Pam, I think you need you head examined just like the rest of us, but we sure have fun playing in the dirt.

My favorite way to make slips is to let the slips grow long and then lay them in a plastic rain gutter, or anything long and let roots form over a long length of the slip. I put about 25 slips in a 2' rain gutter. If the weather was warm enough I think you could go straight from the potato to the garden, but I start too early for that.

I have pieces of rain gutter about 2' long with each end sealed so it wont leak. ( I have to do mine in the house).
I seem to get better production from a long slip.

You can get a lot of slips from one potato. I show a picture of some of my ornamental I have started. ( if they were the edible kind the slips would be in the rain gutter rather than the plastic pots. I dont always place the potato in water or potting soil, I will just cut the end off that is sprouting, use it and eat the rest of the potato.

Larry

Pam,

Um...yes, you need your head examined. It is okay though because most of us need our heads examined at this time of year when the weather is driving us crazy.

Sweet potato slips in March? I am really bad about getting planting fever but even I don't start sweet potato slips in March. Still, you have little to lose. If you start these too early and they fail because you cannot transplant them out when they are ready, then you always can start more. You have plenty of time before the air temps and ground temps are warm enough for sweet potatoes.

I think that you have a garden-specific type of SAD. To some extent we all get it, especially when winter weather just won't go away and we're tired of it interfering in our garden planting.

By the way, I think your pitiful seedlings that were started in February might improve once they are getting more sunlight. Also, if they are staying pretty cool, then it is likely they aren't taking up nutrients very well yet. Sometimes all some pitiful seedlings need is a gentle feeding and some good sunlight to perk them up.

Our weather lately has had below-average temperatures similar to yours. At our house, normally our lows would be in the low 40s in late March. For the last two nights, our overnight low has bottomed out at 21 degrees.

At least it isn't snowing here....and today we have sunshine and the beginning of a warming trend. I expect that April may stay cooler than average for a while too so am not rushing anything into the ground too early.

Dawn

Pam, I'm terrible at estimating numbers. But count on at least a dozen slips per root. This is a VERY conservative estimate. The fact is, that when I plant, pulling most of the slips off the root, that the roots go on and produce a whole new crop of slips, often, still in time for yet another planting. Larry's pictures are great for illustrating how prolific these can be for producing slips.

I've had difficulties for two years running. Though, last year was the worst. I lost almost all of mine due to fungus gnats. They hit again this year. But I mostly arrested them, since I knew what was happening. Still, I have one flat with one variety which isn't growing right. The sprouts (slips) are gnarly and some are withering. I'm not sure what that is. But I may have to dispose of them.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Hi - Sorry for late response. Had an unexpected medical issue in my family on Tuesday, got back last night.

Larry - good grief - what a photo!! I had no idea. I believe I could get all the slips I need from two good sized potatoes. I'd do that but I want to grow several varieties - a few that did especially well last year, and a few that underperformed that I'd like to try again.

Dawn, Pete agrees that I need to get my head examined! I've been relying on what I read, not on personal experience, so I'm limited.

I read a post by Farmerdill that he starts planting sweet potatoes in early May and continues into June. His weather is similar to ours re: temps. I don't know how long it takes for sweets to make slips, so decided I'd probably be on safe ground if I started them in late March. The potatoes in the photo don't appear to have changed since I posted that photo and questions last week. Maybe they are smarter than me, know we are still running at least 20 degrees below average - highs and lows. The cool temps will continue this week, at a minimum.

I think you're right about a cool April. On the rare occasions that we have sunshine, I put everyone out on the deck, keep an eye on the wind. I've given them a couple of light doses of fertilizer. Some of the Feb started peppers are looking better, but the tomatoes are very leggy. I'm thinking about whether I need to repot them in deeper containers. Planted a lot of seedlings, so the thought of repotting them is daunting. Maybe I'll just repot the leggy ones.

George: First, thanks for the info re: abundant slips. I didn't know what to expect. Doesn't sound like a shortage of slips is a common problem.

I'm not very familiar with diseases of sweet potatoes yet. Are fungus gnats a common problem in your area? It sounds like you have a solution to that problem, but the gnarly roots are caused by something else.

My sweet potatoes looked pretty good when I harvested them, but a fair percentage developed what appear to be fungus-related problems. I think scurf and black rot. Some shriveled up - I threw them away, did not compost them.

When I researched sweet potato diseases, the number of fungus related problems was sobering. The solution to most fungus-related problems is crop rotation and planting "disease-free roots treated with fungicides." I don't have more available land - this was the first time anyone grew sweet potatoes or anything else on this land. Guess I need to learn how to treat roots with fungicides.

You have gnarly roots, I have funguses (fungi?). It's always something. Our vegetable gardens will keep us sober or drive us to drink!

Take care,
Pam