank you! Most of the coastal cities in Australia stay frost-free, so sweet potatoes can be grown year round. They'll do especially well on the east coast in the subtropics, because they like humidity and rainfall. If you live around Brisbane/Gold Coast, these would do well year round.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's exactly where I am. Yep, they slow up a little at the moment but there's no frost here near sea level. Even after all the rain we've in recent times, that hasn't seemed to bother them too much, the tubers are just starting to bulk up a little. The only significant pests that I've experienced here are the dreaded native bush turkeys, who love to dig up the bed and chomp out the tubers. Easy fix with a wire grating from the hardware store to cover the bed space. 😎
In Toowoomba I've not had luck with slips I've grown or those from Bunnings, nor from PNG method shown on ABC Gardening. I'll have another go as I too am a fan of the Okinawan type; health types say it works as an adaptogen.
Hello! This video came at the perfect time. I had some sweet potatoes sitting around and start sprouting. I inadvertently did your method. My container is next to the window and growing slips! It is mid Feb, and now I see I’m right on time! Thank you so much! When it comes time to plant I’ll do as you explained. Woot!!
Great planting details, thank you! Will definitely look for the Asian variety. Very curious about them. (Totally agree ~ these are super easy to grow. You can even plant the slips in flower beds & planters, as a decorative touch. Last spring I found an old regular store-bought SwPo that had been forgotten in my veggie storage bin. It was covered with slip sprouts so I cut it into cubes & randomly stuck them in the flower beds around my yard. Didn't really expect them to take but they grew like mad! Each slip/plant produced about 5 delicious various size potatoes. Nuke 'em in the microwave for 8-10 minutes or so & add butter, yum...)
@MB, R U serious? After some 20 years of research into their use, Soviet Russia banned the use of microwave ovens for heating food in 1976 as they decided that the dangers outweighed the benefit of speed.
I recommend wrapping your sweet potatoes in foil and baking them at 400°F. Sweet potatoes are primarily starch, and when you boil them or microwave them, the starch molecules stay mostly intact. However, when baked at 400°F or higher, the starch molecules break down into sugars. Sweet potatoes baked at 400°F will have a dramatically higher sugar content with no change in caloric content, since starch will convert to sugar. You’ll get a potato swimming in natural syrup.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks ~ very informative! My mom baked them this way too. With an aluminum nail inserted through the center, end to end. (To help the center cook evenly or faster? Not sure.) The potatoes were always tender & smooth inside, like sweet potato souffle. Another awesome recipe to try with these tubers, btw. :)
It’s mid January, in zone 7b. I have just planted 4 sweet potatoes to start getting my cuttings. I love fresh home grown sweet potatoes! Fresh red potatoes are pretty amazing too! You will never taste more flavorful food than if you grow it yourself
I watched several sweet potato videos and I like yours the best. So clearly explained. You expained what a slip is, and the different varieties of sweet potatoes and which taste the best. I love how you explained the ones that hadn't sprouted yet. Thank you. Now I know what I'm doing wrong with the one I planted. I think it is too deep and overwatered. I will try again.
just remember that they may have had a product called "Bud Nip" sprayed on them which will inhibit bud growth . they will still bud but only a few slips and they will be slow to grow.
Wow, what a great communicator you are! I’m a VERY newbie gardener! This is the first time (2022) that I’ve ever tried to grow food. I had previously tried flowers several occasions but killed then every time. It was so discouraging I didn’t try again until current events made me rethink trying again. I got a late start this year because I didn’t have all the necessary products; I guess that parts a learning curve too. But I live in hot and humid south/central Texas area and our summers are very long into the year. It usually doesn’t even begin to cool off until late Oct/November (sometimes that’s 80°!) so I’m hoping I’ll actually get to sample something I really grown myself without killing them all by then. I planted a lot of different food types though; and every article I read disagrees about the necessary chemicals and different fertilizers to use which is overwhelming yet I’m still persisting but I’ve already lost 1 of my 2 blueberries, I lost a peach tree, my strawberries have never come up and I’ve planted in 3 different types of soil; and my green beans and tomato’s are being eaten by something. Oh well; I’ll figure it out eventually (I hope). I just happened to stumble upon your video today; 6/3/22 and I was wondering if I heard you right that you amended the soil with a 5-5-5 fertilizer prior to planting? I’m gonna assume you only did that once during the whole growing season. And I was wondering how often to water after the first 2 weeks? And also how do you know when they’re ready to harvest? Thanks for such a great and informative, detailed video and for the time you took. I am so looking forward to watching your other videos! I need them!
I'm in central Texas too, decided to go ahead and plant some slips that had formed on a store-bought sweet potato. Hope you have a lot of luck with your plants. Green beans are dead, canteloupe never grew, pinto beans which supposedly grow well here haven't grown even with tons of care.
Welcome to gardening. You may want to look into getting shade cloths for your plants and make sure they're watered. Like regularly. Very regularly, or look into native plants. Personally, I love growing edible and medicinal plants. Also, on the winter sowing groups, the people who live in Texas gardening from fall to spring before it gets hot. Just some thoughts to consider... Good luck!
Hello from the Texas Hill Country! Take it from someone with a degree in plant and soil science. Texas is one bipolar B@#$c... Do yourself a favor, start a compost pile. Throw all non seed bearing yard waste and plant based table scraps into the pile and keep it moist and turned over. Use that to amend your soil once or twice a year between plantings. Grow some Tobacco to use as a natural pesticide. Last and most importantly is get an auto watering system and some soaker hoses or drip lines. 80% of our summers are long and dry/hot. You are very rarely going to overwater here. But even one or two days of missed water will murder your crops when its 108. Water and Organic matter are going to be your friends. Also blueberries do best up north along with many fruit trees. Think Texas, sweet potatoes are great if planted mid April and you harvest once the plant on the top has frozen but before the roots can freeze. So maybe 2 weeks after the tops freezes and dies.
A successful bug repellent that has worked in my garden is 2 and one half Tablespoons Dawn dishwashing liquid, 2 and one half any liquid cooking oil (helps coat plant but have left the out when didn't have any on hand and was not an issue), mix in garden sprayer with one gallon warm water. This worked very effectively for my garden.
2 tips. 1) put a sprinkling of microrhizal funghi in the bottom of your hole, this establishes root growth quickly. 2) cover the bottom of your hole with the soil/compost and sprinkle your bonemeal etc on the TOP. If you put it in the bottom, the roots will not spread as well. Watering carries the fertiliser down to them over time.
This will be my first year growing them. I plan to use RootWise Micro and aloe powder in the slip-water, let them sit for 8-ish hours, and plant with worm castings in the bottom of the holes as a one-day project. Thoughts are appreciated, and thanks in advance!
I loved using the leaves and cuttings of sweet potatoes as salad with lemon; sour soup from tamarind with either one of fish, pork, chicken or beef and with lots of other veggies - like eggplants, greenbeans, okra, stringbeans, etc
Thanks for the great video. My husband recently purchased a few different types of sweet potatoes, and one of them was dark skinned with dark purple flesh, so I saved one, as I’d never seen one before. The common ones we get in NZ are the orange flesh ones, the dark red ones with white flesh (firmer flesh), and the light brown ones with cream flesh. But the Maori people have always grown a variety of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Hopefully, I might get a sample of those too. After seeing this video, I’m now confident enough to start with the slips. Happy planting everyone.
@@DarkangaelBrokenwing We get different types here in NZ, but the most common ones sold in supermarkets are the orange skin with orange flesh, purple skin with white flesh and cream skin with white flesh. The other great varieties are difficult to source, but can be found In farmers’ markets. You could look in farmers’ markets.
Thank you for your video. I just want to say something. If you plant several sweet potatoes, you can also harvest the leaves. They have amazing health benefits. (it's almost $3 a bundle at the Asian stores). I am going to start this in the morning. I have 2 old sweet potatoes in the kitchen that have started its own slips without my help. Thank you again.
I agree - zone 9 here and just harvested some sweet potatoes and cut the vine tips off (14-16”), stripped the lower leaves and stuck them into the ground and they are easily growing more sweet potatoes. Just picked up a few certified organic purple potatoes and will plant them in mix as you have shown. A bit late in the season but since this is my first year gardening, will see how this works. We may or may not get a frost until December or January. I’ll post an update later in the year if this worked or not. Really enjoy your videos and have learned so much from you. Very appreciative.
I live in Florida coastal Zone 10a. I planted slips from a Hannah and a violet sweet potato. I harvested several shopping bags full of sweet potatoes. Anyway, pieces of the vines I left in the garden or put in compost piles have rooted and stated spreading all over the place. The vines send out underground runners that pop up several feet from the main vine mass. I don't mind because it makes nice looking ground cover of purplely vines and I dig up the runners if they get into my tomato or cucumber mounds. And when I do dig up the runners there are baby sweet potatoes growing.
I am blown away by both the sweet potatoes and this complete tutorial! I always have questions and I not only now feel confident with what I’m doing with my slips but I don’t have any questions!! Ty😂
I'm very happy to hear that! Definitely give it a try. The key will be moisture regulation. You must keep your potting mix moist, but not wet. If it gets too dry, the potatoes won't root. Too wet and they rot, so be sure to provide enough fresh air by venting the lid to prevent a wet condition and rot from setting in.
@The Milennial Gardener What kind of soil do sweet potatoes like? I amend with home made compost and coffee grinds, and mulch with pine needles, acidic soil. My potatoes love it, but do sweet potatoes?
I have listened to literally hundreds of videos trying to find the quickest easiest method to start sweet potatoes this one is by far 100% the best most detailed most informative video I have ever watched this is my first year to raise sweet potatoes and I really appreciate the information you have provided. Excellent video! Thank you!
This was the exact video I needed to see. Thanks for sharing your knowledge ! How big do slips need to be before planting them ? Can I eat the leaves of the slips ? This would be separate from the potatoes I plan on growing 👍🏾 Off to an Asian market I go ! 😊
Love the murasaki. I've grown it in pots for the last few years with a tomato cage to grow it up as decoration around the pool. The flowers are lovely, too.
Beginner gardener here with no green thumb but lots of desire! Thank you so much for your video!! I been trying to find that plant that I could grow and that would actually make it in wet, humid, hot Florida (no frost here, lol.). I found this very educational and hopeful. You are an excellent teacher and your enthusiasm was infectious!! Thanks again! :)
I followed your method and now I’m getting my new slips starting to sprout from the sweet potato! I’ll plant next week sometime. Thanks for your videos.
I am fairly new to your channel and have to tell you how much I enjoy watching, and learning from you. The "Trap crops" got me especially because you showed pictures of the bad bugs. Other channels speak bad bugs/names but no ID. Thank you so much for your info and encouragement
Thank you! I’m so happy to hear that. It is a lot of work to edit these videos, and doing small edits like that, be it zoom-ins, adding photos…that all takes a lot of time. I try my best to answer questions wherever possible. I’m glad it is worth the effort! Nothing makes me happier than knowing those little additions are worthwhile.
I agree with you on the Okinawa potatoes. I first tried a baked one at Don Quixote's on Oahu. I fell in love and even made some purple sweet potato pies. My family is not familiar with the purple potatoes and they were skittish of trying the pies. Their loss. 😋
I love making sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving with the purple sweet potatoes. It gives a texture similar to cake which is absolutely lovely. Definitely your family’s loss on not trying the purple sweet potatoes.
So glad I’ve found your channel. I’m in north east South Carolina so my climate is just like yours and I can follow along knowing your advice is good for my area. Getting ready to start my slips more in mid February. Thanks again
This is one of the most informative videos I have ever seen on YT. And I am very grateful for it as I just planted some sweet potato that was just budding out of the end. But I wasn't sure how to optimize it and get it to grow better. I am very focussed on my garden this year for obvious reasons. So thank you for helping me get this part of it off to a good start. These will grow in Texas into the early winter as it is always hot as hades here. You probably saved my life because the cats keep digging up everything else! I particularly likes the tip on what time of day to plant, as people often overlook these things. I find if I plant anything during a new moon it also grows much faster. Wonderful video!
Yes planting at the dark of the moon is good for all below ground plants. My granddaddy was one that followed the sign n watched the phases of moon carefully.. always made abundant harvest.
If you have your own slips, planting late means you harvest late, so the temp is a little more tolerable. Also, consider planting in separate planting so they are not all ready to harvest at the same time,
yep, in Louisiana I replant tomatoes and squash again after the first spring harvest. My new squash are coming up and my San Marzano tomato plants are Beautiful, will have more of these veggies soon, only 50 days till harvest in crooked neck squash. oh and my eggplants took so long to get up big enough to plant but they're up about 30" tall now.
why? they are a food that can be stored. you want them to grow as much as possible before winter and they can be stored through the whole winter in a cool dark dry place.
You are correct. Separate plantings are definitely the way to go, especially in the south. More folks should garden! Health & Peace of Mind, & less politics!
Thank you for all you wonderful gardening tips. I really appreciate that you begin each video with the date. This helps me plan when to begin growing. Thanks again. Hugs to Dale.
I always try to document my location and the date so it gives everyone a point of reference. It's hard to get value if you don't know where someone is and when they're beginning. Thanks for watching!
Thanks, I have been raising these for 20 years but i have never had a lot of luck growing slips. Your method seems pretty good. I don’t have a place inside and it is getting late in the season so i put a heating pad on the porch and did the same as you but outside. I plant these in rows about a foot apart and usually 25 foot rows. Sometimes two rows. I dig them with the frontend loader on a tractor and my wife picks them out as i go.
I learned so much from watching this! I’ve tried growing sweet potatoes before, but had terrible success trying to sprout them. I even bought organic ones from the local hippie store, and selected ones with eyes already sprouting on them, but most shriveled up and died because I was dry chitting them like regular potatoes. This video will be a game changer for me. I did succeed in getting 2 plants started last year. We live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. We have a long frost-free growing season, but we don’t get those hot humid summer days that sweet potatoes love. We grew them indoors in containers until the nights were warm enough, then moved the containers out to our full sun garden. The performance was impressive! One plant yielded just over 5 pounds of tubers, the other nearly 7 pounds! Each plant had 2-3 tubers that were around a pound a piece. The flavor was amazing. I’ll get busy starting those slips right now with your method. Thank you so much and you now have a new subscriber.
Thanks a lot for the video, it's very educative. I am watching from Zimbabwe. I planted my slips the way u did but I prepared the bad differently. I put hips of cut grass from mowing, then covered the grass with soil. Then I made shallow holes in the soil and planted the slips. The plants are growing well and are now running. I have been watering them three times per week before the onset of the rain. I hope the grass will decay quickly and become manure for the tubers, so that I will be able to have a bumper harvest. It's my first time to grow sweet potatoes. So I am looking forward to the harvesting day .
I didn't plant mine until July, I had to harvest in end of September they looked like carrots! Help, what did I do wrong?? In Wisconsin thanks I did them in 2 5 gallon grow bags
@@sharistafne4632 not nearly looking enough in the ground. I'm planting mine in April and not harvesting until the vibes due or first Friday in Nov. I'm growing them 6-7 months. You grew them for 2?
Very much appreciated! I had received from my mother-in-law awhile back two bags of sweet potatoes from a food drive and we have a garden. I took two sweet taters and did the jar method. One is doing very good with greenery. I heard about the slips but couldn't find anything that shows and goes into detail about it. Now I'll know exactly what to do when I put them into the ground when it's time.
Thank you for being so concise, giving just the right amount of information. It is also so valuable to see the all growing stages. You don't just talk about it - you show it! Thank you!
I've always wondered how to grow sweet potatoes. Since your fresh market potatoes took so long to sprout, I may buy mine in fall so they can age a bit before sprouting. You are a wealth of information & I've subscribed to learn more in the future. Plan on watching your old vids too.
I live in an apartment (lower level) where I get late morning light which gets ore direct as day gee we ts longer, then shadier before sundown. What is the best light for sweet potatoes? What would be best method to start these INDOORS, (what lighting and moisture level? My kitchen \ living room has the best light and heat during morning and light over my stove at night. This is my first attempt at indoor container planting.
Thank you for sharing this info! About 4 months back I bumped into amazing organic white sweet potatoes I fell in love with, and I did exactly as you shared. I have tons of slips now that I'm getting ready to plant in the garden :) Very easy and I'm excited to start growing my own :)
Thank you so much I learned a lot from your videos...I live and was born in US Virgin Islands...I love planting and am now retired ... I was born on a farm with animals and plantations my dad was significant agricultural he grew everything for the Islands markets.
Thank you so much for an easy to understand tutorial! I've got one sweet potato with slips starting and it's going really well. I planted it in seed starting soil and wondered if I had made a mistake until I saw your video!
I LOVE sweet potatoes ! I have always wanted to know how to grow sweet potatoes. Your explanation was very clear and complete ! Thank you for telling me !
Thank you for your video! It was very well presented. We've been growing sweet potatoes for 3 years and this has taught me new techniques. I love the rooting in potting soil instead of water ( which we normally do). And thank you for the info on the varieties that we can plant. Thank you for sharing! Blessings from Central Texas! ~Diane B
I just came across your channel. I can't believe how easy it is to start growing sweet potatoes. I love Japanese sweet potatoes too and must give your method a try.
It is very easy. It just takes a little time, especially if the potatoes are very fresh. A little potting mix, a little water and a little sun and they grow themselves!
Awesome instructional video on one of my favorite foods, the awesome sweet potato! I’m a new subscriber, glad I found this one. Thank you so much millennial gardener!
I just found your video today! Excellent and very informative. It’s too late in the year for me to plant this year but will do next year! I really enjoy how you show and explain every step. Thanks you!
Thanks for the advice.I learned a lot and cannot wait to try and grow Okinawan Sweet Potato I read that this variety descended from first plants to reach Japan prior to 1500..👍☮
They are fantastic. They're also incredibly popular in Hawaii. They're much drier than the orange sweet potatoes, and they're MUCH sweeter. The flavor is unbeatable in my opinion.
This was wonderful!!! So clear on the steps to take to plant and harvest sweet potatoes. I’m off to an Asian market!!! Thank you so much for helping us learn a good skill in providing healthy food for our family and friends. Happy Memorial Day weekend.
I LOVE this video!! I've watched it a few times to get all the info. I'm very new to veg gardening and am definitely giving these a try. All your videos are very informative and good tutorials. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
I have white sweet potatoes. They have a light tan exterior and a sweet white interior. I use them like regular potatoes in casseroles, scalloped potatoes, hash browns, fried potatoes. Yum! 😀 The only problems I have had was from critters who ate most of my plants and the roots last year. I am trying them inside this year, growing them on a lighten shelf.
This was such a great video. My mom use to prepare slips every year. I’m going to try this year… or next … I think I’m a little late this year. Thanks for sharing.✨🌟✨🍠
6/26/22: Hi, I'm from the Philippines. During my high school days gardening is part of our vocational/agri subject. We plant the slips the way you showed here directly to the ground & yes, you have to water them regularly because they easily wither when the sun dries the soil. The other thing that I want you to know is.. if your slips are already "crawling" on the ground & you see a lot of leaves, you can pluck the top most part about 4 or 5" wash it well & steam it just enough.. set aside. Slice some tomatoes, diced onions with a little seasoning to taste & pour that on top of your steamed sweet potato leaves. It's a very good combination if you have fried or grilled fish! Enjoy a Filipino way of eating simple but nutritious meal! 😋😍
Thank you for the wonderful Information.😃
Thanks so much! Since I grow sweet potatoes, & small but plentiful tomatoes, & lots of green onions, this recipe is perfect for me. I have written down your words so I won't forget them. Good Harvests & Health to You!
UbE
Great Work Josephine😁🙋
⁉️ QUESTION ⁉️
Do you prepare this a similar to a cold salad, or steamed/boiled like Stewed Tomatoes⁉️
In September or October take some 8-12 inch cuttings and stick them in moist potting soil . I use small pots or solo cups and they will root easily if you can keep them warm . Keep them as houseplants in a window or a grow light . They won’t grow very fast inside a home . In spring plant them into your garden . I do that every year and then you won’t have to grow slips every spring .
They actually will grow where I live. It is pretty sunny in our winters, so they’d never make it. It is a lot of effort changing the water, too. I personally prefer just rooting new tubers. It is so easy and low effort that I don’t mind. They grow like weeds in the south. You can’t kill ‘em.
Where I am the winter is so long and dim many houseplants don't even make it, just due to lack of light.
What grow zone?
How do you keep the pest away, wit hi out using chemicals?
cool
As a trained horticulturist I can't say enough how accurate this is and explained extremely well. So many UA-cam gardeners only usually give the quick and dirty methods (which can also work) but fail to take the time to really provide these type of details and truly superior methods. Makes me super glad to see and proud that a fellow North Carolinian is providing this type of content. Keep up the good work, you've earned a permanent subscriber!
Thank you. I try to research a lot so the info I provide is accurate. A lot of these things are just learned experience, but I try to be accurate in the terminology I use where I can.
How long to harvest? After rooting do you move them to a new planting area? How deep do you plant? I imagine keeping slightly moist. Thank you so much
What is your recommendation on washing store bought sweet potatoes to get them to grow slips please?
Definably one of the most direct accurate no BS tutorials I have ever seen UA-cam.
I like to pull the slips and pot them to grow a better root system before setting them in
I'm an Horticulturalist of quite a few years and I've watched many YT vids of exotic plants, veg and fruits but yours is the clearest, non bs video I've ever seen, Kudos.
I’m from the Philippines and how we grow them is like this: we cut slips from the top portion and plant it directly into the ground on a wide cultivated field and wait 3-4 months. After that dig where you planted them and you’ll see lots of potatoes, we get the bigger ones let the little ones grow more. You’ll know when they’re about to give up when you see the leaves on the vine aren’t healthy anymore.
Thank you for sharing this valuable information. I think I’ll give your method a try. Again, thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Extremely informative.
Thank you !! Gods blessing over you !!
Which way do you plant the cut piece? Do I want the "eyes" pointing up or down?
This info is exciting.because here in. Florida they should do well. Thanks
My mom is from Okinawa , I was born there(dad in marines) we used to eat roasted potatoes from the side of the road the most delicious memory as well !!
Did you buy from roasters who were on the roadside or pull them up from the ground near the road? I'm tempted to plant slips+ near a homeless encampment.
Wow you really, single handedly, explained how to feed your family with highly nutritional food during catastrophic event...Easily..But don't forget the leaves are edible as well, clean them in sink (while pretty and green) and cook them like you would spinach. Delish. Great job man...
Also blanch and freeze for later❤
We started with ONE potato brought from the US years ago..From one, many...Where we live in Turkey no one was producing sweet potatoes at that time....This guy knows what he's talking about!! Excellent advice.... they are so healthy....Go For It!
Don’t forget about the young and tender leaves are also edible and has lots of vitamins! Blanch it and place them in the refrigerator for an hour, prepare a dressing (vinaigrette, salt and pepper) topped it with halves cherry tomatoes and thinly slices of shallot…. Or you can use them in your cooking in place of spinach.
I dehydrate, then powder the leaves, and add to my green powder … enhancing the dense nutrients!
Im gardening noob and I been watching all kinds of sweet potato videos, this is the best I've seen. Very detailed, efficient and well paced. Thanks!!
Exactly what I was going to say.
Thank you so much! I'm so glad it was helpful!
Thanks for watching!
@@TheMillennialGardener putting me on 7
Sweet potatoes make good looking hanging vines. I had an old sweet potato that was going bad so I stuck it in an empty hanging pot outside & it became the most beautiful hanging basket.
When I see good videos like this I usually take my time to appreciate the experts who make these videos possible, it's not easy to help a lot of people make money
I would blame myself if I heard of an opportunity like this and let it go to waste, please am interested how can I do business with him
I just took my first slips off one of my sweet potatoes. I'm blown away. Especially since they are so expensive in the stores. We purchase only organic so that makes the price higher. Now I can not only get free sweet potatoes but share them with my friends.
Hi I live in the Philippines and we have sweet potato abundantly my tips to you is if you want to grow your sweet potato faster you don’t have to cut your slip into small pieces just plant the whole slip. We usually plant 3 slips in 1 whole.
hole
Much appreciated 🙏🏾
So blessed.. Perfect weather for growing anything over there🙏🏽
@@av1421*whole
3 root nodes on 1 vine = "3 slips in 1 whole"
Your spelling skills are useless without the reading comprehension to tell why a word was used in the first place.
you edited it !!! Thx@@Mel-qr5ob
You gave the absolute BEST demonstration and instruction I have EVER seen. No one has given clear concise instructions like you. Thank you so so much.
I'm glad to hear it was helpful! Thank you for watching.
@@TheMillennialGardener Sending big love from Indonesia 🇮🇩❤️🙏.
Thanks you Sir for the beautiful method
@@TheMillennialGardener but I didn't catch how often, how much to water in the tote, and what method, spray bottle or..?
This video was so detailed and I’ve never grown my slips this way before. This way seems so much easier. I’m so glad I cane across this one. Thanks.
It is very easy. I think it's easier than the water method. You don't have to worry about changing the water, and it's a lot faster. Just make sure the soil stays lightly moist and you can pretty much set it and forget it.
Yes absolutely a ton of information for me who had no idea how they grow
@@TheMillennialGardener I've been doing similar to this method for over 15 years thats the most efficient way for sure
I've watched many sweet potato videos. This is the absolute best I've seen. Ty so much
Thank You!!! I once picked up some delicious purple sweet potatoes from the farmers market. The peels grew in my compost pile, I transferred the slips to raised beds and grew my own. Yum
That's great! Sweet potatoes are *tough* to kill!
That's the best way to grow! 🍀
Incredible! I love it! ♾💎✨
I have been an avid gardener forever. I am 69 years young. I have never attempted sweet potatoes until now. I live in a zone that will accommodate them. Your video is excellent at explaining what I need to do. It’s up to me, the soil, the weather and our Lord after that. I love sweet potatoes and I can’t wait. I am one who spent the money you were talking about for online sweet potatoes, lol. However, I am going to my local Asian market, which I love, and check it further. Thank you for a most informative video.
Yayyy for JESUS! You can make bread and pancakes with them too! Have you tried turmeric, galanga, and ginger root as well? Go for it!
@@xxyy1318hello, I started growing ginger and it’s amazing how fast they are producing. 😊
Great video with great tips! My slips are rooting now and I'm about three weeks away from planting.
Thank you! Outstanding. What variety/varieties are you growing?
@@TheMillennialGardener Good question because I normally choose specific varieties, but I bought a generic "organic red sweet potato" from the store produce section and will do a video on the process through harvest.
Interesting. I’ve never grown a red sweet potato. Curious to see how it works out!
Cool! The two of my fav garden channels chatting it out.
Great video watch you both!! I'm in N.Y. this is my 3rd year growing sweet potatoes. I bought an organic sweet potatoe 3 years ago. I start my slips in potting soil in a aluminium pan from the dollar store and place the pan ontop of my hot water heater in my furnace room. Got around 40 already planted in the ground . Rooted them in water first because it was to cold to plant them out but stuck them right in the dirt when i did. This weekend gonna be in the 90s here. And we're having lots of rain.
One of the things you said in the end I feel is worth repeating. Each slip only gives you "a couple of pounds of sweet potatoes". In the past, I would spend so much time digging up the soil very deep, hoping that each slip would travel really deep into the ground in order to produce more sweet potatoes per slip and I never got that. If you want more sweet potatoes, you need to plant more slips. That's the only thing that kind of sucks with sweet potatoes: you need a lot of area to get a ton of potatoes. What I WILL try this year is planting slips in the many large containers that I have and see how that goes.
we used very large clay pots and harvested alot of potatoes just in time for Thankgiving!!!
Use cardboard boxes. It works!
As always, you give a very detailed instruction on planting. My mom loves that purple Japanese sweet potatoes. I got a few at home. I will try to see if I can sprout them
They’re incredible! I wish you luck. They seem to be notoriously tricky.
Me too, they are so expensive at the grocery store now. I have kept one for 2 weeks now, not sprouting yet 😟
.
Awsome vid ❤️ buy xrp that will well
I just bought two from the store yesterday. I am going to try this method today.
Dear Dale, you did a fine job describing the best way to propagate sweet potatoes. You explain everything in a clear and concise manner. For those new to gardening, the dvil is in the detail. Thanks for making those detail interesting and fun to learn. Best Rob
I have a question:would regular russet potato be considered the same method used to grow?
@@mrsbougie1402 No, regular potatoes are started differently and require less preparation. You don’t create “slips” like you do with sweet potatoes. Instead, regular potato plants that grow from the eyes on the potato.
One UA-camr used seed potatoes purchased at the store... 10 seed potatoes in two large containers grew 12 lbs of potatoes!
I'm growing orange and purple sweet potato slips from my last year's harvest 😋
Yep! You can save some old potatoes keep reusing the same harvest every year! It’ll never end. Endless potatoes for free!
@@TheMillennialGardener How do you save potatoes without them getting rotten?
Question: Do you know which Sweet Potato grows with purple leaves?
I don’t know if you’re still checking these messages, but I live in zone five and came across your video a few weeks ago. I bought some potatoes and actually make up my own soil with various elements and use a plastic container just like you do. Surprisingly, within two weeks, my first slip appeared! Super exciting and I can’t wait to get more. Who knows where I will be at 22 days later, like you were in this video at 6 1/2 minutes! Thanks again
You can get the Murasaki at Trader Joe's for $3.99 for 3 pounds. My family buys a few bags at a time and I got one small potato to produce 7 slips about 3" tall and took about 3w now, I'm near Seattle in zone 8b. I used the same method you did, using an old ziplock container.
Wow! I got some last week for .69/ lb at El Super!
My mother grew her sweet potato slips under a cold frame.
When planted in the garden she made a "hill" for each slip. We always had plenty sweet potatoes!
She sold slips as well as harvested sweet potatoes!
The first year I grew sweet potatoes I put three from the grocery in my 10x20 foot garden. It was summer, okra was already tall. By fall, my entire garden was covered with potatoes. Every year since then, I’ve grown sweet potatoes.
💞
Perfect! Too many folks struggle to grow stuff that just doesn't want to grow there. (I have!). You have found something that likes your dirt & climate. Wonderful!
What zone are u in?
@@francinewalker8696 I'm in zone 10. Don't know what zone he is in,,,but he's got happy sweet potatoes! They love my place, too, & the (young) leaves are a great spinach substitute. I made chicken florentine using canned chicken, bow tie pasta, & those chopped leaves in place of spinach.
No one detected the switch!
I am just outside the Atlanta area and just about to start my sweet potatoes in potting soil tomorrow with my kids. I have watched several videos but this will be the one I show them because you have so much information and the bonus dog footage at the end they will love!
Definitely one of the most useful gardening channels.
Thank you! I appreciate that a lot!
As a gardening noob, I've NEVER been excited about planting anything really but this video is so well done!
With supply chain issues we are facing, I am forced to start growing fruits and veggies....thank you so much!
12:00
With the condition of the country I've decided to start a garden. Supply chain issues are a concern as well. I would rather learn depend on myself to help my family stay fed.
@@donitadacus5078 me too. Times are scary and am a newbie gardener. The grocery store produce is expensive and looks pitiful for the high price they charge. So started to garden and my adult daughter has had a hand in it as well.
I live in zone 6a and so I started my slip production in January. As an experiment I planted my rooted slips on 5/14 on the top of a hot compost pile, that is moist, and mulched lightly. Night temps are in the 40's and my slips are thriving. The deer won't get to them because the compost pile is too soft for their footing. Today I am going to add a cover to encourage humidity as the wind dries out the surface. Thanks for your video; I learned a lot. I am experimenting in ways to beat the season and be more self sustaining.
Great video! I live in sub tropical part of New Zealand where sweet potatoes provide slits in the kitchen while waiting to be eaten. 😁 I do plant them. A friend of mine just puts the peelings in the ground and always ends up with huge sweet potatoes out of his volcanic soil. He grows them pretty much all year round as we don't get frost where we are. My favorite is one with red skin and purple inside. Even in our region they're expensive now. Thanx for the video.
Your videos are so perfect that I give you a thumbs up before I even watch them...and I am NEVER disappointed! Best gardener on UA-cam, no doubt!
Thank you! I appreciate that so much! I’m happy to hear you’re finding them valuable.
I second that. Natural teacher for sure
@@TheMillennialGardener Timelapse, 5-10 days 🧟♂️🦠🍖🔴... (inside your stomach) ua-cam.com/video/KtK3KgSMHe4/v-deo.html .. ua-cam.com/video/oziwBALKCEQ/v-deo.html 🤮 NO fibre !!! Stays in your body and rots away 🤮🤮🤮🤮.....
That’s why I’m vegan, lots of fibre if you eat plants and fruit and nuts and berries and tubers and lentils beans et cetera. PH 7, no smell.
Which side of history are you on, Jeeffrey Dahmer 👓😩🦠🍖🔴... Or veganism ✅❤️💪😬😉 ??. You don’t hurt your cute little dog 😍🤗🐶🤥🤥🤥.....
@@15SecondsWithMona Heart attack pictures, fatty foods is animaIs cIogged arteries, hard arteries, PH 5, no fibre🧟♂️🦠🍔🥓🥩🍗🍳🧀... 🤮. Vegans don’t stink. PH 7 , plants have fibre ✅😉, vegans are peaceful, Peer review science. Actual pictures of the heart. ua-cam.com/video/15wgYsToORM/v-deo.html !!! ua-cam.com/video/pFPFnhfuLrE/v-deo.html Vegans don’t have this problem because that is the animals. Vegans don’t get clogged arteries, 4% cancer if you’re vegan. Meat based diet 51% death rate. That is extremely high for a frigging burger etc. Gorillas in the wild, have 1 percent cancer. And they never ever eat animals !!! Peer review science !!!!
UA-cam delicious vegan food. Time to change ✅❤️😉.
@The Quilted Gardener 👆👆🤮
I've grown sweet potatoes for a few years now and always thought it was strange that the vines and flowers looked exactly like Morning Glories. You blew my mind when you said they were, in fact, in the morning glory family!
Yep! Sweet potatoes are in the family *Convolvulaceae,* known commonly as the bindweed or morning glory family. They are not potatoes at all, and it's a misnomer.
Excellent video. I intend to use these tips to grow sweet potatoes. I’m now a new subscriber because I found your videos to be packed with great info & your teaching style is very easy to follow. Excited to view more of your videos. Ty for sharing your expertise.
This video is a masterclass in a well-put together video. You deserve all the views and likes you're getting.
This was the best how to video I've seen. Showing us the roots and the slips from that same potato was great.
You did good sir. I have something to add, if you chose to use cuttings, you can buy root harmone bottle, it will help speed up the root growth. Also you forgot to mention the depth of the soil bed, normally 12" deep this give you a little insulation, and aids in nutrients in soil. Collect rain water to use in first week of watering. Rain is higher in nitrogen then tap water. Rain water is far more pure then tap water without all the chemicals! I was stationed in Okinawa, I remember seeing the purple sweet potatoes there!
Hi Former Marine,,, Thanks,,, i know they grow deep: he should have said that,,, They are totally different from white potatoes. Rain water,,,, great idea,, thanks, Those japanese purple potatoes,,, Yum,,, im trying to get it to make slips... (first time),,, thank you
Totally explains why the organic potato I bought at our Natural Foods store never put out slips after 2 months in the potting soil. It rooted itself, but I never thought about it being a fresh potato and taking longer to produce slips. . Great video, as always!
You are extremely good at explaining and showing us step by step. Thank you! No one ever shows you each step, assuming you’ll figure it out. Who would’ve known how to cut a slip like that ? Well done! Much appreciation!❤😊
You do it EXACTLY the same way I do. I grew 750 slips last year and just stuck them straight into potting soil. 100% success, no fuss, no mess. They tend to rot in water.
How many slips did you plant in each hole??? New Jersey...
Wonder why sweet potatoes always are so expensive when they are easy to grow?
@@Walter-wv6wyeven though easy to grow, i guess not many grow them
Do you take the lid off at all in the beginning? How do I prevent them from getting moldy? Thanks!!
750?wow!!! Good job
It’s nice to see the alternative method to starting the slips, thanks for sharing this! I got some going in my garden and I’m so excited to get my own fresh sweet potatoes! 🍠
Hi from Australia.
Great tips. I have a bed of two varieties and they're so easy to grow and I've had several kilos (pounds) of potatoes this way. You can't kill them, they grow like a weed, it's so simple to do, every gardener should be doing it. Great channel, love your content and the clear explanations of how to grow plants for food. Keep it up.
Thank you! Most of the coastal cities in Australia stay frost-free, so sweet potatoes can be grown year round. They'll do especially well on the east coast in the subtropics, because they like humidity and rainfall. If you live around Brisbane/Gold Coast, these would do well year round.
@@TheMillennialGardener that's exactly where I am. Yep, they slow up a little at the moment but there's no frost here near sea level. Even after all the rain we've in recent times, that hasn't seemed to bother them too much, the tubers are just starting to bulk up a little. The only significant pests that I've experienced here are the dreaded native bush turkeys, who love to dig up the bed and chomp out the tubers. Easy fix with a wire grating from the hardware store to cover the bed space. 😎
In Toowoomba I've not had luck with slips I've grown or those from Bunnings, nor from PNG method shown on ABC Gardening. I'll have another go as I too am a fan of the Okinawan type; health types say it works as an adaptogen.
Can't get them to grow in limestone coast SA too cold n frosty
Hello! This video came at the perfect time. I had some sweet potatoes sitting around and start sprouting. I inadvertently did your method. My container is next to the window and growing slips! It is mid Feb, and now I see I’m right on time! Thank you so much! When it comes time to plant I’ll do as you explained. Woot!!
Great planting details, thank you! Will definitely look for the Asian variety. Very curious about them. (Totally agree ~ these are super easy to grow. You can even plant the slips in flower beds & planters, as a decorative touch. Last spring I found an old regular store-bought SwPo that had been forgotten in my veggie storage bin. It was covered with slip sprouts so I cut it into cubes & randomly stuck them in the flower beds around my yard. Didn't really expect them to take but they grew like mad! Each slip/plant produced about 5 delicious various size potatoes. Nuke 'em in the microwave for 8-10 minutes or so & add butter, yum...)
@MB, R U serious? After some 20 years of research into their use, Soviet Russia banned the use of microwave ovens for heating food in 1976 as they decided that the dangers outweighed the benefit of speed.
I recommend wrapping your sweet potatoes in foil and baking them at 400°F. Sweet potatoes are primarily starch, and when you boil them or microwave them, the starch molecules stay mostly intact. However, when baked at 400°F or higher, the starch molecules break down into sugars. Sweet potatoes baked at 400°F will have a dramatically higher sugar content with no change in caloric content, since starch will convert to sugar. You’ll get a potato swimming in natural syrup.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks ~ very informative! My mom baked them this way too. With an aluminum nail inserted through the center, end to end. (To help the center cook evenly or faster? Not sure.) The potatoes were always tender & smooth inside, like sweet potato souffle. Another awesome recipe to try with these tubers, btw. :)
@@TheMillennialGardener Ugh, you made my mouth water with this comment. Awesome SwPo tutorial. Thank you!
@@mr.blackhawk142 Seriously?! I knew bad, but they didn't ban. Then again, they didn't ban GMO seeds like other countries either. :/
It’s mid January, in zone 7b. I have just planted 4 sweet potatoes to start getting my cuttings. I love fresh home grown sweet potatoes!
Fresh red potatoes are pretty amazing too!
You will never taste more flavorful food than if you grow it yourself
I watched several sweet potato videos and I like yours the best. So clearly explained. You expained what a slip is, and the different varieties of sweet potatoes and which taste the best. I love how you explained the ones that hadn't sprouted yet. Thank you. Now I know what I'm doing wrong with the one I planted. I think it is too deep and overwatered. I will try again.
Thank you for your insights. 💞👆
just remember that they may have had a product called "Bud Nip" sprayed on them which will inhibit bud growth . they will still bud but only a few slips and they will be slow to grow.
Thanks for the video.
I had to replay the beginning in slo-mo because I thought I heard him say "what's growing on..." and I was right.
Wow, what a great communicator you are! I’m a VERY newbie gardener! This is the first time (2022) that I’ve ever tried to grow food. I had previously tried flowers several occasions but killed then every time. It was so discouraging I didn’t try again until current events made me rethink trying again. I got a late start this year because I didn’t have all the necessary products; I guess that parts a learning curve too. But I live in hot and humid south/central Texas area and our summers are very long into the year. It usually doesn’t even begin to cool off until late Oct/November (sometimes that’s 80°!) so I’m hoping I’ll actually get to sample something I really grown myself without killing them all by then. I planted a lot of different food types though; and every article I read disagrees about the necessary chemicals and different fertilizers to use which is overwhelming yet I’m still persisting but I’ve already lost 1 of my 2 blueberries, I lost a peach tree, my strawberries have never come up and I’ve planted in 3 different types of soil; and my green beans and tomato’s are being eaten by something. Oh well; I’ll figure it out eventually (I hope). I just happened to stumble upon your video today; 6/3/22 and I was wondering if I heard you right that you amended the soil with a 5-5-5 fertilizer prior to planting? I’m gonna assume you only did that once during the whole growing season. And I was wondering how often to water after the first 2 weeks? And also how do you know when they’re ready to harvest?
Thanks for such a great and informative, detailed video and for the time you took. I am so looking forward to watching your other videos! I need them!
I'm in central Texas too, decided to go ahead and plant some slips that had formed on a store-bought sweet potato. Hope you have a lot of luck with your plants. Green beans are dead, canteloupe never grew, pinto beans which supposedly grow well here haven't grown even with tons of care.
Welcome to gardening. You may want to look into getting shade cloths for your plants and make sure they're watered. Like regularly. Very regularly, or look into native plants. Personally, I love growing edible and medicinal plants. Also, on the winter sowing groups, the people who live in Texas gardening from fall to spring before it gets hot. Just some thoughts to consider... Good luck!
Hello from the Texas Hill Country! Take it from someone with a degree in plant and soil science. Texas is one bipolar B@#$c... Do yourself a favor, start a compost pile. Throw all non seed bearing yard waste and plant based table scraps into the pile and keep it moist and turned over. Use that to amend your soil once or twice a year between plantings. Grow some Tobacco to use as a natural pesticide. Last and most importantly is get an auto watering system and some soaker hoses or drip lines. 80% of our summers are long and dry/hot. You are very rarely going to overwater here. But even one or two days of missed water will murder your crops when its 108. Water and Organic matter are going to be your friends. Also blueberries do best up north along with many fruit trees. Think Texas, sweet potatoes are great if planted mid April and you harvest once the plant on the top has frozen but before the roots can freeze. So maybe 2 weeks after the tops freezes and dies.
A successful bug repellent that has worked in my garden is 2 and one half Tablespoons Dawn dishwashing liquid, 2 and one half any liquid cooking oil (helps coat plant but have left the out when didn't have any on hand and was not an issue), mix in garden sprayer with one gallon warm water. This worked very effectively for my garden.
Just reread reply and the oil amount is Tablespoons also.
2 tips. 1) put a sprinkling of microrhizal funghi in the bottom of your hole, this establishes root growth quickly. 2) cover the bottom of your hole with the soil/compost and sprinkle your bonemeal etc on the TOP. If you put it in the bottom, the roots will not spread as well. Watering carries the fertiliser down to them over time.
This will be my first year growing them. I plan to use RootWise Micro and aloe powder in the slip-water, let them sit for 8-ish hours, and plant with worm castings in the bottom of the holes as a one-day project.
Thoughts are appreciated, and thanks in advance!
On top of the planted sweet potato?
Or on top of the covered sweet potato (on the surface)?
I loved using the leaves and cuttings of sweet potatoes as salad with lemon; sour soup from tamarind with either one of fish, pork, chicken or beef and with lots of other veggies - like eggplants, greenbeans, okra, stringbeans, etc
I showed this to my husband and I think we will be doing this. One of our favorite foods!
Perfect timing. I was just looking at the sweet potato that's sprouting about 8 or 9 plants sitting in my pantry lol
Turn that baby into dozens of plants!
See? At one time you might have thought those were spoiled, and now you can see them as having MORE value, thanks to UA-cam!
Thanks for the great video. My husband recently purchased a few different types of sweet potatoes, and one of them was dark skinned with dark purple flesh, so I saved one, as I’d never seen one before. The common ones we get in NZ are the orange flesh ones, the dark red ones with white flesh (firmer flesh), and the light brown ones with cream flesh. But the Maori people have always grown a variety of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Hopefully, I might get a sample of those too. After seeing this video, I’m now confident enough to start with the slips. Happy planting everyone.
Never seen a red sweet potato here in USA
@@DarkangaelBrokenwing We get different types here in NZ, but the most common ones sold in supermarkets are the orange skin with orange flesh, purple skin with white flesh and cream skin with white flesh. The other great varieties are difficult to source, but can be found In farmers’ markets. You could look in farmers’ markets.
I followed your advice and now have a bunch of slips. Planting right before a week of showers. I'm so excited! Thank you!
Short, sweet and to the point. Loved it. Thank you!❤
This is exactly how I do mine..I use clear shoe box containers to be able to examine the roots on all my food.Awesome channel. Glad I found ya!
Thank you for your video. I just want to say something. If you plant several sweet potatoes, you can also harvest the leaves. They have amazing health benefits. (it's almost $3 a bundle at the Asian stores). I am going to start this in the morning. I have 2 old sweet potatoes in the kitchen that have started its own slips without my help. Thank you again.
I agree - zone 9 here and just harvested some sweet potatoes and cut the vine tips off (14-16”), stripped the lower leaves and stuck them into the ground and they are easily growing more sweet potatoes.
Just picked up a few certified organic purple potatoes and will plant them in mix as you have shown. A bit late in the season but since this is my first year gardening, will see how this works. We may or may not get a frost until December or January. I’ll post an update later in the year if this worked or not.
Really enjoy your videos and have learned so much from you. Very appreciative.
I live in Florida coastal Zone 10a. I planted slips from a Hannah and a violet sweet potato. I harvested several shopping bags full of sweet potatoes. Anyway, pieces of the vines I left in the garden or put in compost piles have rooted and stated spreading all over the place. The vines send out underground runners that pop up several feet from the main vine mass. I don't mind because it makes nice looking ground cover of purplely vines and I dig up the runners if they get into my tomato or cucumber mounds. And when I do dig up the runners there are baby sweet potatoes growing.
Options like winters grow containers windows open slip away Bless embrace enjoy luv it feature
I am blown away by both the sweet potatoes and this complete tutorial! I always have questions and I not only now feel confident with what I’m doing with my slips but I don’t have any questions!! Ty😂
I'm very happy to hear that! Definitely give it a try. The key will be moisture regulation. You must keep your potting mix moist, but not wet. If it gets too dry, the potatoes won't root. Too wet and they rot, so be sure to provide enough fresh air by venting the lid to prevent a wet condition and rot from setting in.
@The Milennial Gardener
What kind of soil do sweet potatoes like?
I amend with home made compost and coffee grinds, and mulch with pine needles, acidic soil.
My potatoes love it, but do sweet potatoes?
I have listened to literally hundreds of videos trying to find the quickest easiest method to start sweet potatoes this one is by far 100% the best most detailed most informative video I have ever watched this is my first year to raise sweet potatoes and I really appreciate the information you have provided. Excellent video! Thank you!
This was the exact video I needed to see. Thanks for sharing your knowledge !
How big do slips need to be before planting them ?
Can I eat the leaves of the slips ? This would be separate from the potatoes I plan on growing 👍🏾
Off to an Asian market I go ! 😊
Love the murasaki. I've grown it in pots for the last few years with a tomato cage to grow it up as decoration around the pool. The flowers are lovely, too.
Does this produce potatoes?
@@sharonhochberg3671 absolutely.
Sweet potato is always a failed for me. You've encouraged me to try again thank you
Beginner gardener here with no green thumb but lots of desire! Thank you so much for your video!! I been trying to find that plant that I could grow and that would actually make it in wet, humid, hot Florida (no frost here, lol.). I found this very educational and hopeful. You are an excellent teacher and your enthusiasm was infectious!! Thanks again! :)
I followed your method and now I’m getting my new slips starting to sprout from the sweet potato! I’ll plant next week sometime. Thanks for your videos.
Outstanding! Congrats! There is still time to plant them and get a nice harvest. The faster you can develop them, the better!
@@TheMillennialGardener I'm in Redding, Ca... do you think we still have time?
I so appreciate your clear presentation of this topic, covering so many variations and options. What thorough instruction, thank you!
Well presented.
This is the best video on planting sweet potatoes! Excellent video, Dale.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I am fairly new to your channel and have to tell you how much I enjoy watching, and learning from you. The "Trap crops" got me especially because you showed pictures of the bad bugs. Other channels speak bad bugs/names but no ID. Thank you so much for your info and encouragement
Thank you! I’m so happy to hear that. It is a lot of work to edit these videos, and doing small edits like that, be it zoom-ins, adding photos…that all takes a lot of time. I try my best to answer questions wherever possible. I’m glad it is worth the effort! Nothing makes me happier than knowing those little additions are worthwhile.
I agree with you on the Okinawa potatoes. I first tried a baked one at Don Quixote's on Oahu. I fell in love and even made some purple sweet potato pies. My family is not familiar with the purple potatoes and they were skittish of trying the pies. Their loss. 😋
I love making sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving with the purple sweet potatoes. It gives a texture similar to cake which is absolutely lovely. Definitely your family’s loss on not trying the purple sweet potatoes.
So glad I’ve found your channel. I’m in north east South Carolina so my climate is just like yours and I can follow along knowing your advice is good for my area. Getting ready to start my slips more in mid February. Thanks again
This is one of the most informative videos I have ever seen on YT. And I am very grateful for it as I just planted some sweet potato that was just budding out of the end. But I wasn't sure how to optimize it and get it to grow better. I am very focussed on my garden this year for obvious reasons. So thank you for helping me get this part of it off to a good start. These will grow in Texas into the early winter as it is always hot as hades here. You probably saved my life because the cats keep digging up everything else!
I particularly likes the tip on what time of day to plant, as people often overlook these things. I find if I plant anything during a new moon it also grows much faster. Wonderful video!
Yes planting at the dark of the moon is good for all below ground plants. My granddaddy was one that followed the sign n watched the phases of moon carefully.. always made abundant harvest.
If you have your own slips, planting late means you harvest late, so the temp is a little more tolerable. Also, consider planting in separate planting so they are not all ready to harvest at the same time,
By
yep, in Louisiana I replant tomatoes and squash again after the first spring harvest. My new squash are coming up and my San Marzano tomato plants are Beautiful, will have more of these veggies soon, only 50 days till harvest in crooked neck squash. oh and my eggplants took so long to get up big enough to plant but they're up about 30" tall now.
why? they are a food that can be stored. you want them to grow as much as possible before winter and they can be stored through the whole winter in a cool dark dry place.
@@BCzepa Living in South Florida- I don't have any "cool, dark places"! Succession planting works better in the tropics/subtropics!
You are correct. Separate plantings are definitely the way to go, especially in the south. More folks should garden! Health & Peace of Mind, & less politics!
Your very detailed, step-by-step instructions are really, really helpful. Thank you!
You're welcome! I'm glad it was helpful.
Thank you for all you wonderful gardening tips. I really appreciate that you begin each video with the date. This helps me plan when to begin growing. Thanks again. Hugs to Dale.
I always try to document my location and the date so it gives everyone a point of reference. It's hard to get value if you don't know where someone is and when they're beginning. Thanks for watching!
Thanks, I have been raising these for 20 years but i have never had a lot of luck growing slips. Your method seems pretty good. I don’t have a place inside and it is getting late in the season so i put a heating pad on the porch and did the same as you but outside. I plant these in rows about a foot apart and usually 25 foot rows. Sometimes two rows. I dig them with the frontend loader on a tractor and my wife picks them out as i go.
I love the husband and wife Dynamic Potato Duo. So sweet. #TheLittleThings
I learned so much from watching this!
I’ve tried growing sweet potatoes before, but had terrible success trying to sprout them. I even bought organic ones from the local hippie store, and selected ones with eyes already sprouting on them, but most shriveled up and died because I was dry chitting them like regular potatoes. This video will be a game changer for me.
I did succeed in getting 2 plants started last year. We live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. We have a long frost-free growing season, but we don’t get those hot humid summer days that sweet potatoes love.
We grew them indoors in containers until the nights were warm enough, then moved the containers out to our full sun garden. The performance was impressive! One plant yielded just over 5 pounds of tubers, the other nearly 7 pounds! Each plant had 2-3 tubers that were around a pound a piece. The flavor was amazing.
I’ll get busy starting those slips right now with your method. Thank you so much and you now have a new subscriber.
Thanks a lot for the video, it's very educative. I am watching from Zimbabwe. I planted my slips the way u did but I prepared the bad differently. I put hips of cut grass from mowing, then covered the grass with soil. Then I made shallow holes in the soil and planted the slips. The plants are growing well and are now running. I have been watering them three times per week before the onset of the rain. I hope the grass will decay quickly and become manure for the tubers, so that I will be able to have a bumper harvest. It's my first time to grow sweet potatoes. So I am looking forward to the harvesting day .
I didn't plant mine until July, I had to harvest in end of September they looked like carrots! Help, what did I do wrong?? In Wisconsin thanks I did them in 2 5 gallon grow bags
@@sharistafne4632 not nearly looking enough in the ground. I'm planting mine in April and not harvesting until the vibes due or first Friday in Nov. I'm growing them 6-7 months. You grew them for 2?
Very much appreciated! I had received from my mother-in-law awhile back two bags of sweet potatoes from a food drive and we have a garden. I took two sweet taters and did the jar method. One is doing very good with greenery. I heard about the slips but couldn't find anything that shows and goes into detail about it. Now I'll know exactly what to do when I put them into the ground when it's time.
Thank you for being so concise, giving just the right amount of information. It is also so valuable to see the all growing stages. You don't just talk about it - you show it! Thank you!
I've always wondered how to grow sweet potatoes. Since your fresh market potatoes took so long to sprout, I may buy mine in fall so they can age a bit before sprouting.
You are a wealth of information & I've subscribed to learn more in the future. Plan on watching your old vids too.
I live in an apartment (lower level)
where I get late morning light which gets ore direct as day gee we ts longer, then shadier before sundown. What is the best light for sweet potatoes?
What would be best method to start these INDOORS, (what lighting and moisture level?
My kitchen \ living room has the best light and heat during morning and light over my stove at night. This is my first attempt at indoor container planting.
I’m growing my first sweet potatoes 🍠 this year❤️Thank you for your helpful videos 🙏
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Very good teacher. Stays on point. Happy gardening y'all!!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing this info! About 4 months back I bumped into amazing organic white sweet potatoes I fell in love with, and I did exactly as you shared. I have tons of slips now that I'm getting ready to plant in the garden :) Very easy and I'm excited to start growing my own :)
Thank you so much I learned a lot from your videos...I live and was born in US Virgin Islands...I love planting and am now retired ... I was born on a farm with animals and plantations my dad was significant agricultural he grew everything for the Islands markets.
Thank you so much for an easy to understand tutorial! I've got one sweet potato with slips starting and it's going really well. I planted it in seed starting soil and wondered if I had made a mistake until I saw your video!
Best of luck with your sweets! Thanks for watching!
I LOVE sweet potatoes !
I have always wanted to know how to grow sweet potatoes. Your explanation was very clear and complete ! Thank you for telling me !
I have watched a lot of others but this video is by far the most comprehensive process. Thank you so much!
Thank you for your video! It was very well presented. We've been growing sweet potatoes for 3 years and this has taught me new techniques. I love the rooting in potting soil instead of water ( which we normally do). And thank you for the info on the varieties that we can plant. Thank you for sharing!
Blessings from Central Texas!
~Diane B
What season is best planting time in Texas?
Very informative, amazing how many sweet potatoes can be grown from just one! Thanks for sharing!
I just came across your channel. I can't believe how easy it is to start growing sweet potatoes. I love Japanese sweet potatoes too and must give your method a try.
It is very easy. It just takes a little time, especially if the potatoes are very fresh. A little potting mix, a little water and a little sun and they grow themselves!
@@TheMillennialGardener Awesome. Thank you.
Thank you for a great tutorial! I love how you kept it simple. I am motivated to start planting sweet potatoes. Thank you so much 😊.
Awesome instructional video on one of my favorite foods, the awesome sweet potato! I’m a new subscriber, glad I found this one. Thank you so much millennial gardener!
Thanks for subscribing and watching! I appreciate it!
I just found your video today! Excellent and very informative. It’s too late in the year for me to plant this year but will do next year! I really enjoy how you show and explain every step. Thanks you!
Great information. I have never planted sweet potatoes before but this year I wanted to give it a try and your video has taught me a lot. Thank you
Thanks for the advice.I learned a lot and cannot wait to try and grow Okinawan Sweet Potato I read that this variety descended from first plants to reach Japan prior to 1500..👍☮
They are fantastic. They're also incredibly popular in Hawaii. They're much drier than the orange sweet potatoes, and they're MUCH sweeter. The flavor is unbeatable in my opinion.
@@TheMillennialGardener I make quite a few sweet potato in the instant pot steam under pressure to use in a potato ricer.I'd love these
This is the best explanation of this method I've seen. I learned so much. THANK YOU!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
This was wonderful!!! So clear on the steps to take to plant and harvest sweet potatoes. I’m off to an Asian market!!!
Thank you so much for helping us learn a good skill in providing healthy food for our family and friends. Happy Memorial Day weekend.
I LOVE this video!! I've watched it a few times to get all the info. I'm very new to veg gardening and am definitely giving these a try. All your videos are very informative and good tutorials. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
I have white sweet potatoes. They have a light tan exterior and a sweet white interior. I use them like regular potatoes in casseroles, scalloped potatoes, hash browns, fried potatoes. Yum! 😀
The only problems I have had was from critters who ate most of my plants and the roots last year. I am trying them inside this year, growing them on a lighten shelf.
This was such a great video. My mom use to prepare slips every year. I’m going to try this year… or next … I think I’m a little late this year. Thanks for sharing.✨🌟✨🍠