sweet potato vs slips

[goatsareus]

I tagged this question on another sweet potato thread and it got lost.
I have never fooled with making slips from my sweet potatoes. I submerge whole sweet potatoes in water, let them root, and eventually plant the whole sweet potato in the ground. I plant about 10 plants this way and harvest about 20 pounds of taters per plant. Why is this not a recommended way to plant sweet potatoes?

[VALENT]

one reason would be that it would allow the transmission of diseases and such. The other reason would be that you could probably grow 10 or 20 times the plants using slips.

[EDDIE BUCK]

Just give it a try. Take potato and split length ways down the center. Then place flat sides down in container that will hold water. Just keep water level about half inch on potatoes. After the slips get about eight or ten inches just pull away from potato and transplant in rows and space about a foot apart and leave about four or five inches out of ground. Make sure it won't frost when you plant them. Just try it and see. Eddie

[Horse Fork Farm]

EDDIE BUCK- I have a dumb question about that. When you pull the slips off the potato, are they supposed to have some roots attached or are they rootless? Cause when you buy slips they have some roots on them. I've always got my slips from a friend and they had roots on them?? Thanks for answering, Kathy

[SquashNut]

I have found that if you put the slip in a glass of water the roots will grow in just a few days.
I tryed putting them in damp soil to root and they wilted pretty bad.

[EDDIE BUCK]

Originally Posted by Heartstrings

EDDIE BUCK- I have a dumb question about that. When you pull the slips off the potato, are they supposed to have some roots attached or are they rootless? Cause when you buy slips they have some roots on them. I've always got my slips from a friend and they had roots on them?? Thanks for answering, Kathy

Just pull it off at the potato, if it dosen't have roots you can see thats ok, just make a hole in the row and plant it, just like planting anything else. Roots will grow out from that rootless potato plant in a couple of days. Sure you can put them in a glass of water till you see roots, but they will root in the ground just as quick. What we used to do is drop all the plants on top of the row and proper distance. Then we cut a forked branch or very small tree about four feet long. Then take a knife and cut each branch one inch from the bottom of the fork and cut the other end what length is comfortable for you. Now walk down the row with that forked stick and place the fork on the plant a couple of inches past center and on the root end of the plant. Now push them in the ground until the top of the plant is about five inches out of the ground and the root end is in the ground. The reason you see roots on those slips you buy is that most farmers and folks that raise slips for sale, what they do is bed or bank those potatos in the ground. They dig a hole and put the seed potatos in that hole and then cover them with dirt. These potatos start sprouting and grow. When it gets time to plant they dig those potatos out and pull off the slips to plant. The roots you see are the slips that rooted in the ground. Just like when you plant the slips, they start rooting under the soil even though no roots were on the slip when you planted them.Hope this helps. Sorry to make you all read so much. Eddie

[EDDIE BUCK]

Originally Posted by SquashNut

I have found that if you put the slip in a glass of water the roots will grow in just a few days.
I tryed putting them in damp soil to root and they wilted pretty bad.

They will wilt some, but cabbage, collards and most any plant will do that, but give them about three days and then they will stand up and take off. Eddie

[goatsareus]

Originally Posted by VALENT

one reason would be that it would allow the transmission of diseases and such. The other reason would be that you could probably grow 10 or 20 times the plants using slips.

Thanks!

I'm perfectly satisfied with growing 10 plants using 10 sweet potatoes. I really do not want more than 200 pounds of sweet potatoes. I was curious why this is not an acceptable practice. And I guess I do not understand why my method would allow the transmission of diseases. I use the same method as slip gatherers, I just never harvest any slips.

[goatsareus]

Originally Posted by EDDIE BUCK

Just give it a try. Take potato and split length ways down the center. Then place flat sides down in container that will hold water. Just keep water level about half inch on potatoes. After the slips get about eight or ten inches just pull away from potato and transplant in rows and space about a foot apart and leave about four or five inches out of ground. Make sure it won't frost when you plant them. Just try it and see. Eddie

LOL, I am the queen of growing the most food with the least amount of effort. If I can get a lot of sweet potatoes without fooling with slips, then I expect I will continue. But this is only my fourth year of doing this, so I have very little experience growing sweet potatoes. The first year I thought it was beginners' luck..One plant had 31 pounds of potatoes, but I am trying to learn why this method is not universally used. I guess it is the volume issue, more slips from a potato.

[goatlady]

The diseases are in the POTATO so when you plant the whole thing you are transferring the disease "spores" into the ground and into the newly growing potatoes.

[goatsareus]

Originally Posted by goatlady

The diseases are in the POTATO so when you plant the whole thing you are transferring the disease "spores" into the ground and into the newly growing potatoes.

okay, what disease do sweet potatoes carry? I live in southern ohio and try to garden organically. What diseases should I be on the look out for?? Thanks for responding!

btw, I grow beauregards.

[Paquebot]

The most common sweet potato disease appears to be streptomyces soil rot and Beauregard is resistant to it. Nevertheless, all propagating advice calls for not using any part of the tuber. In tropical areas where sweet potatoes would be perennial, growers are even particular about not taking slips too close to the roots. But for strictly one's own home use, I'd say that any method that works would be OK.

Martin

[EDDIE BUCK]

Originally Posted by goatsareus

LOL, I am the queen of growing the most food with the least amount of effort. If I can get a lot of sweet potatoes without fooling with slips, then I expect I will continue. But this is only my fourth year of doing this, so I have very little experience growing sweet potatoes. The first year I thought it was beginners' luck..One plant had 31 pounds of potatoes, but I am trying to learn why this method is not universally used. I guess it is the volume issue, more slips from a potato.

Lol when I plant Irish potatoes, I buy them at the groc store, peel them and cook the potatoes, then I cut the peels leaving two eyes to each piece, and then plantum. Ain't had no years I didn't raise enough potatoes and when I tell folks I've been eating taters I'm telling the truth. If a year ever comes around and I don't make potatoes, all Im out is a few old peels because I've already eat the potatoes. LOL Eddie

[goatsareus]

thanks yall for your expertise, i really appreciate it!

and Eddie Buck, that is so funny

[VALENT]

http://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofil...tpotatoes.html
If you look at this bulletin, it will talk about the different diseases(as well as pests and other problems.)
This is geared towards commercial producers but many things would be very similar for us as well.