How To Grow Sweet Potato Slips The Easy Way?
You could spend a small fortune buying sweet potato slips or sprout them yourself the easy way for a fraction of the cost with this easy gardening tip.
Sweet potatoes are a great staple crop to grow in your backyard garden because they are easy to grow, provide a hardy harvest, and offer a great source of nutrition to your diet.
Sweet potatoes are said to be high in fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6 and potassium plus are low calorie making them a great addition to any backyard garden.
However, sweet potato slips can be hard to find and tend to be pricey considering you could grow your own for a fraction of the cost.
Instead of purchasing sweet potato slips this year consider growing your own with this easy garden tip that will provide you with a bounty of fresh sweet potato slips.
Growing your own sweet potato slips is a perfect winter project for teaching your child how to garden this year.
Getting started three months before planting season is ideal because these plants take 90-120 days to mature.
You will know your plant is ready to harvest once the leaves begin to turn yellow around time of maturity.
But even if your getting a late start don't be discouraged and consider sprouting slips to grow a sweet potato vine indoors as a house plant that you can prorogate leaves from at any time.
Amazingly enough even the leaves of sweet potatoes can be eaten raw, but are best tasting when lightly sautéed.
How To Sprout Sweet Potato Slips?
Growing your own sweet potato slips takes time, so begin preparing your sweet potatoes three months before planting season giving you plenty of time to grow several healthy slips that will be ready to transfer to your backyard garden in the Spring.
To grow you own sweet potato slips begin by purchasing a few organic sweet potatoes that look past their prime.
By selecting older sweet potatoes you can speed up the process.
Once you have sweet potatoes gather a container and potting soil.
Your container needs to be at least 4 inches deep with holes that allow for proper drainage.
Fill your container with fresh potting soil dig a shallow hole then place the sweet potatoes down laying horizontally down bringing the soil up until it reaches about halfway alongside the potato.
Water the soil and place in a sunny location.
Water regularly so that soil stays slightly damp and in no time, you will notice little spuds developing, which will eventually grow into a slip that is large enough to plant.
It is that easy.
One sweet potato can give you several healthy slips that will be ready for planting season for a fraction of the cost.
How To Propagate Sweet Potato Slips From Leaves?
Propagating sweet potato slips is also quite easy.
By selecting a slip that is healthy and growing well you can pick a cutting of leaves just below a leave node and place it into fresh warm water to begin growing a whole new plant.
Wait until sweet potato slips are at least 6 inches long with several leaves before clipping.
With this technique you can use just one healthy vine to prorogate several new sweet potato slips.
How To Transfer Sweet Potato Slips into Your Backyard Garden?
Transferring sweet potato slips is easy to do just select a spot in your garden that will provide your sweet potatoes with plenty of sunlight and space because these plants like to spread out.
Make sure your soil is nutrient rich and at least 8-12 inches deep.
Then simply place transfers slips spacing them at least 12 inches apart to provide your plants with ample growing room.
With good growing conditions you can expect between 3-5 tubers per plant giving you a harvest of 1-2 pounds of sweet potatoes.
When harvesting work slowly and carefully not to puncture through the sweet potatoes' thin skin.
Also remember that sweet potatoes need to be cured before eating this is the process where the starches in the sweet potato get converted in to sugars making the potato sweet.
This process takes about about 7-10 days and requires you to keep the sweet potatoes in a warm room (80F) that is dry with good ventilation.
Starting Sweet Potato Slips in Soil
Starting sweet potato in soil is the way to go for growing your own slips at home.
By using this technique you can produce several sweet potato slips from just one single sweet potato.
You can even allow the vines to grow longer and individually prorogate sweet potatoes slips from individual cuttings.
Sweet potatoes are a wonderful addition to any backyard garden and are easy to grow as long as you begin a few months before planting season.
This allows you the time you will need to develop healthy sweet potato slips that you can directly plant into your backyard garden as soon as the temperature warms up.
Having a sweet potato house plant is also a lot of fun that gives you a source of edible leaves, a plant to prorogate from at any time, and an aesthetically pleasing addition to have in your home to attract positive energy.
If your new to growing your own sweet potato slips give this technique a try in just a few weeks time you can have an abundance of sweet potato slips for a fraction of the cost.
Continue your garden inspiration with The Easiest Fruits and Vegetables to Grow from Seed and How To Start a Vegetable Garden for Beginners
Comments