Planting Sweet Potato Slips
Sweet potatoes grow best in hot dry climates. The new plants, slips, when laid into a trench will require water, after that time little irrigation is necessary. Soil preparation is key to growing good sweet potatoes. Weed control is another factor for having good yields. Once established the plants will grow long vines, and just below the soil line will be sweet tubers to be enjoyed all fall and winter long.
List:
Roto tiller
Fertilizer 10-10-10
Shovel
Water
Work the garden row with a roto tiller 2 weeks prior to slip planting. The trench row must be at least 6 inches to 8 inches deep. The deeper and looser the soil, the larger the sweet potatoes will be at harvest. Make ridges that are from 6 inches to 8 inches high and up to 18 inches wide. In these ridges the slips will be planted.
Apply 3 pounds of the 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 feet of row for the sweet potato slips. Work the fertilizer into the garden soil with the roto tiller or shovel. You can add half of the fertilizer two weeks prior to planting, and add the second half as a side dressing to the slips once they have begun to grow.
Transplant the slips to the center of the built up row trench 3 weeks to 4 weeks after the last frost, according to the Purdue University Extension Service. Place the individual plant slips 12 inches to 18 inches on center down the row. Immerse the small roots completely in the loose soil. If the days are hot, plant the slips in the evening hours.
Water the slips immediately to remove any air from around the roots. Water requirements are minimal as the plants will only require up to 1 inch of water per week during growth. Rainfall may provide all the moisture required for good tuber growth.
Control all weed growth around the vines during the season. Exercise caution not to damage the vines, as the tubers that are growing may attempt to put forth new vines if existing ones are damaged.
Harvest the tubers after the first frost of the fall season. Depending on variety this may be from 130 days to 170 days after slip planting.
Words to the Wise:
You can grow your own slips by selecting sweet potato tubers that are free of any defects or places that show rot. Place three wooden toothpicks evenly around the tuber approximately midway - lengthways along the sweet potato. Set the tuber into a glass jar filled with water. The tuber will be suspended in the glass jar, half in and half out of the water by the toothpicks. Keep the water level full at all times. Set the jar in a window with full sunlight exposure. The slips will begin to grow in two weeks to three weeks time. Remove the new plants by "slipping" them, sliding the green plant, from the tuber once roots show themselves on the individual plants.
