Saving Sweet Potatoes for Slips

Instead of piggybacking on the current sweet potatoes thread, I thought I'd start a new one.

What's the best was of saving a few sweet potatoes from this year's crop for growing slips for next year? And what size should I try to save?

I planted SPs for the first time last year & got a decent supply. Although I really think I dug them too soon. I got some nice sized ones, but I also got just a lot of fat "roots" only about an inch across. I'd hate to just give all those small roots to the dogs and was wondering if they would be good for saving to start slips. I try to keep the SP in the coolest room in the house, in a single layer, to make them last longer.

Any thoughts?

Jo-Ann

I hope you get some answers to your questions. I too grew sweet potatoes (first time) and have a lot more small tubers, far too small to eat, than large, edible ones. My sweet potatoes are now "curing" for 2-3 weeks before I store them in the pantry.

i would perhaps save some of the SP's that got to a decent size, if you have any left, they are the ones that will have had the energy stored in them. SPs, just like regular potatoes will start sprouting from the eyes later on, and would require some stored energy from those plumped up tubers to get themselves going. Although i have never grew SP's, i have grown regular potatoes, and i just usually save a couple of small ones for "seed potatoes", perhaps this can be done the same way? I typically keep mine in a dry place underneath the sink so it will be dark until time to use them. There will of course be folks who know much more than me, so i will just let them chime in ;)

As long as they keep until time to start them, you will be ok. The small ones do tend to dry out and fail earlier than full full size ones.

Were the root sizes due to hard ground, or just ran out of growing time that caused the immaturity? Just curious as I know they take awhile to grow...

I really don't know why I got so many small tubers. This was the first year to grow them. Perhaps I started too late (May). It certainly had nothing to do with the soil. It was very fertile, loaded with compost, loose, and moist. I will try again next spring and see if I get better results. Sometimes it just takes experience (aka failure) to improve on one's gardening skills.

Ken

I have had intent to try myself is why I asked. I can start early- IF I get home...

Okay I don't know a lot about this but I have friends that grow a lot of Sweet Potatos #1 they don't worry about getting the slips set out early one girl set hers out the last of june and she made a great crop of tubers..If you are concerned about starting the slips then start them indoors in a warm sunny window use a quart jar and fill about half way with water pierce the tuber (one that will fit in a regular mouth jar )with four tooth picks about 3/4 up on the tuber and suspend in the jar of water cut off the very bottom of the tuberso that there is a flat place about the size of a quarter place the Jar?tuber on a sunny window sill and wait PS change the water often if I can find pix I will send

Following this thread, as I hope to save some I grew this year to start new ones for 2014.

This year I actually got slips from one I bought at the grocery store. It took awhile for it to produce slips....maybe becaue it was treated. Do any of you have an idea of what type they normally put in the grocery stores.

Deb

All I noticed is they were carryin a lighter colored one than the dark tubers I like. Not sure where they are buying them from...

Different varieties need different growing seasons to produce a good supply of roots. I ran into that with a tropical variety I tried this past summer - they grew very well with healthy dark green leaves on long vines, but produced only a few small roots at the end of the season. There are also some varieties sold for growing that are recommended specifically for Northern areas that will produce with shorter growing seasons.

One variety I have especially wanted to try here are a type grown in the Caribbean with dry, white flesh, closer to Irish potatoes, but I only see them in the grocery store and they always seem to have some questionable-looking patches on the skin that I'm afraid to introduce into my garden. Too bad - they would probably make great gnocchi.


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ABOUT ALL THAT IS GROWN AROUND HERE IS THE bEAUREGARD sORRY ABOUT THE CAP THING BEING ON. that happens to me a lot