Having discovered you could grow your own sweet potato slips, I watched some 'how to' videos on YouTube and at the end of January 2015 I placed a couple of my homegrown tubers into two jars of water. These were Beauregard tubers I harvested from the plants I had grown in 2014.
A couple of weeks later the first few signs of growth sprouting
And gradually more and more growth, mainly shots but also a few roots
When the growth is ideally about 6" long you simply break off the slip
Placing the slip in water again encourages root growth
The slips then need to be potted up before being planted out after the risk of frost has passed
I probably grew about 18 slips from those two tubers but what was noticeable was the slips were gradually smaller and less strong, so maybe a note to myself in the future to take a maximum of four or five slips per tuber.
It must be noted however, that it is not usually possible to grow slips from sweet potatoes you have bought in the supermarket (not even organic ones) as they have usually been treated with a chemical called budnip, which as the name suggests prevents the tubers from sprouting; something that is essential in growing slips!
It must be noted however, that it is not usually possible to grow slips from sweet potatoes you have bought in the supermarket (not even organic ones) as they have usually been treated with a chemical called budnip, which as the name suggests prevents the tubers from sprouting; something that is essential in growing slips!
Joanna
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