Growing sweet potatoes

[Alison]

i think a slip is just a slice of the skin

No, it's definitely the shoots, ordered some off T&M a few years ago and then took cuttings which I kept going in the conservatory for the next year. Didn't bother the year after as I didn't really have the space for something which didn't produce much but may well have a go again when I eventually get a poly tunnel up the plot.

So if the issue is short season, I guess the trick is to get them in the ground as soon as possible ? March ?

Yes in theory but unfortunatly they are also very tender so you need them to avoid frosts which will be while yet unless you're heating a greenhouse / poly tunnel. Also, I think they need quite warm weather and long days to form the potatoes but that might be wrong.

[Mrs Dobby]

Mr D has had some in our heated propagators for a few weeks now, we've had quite a few shoots, some of which are now potted on (in the back bedroom on the windowsil), I'll see if we can get some piccies later on!

We're planning on putting them into the lean too greenhouse (against the shed on plot 1) in large tubs once the danger of frost has passed.

[Nicos]

I wonder if it's worth my while having a go over here?- got plenty of space, and it's certainly warmer than at the lottie ( probably a slightly longer growing season too).
Do you think I've left it a bit late to start them off?

[lynda66]

would think you have plenty of time nicos, and you won't know unless you try

[MaureenHall]

I've got my original whole sweet potato in a glass of water, it's got loads of roots and I've taken off lots of slips. I intend to grow them in the greenhouse (when it's properly finished!) in something like a baby bath. It's a vine type plant, and you get the potato where the shoots touch the ground (must be some sort of runner or something), can't remember what else the info I had said but it should be interesting if not fun finding out what happens. By the way, it was a left-over supermarket sweet potato, I put the whole one into water, and cut up another as per lots of instructions - that one ended up with green mouldy slime on it and no shoots at all

[sarraceniac]

I reckon Nicos might get away with it but anybody trying in the UK must be either the greatest optimist going or have shares in British Gas. These are tropical and the last two summers say it all. It is not just frost free. They need heat for 5 months - with a vengeance.

[Rhona]

I've chitted some ready to go - organic ones are much easier I've found. I'm keen to try but accept that it's purely experimental. Sheffield hasn't had enough sun to grow my freckles the last couple of years, never mind tropical veg!

[BarleySugar]

I seem to remember Joe Swift trying some on his allotment, without much success, and one of the RHS gardens doing a trial, getting better yields. It was on Gardener's World sometime last year, this is the link to Joe's blog that mentioned them.
BBC - Gardeners' World - Joe Swift's blog

[KathyG]

Hi there.

This is my potato, it's been in the jar for 12 days. Above the woodburner in a very warm room. Water is refreshed frequently.
I'm in France, and hoping to get a head start, by potting these shoots up once they're a little longer.


Someone says it looks like it's drowning

[snohare]

BBC Scotland's "Beechgrove Garden" programme had an item, last year I think it was, where they showed the sweet potatoes they had managed to grow under black plastic inside a polytunnel. A great crop, easily as good as normal potatoes, and supposedly quite maintenance free - growing the slips is the hard bit. That was at the latitude of Aberdeen...so I'd expect a greenhouse further South should be all right, it's not the length of day but the temperature that spurs their growth.
Mark you, they said that the first touch of frost and the tubers would turn to mush, well mine didn't despite being outside in the snow.

[Two_Sheds]

Mark you, they said that the first touch of frost and the tubers would turn to mush, well mine didn't despite being outside in the snow.

Frost isn't the same as snow.
Snow is actually an insulator (like a thick duvet over the plants).

[Two_Sheds]

I wonder if it's worth my while having a go over here?- got plenty of space, and it's certainly warmer than at the lottie ( probably a slightly longer growing season too).
Do you think I've left it a bit late to start them off?

If you buy slips, they don't come until April, so you've still got plenty of time. Sweet potatoes crop best at temps between 21-26°C .
Keep the plant well watered, feeding every other week with a high-potassium liquid feed (eg. tomato food or comfrey tea)
Royal Horticultural Society - Gardening Advice: Growing Sweet Potatoes

[snohare]

Good point Two Sheds, but if the soil has got a frozen crust several inches thick, would that not be enough to frost them ? And given that the snow was just a thin layer of about a centimetre, would that be enough to protect them ? We've not really had any hard frosts in Aberdeen since I started gardening here, so I'm still wondering about these things. The other places I gardened, there was no such thing as "a little cold" - frosts took no prisoners !

[lettucegrow!]

This all sounds way too much hassle!!!! Not sure I'll be giving it a go,although I do love sweet potatoes.They're not that expensive now are they?

[LittleBear]

hiya, im hoping to put some in a barrel in my tunnel, has anyone had any experience of this? and once you have your potato ready to take off slips, how big do they need to be?