GROW YOUR OWN | Sweet Potato Slips Guide

Hey there, it's Rachel from the 1870s Homestead - I'm excited to share how easy it can be to start your own sweet potato slips at home. I walk you through simple maintenance tips, like rinsing jars and roots to keep things clean and algae-free. With just a few jars, some water, and patience, you'll be on your way to growing your own sweet potato slips. I delve into the process of starting slips, emphasizing the need for early preparation, typically starting three to four months before planting. I demonstrate how to identify successful slips versus less thriving ones, offering encouragement and tips for maximizing your success. Plus, I showcase an exciting new product from Greenstalk, their vertical planters, perfect for growing your own veggies even in limited space. So, if you're ready to roll up your sleeves and dive into the world of sweet potato cultivation, join me in this guide and let's get growing!
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[@gerdadewinter2520]

I do the same way but always pull the slip off, so I learn something to snip the slips off. Great video!!

[@spartacus3015]

I'm glad you mentioned the reason for cutting rather than pulling the slip starts. Thank you.

[@deborahrutherford5244]

I purchased white sweet potatoes from the grocery they are planted in potting soil. Have been cutting off slips and placing in water to root. When roots get established I plant in grow bags in potting soil they stay there until the weather gets warm enough to plant outside. I couldn't keep the slips alive in water for a long time but the grow bags kept them live.

[@tellwhite7056]

if you cover your jars with a black sock or other light limiting material, you can greatly reduce the algae... Loved the video mama san

[@mama_duck_on_the_lake7510]

Really glad to see you start gardening again. That was my favorite part of your channel.

[@shelbiegaines1033]

I love this video!!! Thank you!

[@mariagarcia-po6kl]

Hi Rachel. I am so looking forward to you planting those sweet potatoes. The entire process of doing the starter's is amazing. God Bless you sweet Rachel. See you soon in next video. HUGS 🤗. Mari'a. 🤗🤗🤗❤️❤️❤️👋👋👍👍👍👍🌼🌺🌹

[@pauladixon4147]

I bought organic sweet potatoes, done them like you did. I put mine on a heat mat. Having good success with roots growing. Starting to grow slips.

[@Blissfuljourney_]

Rachel!!! I just looked at my potatoes!! I almost gave up on them. I took them out and saw roots and then I saw the sprouts coming from the bottom!!! Yayy!! They are coming in!!

[@carolhamilton5164]

You are more thorough than others, thanks!

[@JenB.188]

Thank you! This is my second year trying sweet potatoes and my first starting my own slips. I’m excited to eat sweet potatoes I grew from start to finish. Your video answers so many of my questions.

[@jasminemalone9319]

Just got my first green stock. Can't wait. Thanks for the $10.00 saving. God bless you guys

[@sheliaheverin8822]

I have 2 Green Stalks that I love. I plant lettuces in one and herbs and strawberries in the other.

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

I'm just starting this week. I do the soil method.

[@marking-time-gardens]

Thank you so much for going over how you care for your sweet potato probigation process! Very helpful! Blessings on your day Kiddo!🌻🐛Carolyn in Ohio 🌿

[@JNoMooreNumbers]

I put in pots and getting some roots and a couple tiny spots ready to sprout.

[@ht6684]

So my first batch rotted and I've got a second batch started, we shall see. But today I was peeling the rest of my sweet potatoes to can before they all went bad and the biggest one (I mean huge) had little sprouts started, no dirt, not water just sprouting, so it went into dirt.

[@nicolephillips9991]

This was so helpful! Thank you

[@junewrogg6137]

Thank you Rachel !!!! I just ordered my Green Stalk! :) Your code almost paid for shipping :) I've always wanted one!!! So EXCITED!!!!! Your sweet potatoes are so awesome. I started mine same day you posted on FB and Instagram. I'm just now getting roots on my tators. I pray they produce. I made sweet potatoes for supper last night, and I just love them.

[@debbiealtman5373]

Those green stalks look nice. I’ve seen several people use them.

[@normalopez2856]

Thank you for this!!!!!

[@mygriefjourney5494]

Thank you for the discount code! I have been waiting for just the right sale to buy a greenstalk planter and this was the perfect time to do it. I'm excited to use it for tomatoes!

[@Devie-tx8ri]

I’m less than 60 seconds in and I think that sweet potato plant looks so nice that you need a similar house plant. Ohh I lllike it!

[@missourigirl4101]

Fun video Rachel! Congrats on the success! Can’t wait to see more.

[@LindaYoung-nw4xl]

I grew them in my garden in florida! Oh my God! They are invasive!!!!! Even the smallest piece of root that gets missed, regrow!

[@rachealwangu638]

Nice video.

[@Mrs.CreeksideMaples]

Rachel I ♥️ that light in the background

[@mlee7037]

I have a green stalk full of strawberries and one full of garden peas. I will have one full of herbs, and my fourth one has about eight pockets of chamomile right now. Love my Green Stalks!❤

[@featheredfriendshomestead]

Love the new basket weave on the greenstalk and the color. It's beautiful. I'm just getting ready to start removing my slips they are almost big enough.

[@Cidtalk]

Thank you for the video and so much information. I was just about to pull the little starts from my sweet potato, but now I will try cutting them instead! I might have made a slight error when I put the bottom of my sweet potato in some potting soil instead of just in water. I will check the roots today to see if I need to change that.

[@maureenschulte4778]

I cant eait to see your garden this year, after having a year of rest. I hope its great!! Love your show😊

[@UrbanWhiteBuffaloFarm]

Hey Rachel, I am growing only the Japanese Murasaki ones. My wife prefers these. Every year I start the process two weeks later and later because here in Minnesota we have to wait to get them outside. Every year they get sooo long and I keep making cuttings from the slips to shorten them and get them to root in the water. If I turn my back for a minute they just explode all over the place. I am just ready to start these now on the 20th of March last year was the 10th of March. Good luck with your 2024 garden season looking forward to the journey with you. God bless take care, Steven

[@margaret8056]

Good Evening RACHEL THANKS FOR ALL THE WORTH WHILE INFORMATION YOU ARE SUCH A WEALTH OF INFORMATION MARGARET LYNCH SOUTHERN IRELAND

[@rwally3able]

Thankyou!!!!!!!!

[@traceydysert6096]

Sometimes I would have a hard time growing sweet potato slips so this year I tried buying organic sweet potatoes and stuck them in my peat moss mixture. I started with 10 in a pack and ended up with four that rooted. Several of my potatoes rotted and that's okay. Just from those four potatoes I got at least 16 slips! It takes about a month to 2 months for them to grow. YOU MUST HAVE PATIENCE AND LOTS OF IT! Now my slips are at least 6 in tall! Just keep the seed starting mix damp. You don't want it soaking wet. I had roots that were over 12 in long. I am going to do it this way every year when I grow sweet potatoes. The jar and water method just doesn't work well for me.

[@dancnluc1]

Thank you for talking about sweet potatoes. I have never grown them but would love to. I tried last year but the deer discovered the green part and ate them. I have to remember to start early.

[@SlowLivingWithAutism]

I pull them off, but then divide the slips and root them. So ... I pull off, put into water, allow it to grow a little, and then pinch off what makes sense, and put the pinched pieces in water to root. I've tried starting in soil, in sand, in sand and soil mix, and in water. I'm still not sure which I prefer, so each year I do it a few ways. 😊 BUT ... this year I'll be sure to cut some off, too. ❤

[@loripretti843]

Great Information!!! Thank you for sharing it with us!!! God Bless Us All!!!

[@annalovison8308]

I love the green walls🎉🎉🎉

[@LJones-uu4xy]

I had a sweet potato growing in shallow soil for about 2 years in my kitchen window. Laid the potato on it’s side not quite covering the potato. Kept clipping shoots off of it.

[@jameswashington268]

Thank you great info. Trying this for first time.

[@smas3256]

Thank you Rachel. I bet your sweet potatoes are awesome. We try one or two new different plants each year. This year are stingless green beans. Pole variety rather than bush. Potatoes in the ground. Looking forward. Thanks for sharing tips and show and tell.

[@julie-annepineau4022]

Grew some from store potatoes last year and they took a really long time to start. Started from ones I grew last year and they were so much faster. I started in water but the leaves kept getting edema so I have now tucked them into soil. they seem to be doing well and the leaves are much healthier.

[@millriverfarm]

thank you for all you do :)

[@alamryfarms754]

I’m doing slips for the first time this year. I’m doing soil method and it’s SO slow. Although I think I should have started in January instead of med February because I’m just now getting a few little slips sprouting. And I’m in Texas so now I’m worried it’s going to be too late. I might try anyway. What do I have to lose. Thanks for posting this. Really helpful! I love your channel and your soothing, slow steady voice and pace. 😊

[@stephiefultz]

Thanks!! Mine are coming but slowly this year patience is required. I just bought another green-stalk we have 6. Exciting

[@HeatherNaturaly]

I had a big white on in a jar. It had roots before Stacy (Doug and Stacy) started hers. It produced 3 slips before I noticed it had rotted from the inside out. Snapped the top with the slips off and put that in water,; cut the rot off and scooped out any remaining and put the rooted part back in water. No progression of the rot or slips.

[@cynthiafisher9907]

I wonder how you’re going to keep these slips in suspended animation until it’s warm enough to plant them out? The basket weave Greenstalk is really cute, but with our dust and wind, I think it would get a lot of dirt stuck in the depressions. You gave lots of good info, Rachel!

[@wiwingmargahayu6831]

blackie sweet potato is rare things in some place or most people dont know about it also purple yam

[@kaesmomFitz]

Having never had a garden in my life, I'm hoping to start one this year (I'll be buying starter plants from a local nursery). For each of those rooted stems, does that produce one plant? And how many potatoes does one plant produce?

[@LJones-uu4xy]

Each slip is the beginning of one plant. How much a plant produces is going to vary a lot.

[@kaesmomFitz]

@@LJones-uu4xyThanks!

[@lmullens75]

I’ve never understood how many sweet potatoes each slip will produce. And also, my biggest problem has been not being patient enough to wait for the vines to die back. I had some huge vines that were really prolific and amazing, and it had gotten cold outside, so I went ahead and dumped out my grow bags, and I had tiny little scrawny, sweet potatoes.I learned that I must have given them too much nitrogen

[@andrewhammill6148]

I found that growing sweet potato slips in soil as opposed to water is a much quicker process. And I already told you I'm not buying another GreenStalk because I have 4 of them. Stop it. 😂🤣😅.

[@crystalcurtis3771]

I also like the soil method. I don’t find it to be faster, but I definitely find it to be less work on my part 😊

[@melisshoddinott3480]

How long did it take for the slips to grow? I put one sweet potato in water and rooted it out, then put a couple more in dirt and they are taking so long to root out and still no slips growing?

[@crystalcurtis3771]

@@melisshoddinott3480 it takes several weeks for slips to start growing. And you don’t want the sweet potatoes in dirt swimming in water, but for best results you do need to keep the soil quite damp and in a fairly warm location. Time and patience are the keys to growing sweet potato slips 😉. Good luck!

[@TrggrWarning]

I’ve has sweet potatoes in soil for 6 weeks no budge. Throwing them in water setup.

[@micheleb4464]

Thank you for showing how to cut the slips instead of pinching them off. I started my potato in soil due an inquisitive cat. Am I able to cut the slips off just as you would if they were in water???

[@cherylimoehl6634]

❤❤❤

[@DenishiaBaker]

The fish tank really gets them going fast

[@pamschonfarber1041]

I have the worse luck growing the slips, I started in feb., i dont think they were organic, need to purchase from the health food store. Or i think I'm just gonna order them from the Maine potatoes lady,not sure where I got her catalog from but glad I have it

[@marshhomestead4963]

I’m going to grow sweet potatoes for the first time this year. My husband really isn’t a fan. I was wondering if you had any ideas for using them. Thanks for all your information Rachel. ❤

[@cynthiafisher9907]

Do you like eating sweet potatoes? You can bake them, roast them, can them, dehydrate them, etc.

[@hannadeuel3583]

Hi Rachel! I started my sweet potato’s just like you in February. I only did 5 and 2 just molded away 2 have baby roots just now April 1st and the other has a great root system but no slips. Anything suggestions or thoughts? That happened last year to me as well. I just threw that potato in some soil last year and forgot about it but it did produce maybe 5 lbs.

[@karynkirchhofer1780]

Mine all have vines that are very long. What do I do?

[@MargieBenson-dv9ek]

❤

[@reneevation5011]

How many sweet potatoes do you generally get per plant/slip? I started mine late last year, so there were a lot of small potatoes.

[@angelasmith2140]

Once you take the slips off will they start to regrow on the potato again

[@loripeer1]

How do you start them from beginning

[@j_dub5556]

A cap full of hydrogen peroxide will help keep the water fresher for longer 😊

[@paulinecloutier2449]

How do you know how many to plant of everything

[@aprilclark2302]

Rachel, or someone, I need some help! I started soaking my sweet potato in a glass of water and it's sprouting the little leaves but they are under the water. There are no roots, just the leaves. But when I look at pictures is the skinnier pointed end that goes in the water. Correct? That's how I did it. Should I turn it over? Thanks!

[@1870s]

Typically fat end goes in water, but that's pretty general, you may want to flip it

[@pamschonfarber1041]

Do you fertilize thee water at all?

[@1870s]

Not at this stage, no

[@littlecountrykitchen]

Last year my sweet potato slips didn't grown much. It had tiny pencil sized potatoes on them. Maybe I didn't let them grow long enough. They were planted late. 😢

[@cynthiafisher9907]

I don’t know where you live, but in Idaho, I planted mine in June and harvested them right before the first frost in the fall.

[@littlecountrykitchen]

@cynthiafisher9907 I'm in utah, thanks for the tip. Ya I didn't wait long enough!

[@Angela_Alaimo]

I'm at 0-20 starting slips. And I do everything right. Might be 0-26, I've lost count

[@browndog9402]

is organic better to use or just any store bought?

[@narrowpathfarm]

Organic because regular ones are sprayed to not sprout

[@TheTandumbs]

@@narrowpathfarmno wonder mine didn’t sprout last year. Learn something new everyday!

[@cynthiafisher9907]

@@TheTandumbsI used one last year from the store and got lots of slips and lots of sweet potatoes.

[@OldCritters]

👍💞

[@judymillane9892]

Is it too late to start plants indoors?

[@1870s]

Depends where you live

[@andreamillar9141]

Does one slip produce one potato?

[@1870s]

Many potatoes

[@CeciliaPope-uq8fx]

Couldn’t you put a little piece of copper in your jars to prohibit algae growth. It works in rain barrels and birdbaths.

[@pamschonfarber1041]

So I just bit the bullet & ordered my 1st greenstalk, ty 2023 taxes.

[@carolyns1131]

I found that non-organic sweet potatoes do not root as well due to growers spraying the potatoes with retardant to prevent roots!!

[@CityGirlGoneGreen]

I started a couple weeks ago but I put my sweet potatoes in dirt

[@cynthiafisher9907]

That works too.

[@JennyHammons]

I must have started the wrong ends! Mine has roots and slips growing from the same end. 😂 I thought I confirmed the end but I guess I was wrong. Oops!

[@jamiegreenlee2367]

Mine is doing the same. I have slips forming under the water with the roots

[@JennyHammons]

I just cut some of the slips to root today. Fingers crossed that they work!

[@Greens5511]

I had 100% failure the first 2 years and I had them maintained for months....it does fail! I bought organic sweet potatoes from the store and I don't think they really were organic, I just paid an organic price 😮‍💨😕🤨

[@LJones-uu4xy]

Even organic sweet potatoes can have growth inhibitors on them. Sometimes if you soak and rinse a few times you can remove enough of it to get good growth.

[@cynthiafisher9907]

I grew mine last year from a regular nonorganic sweet potato from the store and it worked great!

[@Greens5511]

@@LJones-uu4xy interesting, I was told organic doesn't have that in them, but I believe it probably could...I don't put much stock in the organic label at the grocery store

[@BreezyByTheSea63]

I must have yam… my sweet potato slips do not look like this.