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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 5:05:32 GMT
A buddy of mine (I swear that it is not me) got a little lazy this year and did not create nearly enough slips for this season's Beauregard sweet potato crop compared to what he wanted. So he took some of the really small sweets that he had left over from last year's harvest, some of which had already sprouted a slip, and stuck them in the ground. Kinda like one would do with Irish potatoes.
Vines are growing like normal, but I am not sure if they will produce an abundance of sweet potatoes, if any at all. I am just not sure.
I think it may work and if does I may give some serious thought to trying the same thing next year, but I thought that I would ask some of the more experienced individuals in the forum.
Is this a valid way to start sweet potatoes? Are slips just normally grown from the sweets in order to increase the number of plantings per potato? |
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Post by whisperwindkat on Jul 1, 2015 10:55:38 GMT
The slips come from the sweet potato itself. They grow on the potato, then are broken off, stuck in water and then planted. So yes he will get potatoes. He just skipped the middle steps. I have gotten about 30 slips or so from just 3 potatoes this year.
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Post by 1shotwade on Jul 1, 2015 12:06:20 GMT
I started slips off 6 potato's this year. We have planted about 80 slips and can't find anyone who needs the rest.We still have 50 or so that have not been pulled from the plant,some of which are over 3 feet long.My mother declared them "groundhog food" yesterday.What a waste but planting now would be borderline for a crop by first frost.
Wade
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Post by wolfmom on Jul 1, 2015 13:42:04 GMT
I think the question was "will planting small whole sweet potatoes with sprouted vines grow and produce many more sweet potatoes?"
The second question was "are slips grown to increase the number of plantings per potato?"
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Post by seaeagle on Jul 1, 2015 13:50:32 GMT
I started slips off 6 potato's this year. We have planted about 80 slips and can't find anyone who needs the rest.We still have 50 or so that have not been pulled from the plant,some of which are over 3 feet long.My mother declared them "groundhog food" yesterday.What a waste but planting now would be borderline for a crop by first frost. Wade What is the secret to get so many slips off a sweet potato?Do you use the water method or do you partially bury them in the ground?I use sweet potatoes I buy from the store and I guess they may have been treated with sprout inhibitors or something.I don't get near the number of slips you are getting |
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Post by Melissa on Jul 1, 2015 13:50:50 GMT
I started slips off 6 potato's this year. We have planted about 80 slips and can't find anyone who needs the rest.We still have 50 or so that have not been pulled from the plant,some of which are over 3 feet long.My mother declared them "groundhog food" yesterday.What a waste but planting now would be borderline for a crop by first frost. Wade Wish I was closer, I did not get any started this year. |
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Post by 1shotwade on Jul 1, 2015 14:05:41 GMT
I started slips off 6 potato's this year. We have planted about 80 slips and can't find anyone who needs the rest.We still have 50 or so that have not been pulled from the plant,some of which are over 3 feet long.My mother declared them "groundhog food" yesterday.What a waste but planting now would be borderline for a crop by first frost. Wade What is the secret to get so many slips off a sweet potato?Do you use the water method or do you partially bury them in the ground?I use sweet potatoes I buy from the store and I guess they may have been treated with sprout inhibitors or something.I don't get near the number of slips you are getting I'm sure no pro at this but I have 2 things that might be advisable.These were large eating size potot's. I cut them in half and put cut side down in a mason jar,held there by tooth picks.One thing might be to keep the water level where only 1/4 inch or so is in the water.Not really sure. The biggest thing however has to be having them in an area where higher temps can be maintained.I started these in my basement and they didn't do much. Took them up to mom's where she put them in the LR and they took off! Sorry I can't nail it down any more than that. |
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Post by paquebot on Jul 1, 2015 14:17:09 GMT
There's a good reason why sweet potatoes are only grown from slips. The potato is a part of the root rather than something produced off the root or stem. I knew that last year but planted a small O'Henry anyway. Same single potato was harvested and not much bigger than when it was planted. The potatoes are only formed at one level and anything below is only roots.
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 14:36:46 GMT
There's a good reason why sweet potatoes are only grown from slips. The potato is a part of the root rather than something produced off the root or stem. I knew that last year but planted a small O'Henry anyway. Same single potato was harvested and not much bigger than when it was planted. The potatoes are only formed at one level and anything below is only roots. Martin
I kinda thought that might be the case. I just did not have the wherewithal to better express my doubts.
Now let me ask this...
Since the potatoes that he planted have grown vines, which are nothing more than slips writ large, should he not be able to dig out the potato that the vine started from, detach the vine/slip from the potato, stick it in the ground and have it then go through its normal growth process and create more potatoes?
The only problem that I see with doing this is that the vines are well developed and have nutrient (or is it nutriment???  ) and water needs that the now rootless vine/slip cannot provide. Especially in this southern heat.
Or maybe after he digs the potatoes out he may find that there are nodes of the vine/slip in the ground that have formed roots to provide the needed nutrients and water?
I think his only real good chance will be that I still have a few slips growing in pots that I did not have room for in the garden.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 1, 2015 15:34:09 GMT
If the vines are well-established, they can not be cut off and merely poked into the ground like a slip. What can be done is to pin the vine down a few feet away from the base and toss a shovel of dirt over it. It will root again at that point. After a couple weeks, cut the vine off ahead of the new rooting. The new roots then are able to produce potatoes as normal.
Development of new varieties are often to avoid that by having shorter vines. With some varieties, commercial growers go through now and then and flip the row of vines over to the other side so that they do not root. If the vines take root, they try to make potatoes there and that takes production away from the main plant. In tropics, no need to ever make slips as the vine is continually rooted after harvest.
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2015 16:33:34 GMT
What can be done is to pin the vine down a few feet away from the base and toss a shovel of dirt over it. It will root again at that point. After a couple weeks, cut the vine off ahead of the new rooting. The new roots then are able to produce potatoes as normal.
That is pretty much what I thought, but just could not articulate properly.
But just to be sure...
Pin down the vine at a rooting node, put dirt on top of it and once it has established roots at the node, cut the vine between the originating potato and the newly rooted node? Correct?
Growing most of my veggies in raised beds which are surrounded by grass, I have always kept the sweet potato vines from spreading all over the place just to be able the mow the grass around the beds. I throw the vines back into the bed and weave them into a trellis at the rear of the bed. It actually looks quite nice. Akin to a green blanket hanging on a clothesline. That is until the vines flower. Then it is a green blanket with purple flowers.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 1, 2015 17:12:27 GMT
[/quote] Pin down the vine at a rooting node, put dirt on top of it and once it has established roots at the node, cut the vine between the originating potato and the newly rooted node? Correct? [/quote] You got it right! If you look carefully at the under side of a vine, you will see the rooting nodes. Barring any catastrophe, a single plant could live a thousand years and probably produce enough total vine to go around the world by using that method. Martin |
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Post by 1shotwade on Jul 1, 2015 17:49:38 GMT
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Post by seaeagle on Jul 2, 2015 2:35:52 GMT
What is the secret to get so many slips off a sweet potato?Do you use the water method or do you partially bury them in the ground?I use sweet potatoes I buy from the store and I guess they may have been treated with sprout inhibitors or something.I don't get near the number of slips you are getting I'm sure no pro at this but I have 2 things that might be advisable.These were large eating size potot's. I cut them in half and put cut side down in a mason jar,held there by tooth picks.One thing might be to keep the water level where only 1/4 inch or so is in the water.Not really sure. The biggest thing however has to be having them in an area where higher temps can be maintained.I started these in my basement and they didn't do much. Took them up to mom's where she put them in the LR and they took off! Sorry I can't nail it down any more than that. Thank you 1shot, I will try your method next year |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 3:16:35 GMT
You got it right! If you look carefully at the under side of a vine, you will see the rooting nodes. Barring any catastrophe, a single plant could live a thousand years and probably produce enough total vine to go around the world by using that method. Martin
Cool! Thanks for the confirmation Martin.
Interesting videos, Wade. Thanks.... I just might give that method a try in my buddy's sweet potato bed.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 2, 2015 3:51:59 GMT
For starting slips, I forget that everything on HT is history and have to start over. I actually have two tubers which have produced perhaps a total of 25-30 slips over TWO years. They were suspended in water in Feb 2014 and did their thing with lots of slips. Then the jars outside with just one slip left on when done and they just sit there and do nothing all summer. Back inside and on windowsill in cool north window for the fall and winter. To the top of the aquarium and over the 25w bulbs in Feb 2015. The heat from the bulbs is steady at just under 85ºF. That woke the potatoes up and sprouted like crazy again.
Several of my Internet friends and I also tried starting slips by putting potatoes at a 45º angle into a starting medium. None of us had any luck as that method is for outside in cold frames or similar.
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 4:15:14 GMT
I think that I have found that heat is critical when trying to grow slips. I started a bunch of potatoes in March inside the house with is usually kept at 65* to 70* during the winter. Very few slips were produced. Once I moved them to the back porch and the temps were in the 80*+ plus range I could not stop them from growing. paquebot, Is it best to use smaller potatoes with which to make slips or larger potatoes? I have read that the smaller ones are best. The ones that are too much effort peeling compared to the return of edible potato. |
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Post by paquebot on Jul 2, 2015 11:09:30 GMT
I found that tubers which fit easily into a half-pint jar are best producers. I only recall using a pint jar once in past 10 years. No idea why I went that smaller route since nobody ever told me. Just seemed more convenient and it worked. Also that small ones were usually all that were left by time to start slips.
Martin
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) and water needs that the now rootless vine/slip cannot provide. Especially in this southern heat.