The Absolute Best Way to Start Sweet Potatoes for Slips: No Not in Water & Slips Start in 4 Weeks

😁✌️👏👏👏

So, for my sweet potatoes started in water, it made a difference the kind of water I used. I have a softener and the water straight from the softener didn’t grow very well. But I also have a reverse osmosis water filtration system, and the potato’s I did in that water are doing fantastic! I do also completely change out the water each week and make sure they have access to sunlight. My water ones look like your soil ones!! Thank you for this video!!

Hi! If you started the potatoes in water, can you switch them to being buried halfway into the ground or must you continue to keep them in water?

I tried this and have just now, after 2 months, got a tiny little sprout. My question is, do you keep the soil moist as they grow? I want this method to work, but seem to have mucked it up somehow.

Water took FOREVER for me and I gave up.

I purchased some sweet potatoes from the markets 🐁 and planted them in my backyard 🦃

I watered them and it had been weeks and nothing grows 🐄

I’m not sure why 🍁 I remember sweet potatoes are so so so easy to grow 🐞

I’m not sure why mine aren’t growing!!! 🦇

Do you keep the soul most in the container?

Uh oh I soaked my sweet potatoes in undiluted 3% hydrogen peroxide. Should I start over?

Very nice video. Do you have to drill drainage holes in the bottom of that soil container? Also I wonder if the water was filled with the same fertilizers that soil is if they would sprout more successfully. What do you think?

I’ve planted my slips and now they have long vines. Can I snip the vines and use them as slips??

Wouldn't be better to put the slip cuttings in some good starting soil also? ps.Not trying to sound sarcastic.I'm a first year rookie and I appreciate the abundance of educational content w/palatable deliverance.

I’ve tried to grow slips from sweet potatoes in the ground and both times the sweet potato started to get soft spots and then rot.

Did you regularly change the water in the glass? I was told that has to be done about every other day🤷‍♀️

Should you keep the initial potting soil damp while the potatoes are on their sides?

Would you use the same method for other varieties of potatoes?

?When growing slips, do you put the container under lights or in a sunny window?

Quick question, you said you can cut them off as long as they are 6 inches? I noticed another video mentioned they should have white numbs (the start of a root system). Does it matter? I haven't seen any white numbs on mine.

Beginner here…. Are there holes in your container? Sorry if you answered this already.

My sweet potato plants have many slips that are healthy and still growing bigger. I planted 2 sweet potatoes in a small planter and the potatoes are still hard. Can I cut slips that are big and growing? I can't send a picture here to show you what I mean.c

Great video. Thanks!

Thank you I’m going to give it a try I have a purple sweet potato that was hard to get. And it’s in the water not doing anything. I’ve grown sweet potatoes with water before maybe this one needs dirt

I bought your book but use mostly video now that there is still electricity. You should delete your old video recommending starting in water. You are one of my main sources of gardening information. Thanks!

Do you keep the dirt that you set the potatoes in moist?

I'm curious why only planted half way in the soil?

I tried the dirt method last year but my sweet potatoes (organic from the store) rotted without a single slip. What could have gone wrong? I have recently started six sweet potatoes in water hoping for different results.

does the container need drainage?

Great Video! Gary, can I take my sweet potatoes out of the water and plant them instead? I just started 6 of them a few days ago, but they have 3 toothpick holes per potato and I don't want them to rot because of the holes if I put them in dirt...but the dirt method looks better now....wdut? thanks! I also have them on a heat mat and one root has started in only 5 days...

I tried the dirt method and had success. I will do it again this year.

My sweet potato is starting to grow buds with leaves but it's also rotting. Do you know what can cause it to rot? It's sitting in a container in moist soil.

I love this idea when I go to Jamaica next year for now am doing hot paper and tomatoes they spouting. So I need to watch them since am doing this in my new York apt.

I used your method of starting slips in the ground here in Florida, It took around 3 weeks for them to pop out of the ground but I used non organic potatoes. I'll continue to root them in water as soon as ready and since our growing season is much longer I expect to be harvesting them before thanksgiving.

I tried this after watching a number of videos, and so far one yam rotted and attracted ants. The second one is not looking too great. It’s been about two weeks and I’m not seeing any evidence of slips appearing. Any ideas about what I made you doing wrong?

U right I did water an it took forever for the slits to grow I’m gonna transfer them to container box ❤

I purchased sweet potatoes from Strouds and Trader Joes and placed the potatoes in starting soil. Both times I tried to grow sweet potatoes slips from the sweet potatoes and had no success, Both times the potatoes rotated and produced no slips. Could you please tell me what I did wrong. I don't know if I over water the potatoes in soil or not, Located in California.

Are these to be grown at a certain temp. Can I put them on my screened porch? No direct sunlight. Thanks

Great video - quick question - are you poking holes in the bottom of the tray or just letting them sit in damp, non drained soil. thanks again for the video.

I'm so glad you ditched the aluminum pans! We get brain problems (including alzheimers) easy enough without adding aluminum to our gardens. I watched your previous video on starting the slips and presently have 3 sweet potatoes, on their sides in growing medium on a heat pad. Only been 4 days, but wanted to find this follow up video. Glad I found it. .

Your sweet potatoes in water are upside down. They have a rooting end and a sprouting end. The tapered end is the rooting end.
I'm not a troller. Just want to help. I learned that from my grandma. I'm here to find out something she did that I forgot pertaining to keeping it in the dark for a period for some reason. She was an old world wise woman who knew everything but didn't preach to you. And I wasn't the best at paying attention but I do remember the separate ends.
Lots of people say what you do about the soil method but she liked the water method because of the growing season and our limited area in the house.

Do I need to keep the soil in the sprouting box damp?

Love this technique but FUNGUS GNATS do as well.

The ones you got in the soil did you cut them in half or is that a whole potato? Also if you get some pro mix BX it has Michael riser in it that helps a lot and you don't have to cut the shoots off what you should do is like what they call air layering spread them apart call more pro mix around them and they will route each stem into the pro mix it will also help if you buy a general hydroponics PH open down kit and pH down to about 5.8 to 6.05 point age is probably better to get started that would be higher acid generally plants route faster with the higher acid. I may do a video on it because I'm getting ready to start some you're the first guy I actually ever seen to do the dirt though that I was thinking about the same thing😮❤

What do you do with the sweet potatoes that sprouted to make the slips after you finished making your slips?

Thank you so much!!! I tried this method and now have loads of slips from 3 sweet potatoes. I put them on a heat pad and they grew in just over a week. Now I am just putting my slips in water to have them rooted and ready to plant out in May. 😊

How long before having slips when planted in soil..

I started my Korean sweet potato slips around the same time and finally have slips. Im so excited. I put them on a heating pad to day to help with growth.

Great job learn a lot..got it

I love your videos. Do you cut your potatoes in half when rooting in the medium? Thank you.

Supermarket sweet potatoes are often treated with Bud Nip (TOXIC) to PREVENT them frm sprouting so THAT would delay or PREVENT them from sprouting. I purchased 2 sweet potatoes labeled "Tomorrow's Organics' from Wally World.. They were NOT organic having been sprayed with a toxin like Bud Nip. I'd put them both in separate jars of water for a YEAR! One rotted but produced a few leaves the size of lemon seeds before needing to be tossed. The other one lived a little longer & the leaves were a little larger wiyh small short stems before the potato rotted.

Furious that these were sold under the guise of a name "Tomorrow's Organics" - not CLAIMING on a label that they were ORGANIC but just put "Organics" in the name. I marched into Wally World & gave the produce manager an earful & was metwith indifference. (He just works there.) Yhen I tried to contact "Tomorrow's Organics" - you guessed it. NO contact information or address. Go figure.. Not surprised? Me either.

I got a Stokes Purple Sweet Potato at local organic store and did the same in half soil. I ended up with over 40 slips in just 2-3 weeks. and the roots were insane . I placed it in a back bedroom with hardly any sunlight and they grew crazy fast still. I'm late to plant this year but I wanted to experiment so I know what to expect next January