A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Sweet Potato

I started this experiment a couple of months back. My sister in law passed this along to me-she got it from her sister in law's neighbor. Needless to say, I've got something growing (I think) and now I'm a little concerned about the proper care for it. She told me to put a sweet potato out on the counter until it had ears (eyes?), then submerge it in water until roots grew, and then plant it for a nice plant with flowers. I just planted it today in a hanging basket. It had good roots, and a couple of green/purple shoots-1 of which is long enough to stick out of the soil (is this the plant?) I need help please!

I never planted mine in potting soil...just left it in water. I had vines all over my kitchen from one before I knew it!

It will probably do GREAT in soil, but someone else here can probably tell you for sure.

Cindy

P.S.
I just bought a big bag of potting soil today...

...and I have some sweet potatoes....

I probably would have been better off leaving it in water-my 3yr old decided i guess that it looked a little dry. I can't even guess how much water he put in there-it's still draining out the bottom every time i pick it up, and this is hours later!

I'm sure it will be fine after the water drains.
Yep. I used to plant mine in a big iced tea glass full of water. I'd stick toothpicks (3 of them) around the potato to rest on top of the glass to hold half of the potato out of the water.

Believe me, if they grow in soil as fast as they grow in water, you will have a BIG plant in a few weeks! I've had vines 20' long around my kitchen!

Cindy

Hi Rozy ~

I just posted some pictures a few days ago of some sweet potatoes that I grew from a store bought one. I cut it into thirds and stuck them into pots of soil with just the very tops sticking out. Before very long, I had 3-4 shoots growing from each piece. In the end, 2 of them grew into really nice plants on my deck this past summer, and I harvested some potatoes just the other day.

my sweet potato pictures

Have you eaten any of them yet, Lynne?

Yummmmmmm!


Cindy

Wow Lynne! Those look fantastic!

I doubt if it makes any difference that you planted the potato on the side. I just put mine up (vertical) because it fits in a big glass that way, and I can stick the toothpicks in the sides to hold part of it out of the water.

Don't worry...it'll grow!

Cindy

I also don't think it makes much difference how you orient the potato. Since I had cut mine into 1/3s, I put them flat side facing up and the shoots found their way to the top. I think after Thanksgiving I'll try potting one up for indoor vines and see what happens.

I harvested them when they were calling for an overnight frost that night - didn't want to chance losing what might be in the soil, plus I was cleaning up the deck for winter.