Growing Sweet Potato Slips

Sweet potatoes are typically started by planting bare-root vegetative cuttings that have just begun to grow roots. Sweet potatoes are our favorite crop to plant at the end of the school year to provide a weed barrier in the beds through summer, while producing a crop that is ready to harvest when school starts back. Slips are often available at farm stores, but you may also want to grow your own. We’ve developed a 3-part series to walk you through the process, including evaluation of three different propagation methods.

In Part One, Amy and Doug experiment with three methods for growing shoots from sweet potatoes. They try growing in water, growing in soil and growing in soil with a heat mat. Check out the video to see which method was the clear winner.

In Part Two, Amy and Doug show you how to harvest the shoots and root them in water.

In Part Three, Amy demonstrate how easy it is to plant rooted slips in the garden. 

If time slipped by and you didn’t have a chance to grow your own slips, check with your local farm supply store or garden center. Slips are often sold as bundles of 25 or 50. Make sure your planted slips stay moist for 3-5 days as they establish roots and you’ll be rewarded with a back-to-school harvest.