I set out my sweet potato slips today. In March I take a nice sized sweet potato out of storage and place it in a tray of potting mix, water it and put it on a heat mat under the germination lights with the rest of the seedlings. When I get a nice sized slip sprout that is starting to send out its own roots, I break it off of the tuber and place it in a vase of water. Then the vase goes back under the grow lights with the rest of the baby plants.
When my seedlings start to go outside to harden off, the vases of slips go out with them until they are in the cold frame for about a week. Then they can be planted out. I prefer the large, 25 gallon grow bags full of potting mix. I have tried them in the ground and I have tried them in several sizes of plastic containers. These large grow bags with four or five slips each give the best results.
I amend the potting mix with bone meal to support root growth. Then I plant the slips deeply making sure to do my best to keep the roots straight and not crimped up because those are going to become your tubers. I will top the soil off with shredded leaves and water them every day. Every. Day. Unless you get an inch of rain in one day. That is the only situation where I might skip watering them but it wouldn't hurt them anyway. I make sure each of these bags gets at least a gallon. They are tropical water hogs. These "Mahon Yam" vines will provide us with a good harvest and if cured correctly, they will store in the cellar for a year or more.
Great info on growing sweet tomatoes. We are in a cooler trend, weather-wise this AM. We've had almost an inch of rain, now patchy frost this AM.
ReplyDelete