Maybe tomorrow, maybe never. It's generally best to cut the tuber crosswise if you cut it at all, because most shoots come out the tip end. The best method I've seen for growing a few slips for the garden is to place 3-4 sweet potatoes tip ends up in a pail of damp sand. Having a little coarse sand over the base of the slips gives them really nice roots.

g'day neptune,

never heard of cutting them lengthwise, cut them across yes. the tuber needs to be viable for it to grow, most tubers in the stores are treated not to sprout, i usually find viable stock in the smaller F&V shops or maybe go to an organic shop or local farmers market.

anyhow for now look at our presentation

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens growing sweet spuds and pines

I've only ever rooted my slips with a tip end cutting and in about 5-7 days little nodes appear that are the beginnings of shoots and then another 7-10 days purple growth appears that become the first leaves. I average 3 shoots on a 2 inch tip cutting. I root mine in water in a cup on top of my water heater.

I would assume you would root them like a "normal" potato, leave them sitting out by themselves until the eyes start growing, then toss it in the dirt and let it go.

Edymunion, They need more attention than that.

Sweet potatoes sounds like an interesting new veggie for us to grow this year. I've been looking at several old store-bought ones we have had a few months and do not see any sprouts AND I have NO IDEA which end is the "tip" they would sprout from...there, I've admitted it, and yes, I'm feeling like I imagine lots of new gardeners feel. Haven't had that in awhile. Maybe I should grow some more new-to-me veggies and empathize with the newbie worries even more.

Can someone help me out with identifying one end from the other on the sweet potatoes? Once I have sprouts I think I can handle rooting them okay.

The tip end is the one that the sprouts are on. That was the top end when it was growing....The bottom end [root] is usually more pointed with only a very small broken off place. The stem end has a little larger broken off place.

I have raised shoots and slips. In warm areas the whole potato can be planted just below the surface in sandy moist soil...at a 30 degree angle upwards. In my area they grow very fast after the 20th of May and slips from those buried potatoes have rugged rooting and if planted even as late as June 10th will grow large here.
You can also place a whole potato in a jar half filled with water and when 5 inches tall, break or [slice them off with a tiny sliver of flesh [my favorite way]) and stick them in water for a week for nicely rooted slips.

Even cut off shoots about 8 inches long and lower leaves removed will quickly root if watered well after setting out.

Father always layed the tater length wise, half covered with sand, as soon as the cold was gone.
When the "slips" rooted we removed them to the tater beds 36 inches wide X the length of the field.
When the tater vine grew out of the bed, we would cut it & feed it to the rabbits. That was before I know you could eat the tender leaves & tips.

Thanks, everyone, for all the helpful responses. I checked out your link as well, gardenlen.

I had read in several places that you could cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise, but maybe that's not the best method. I just checked my potato about an hour ago, and I don't see any signs of growth, even after over a week. I'll give it another week or so, and if it's still not doing anything, then I guess it's headed for the compost. :) In the meantime, I hope to buy some more sweet potatoes tomorrow to try as some of you have suggested. I hope they have organic ones again this week.

I would give it a few weeks, as I remember mine took some time to get going in the house. I just keep about an inch and a half of water with the length of potato sitting there. Once the shoots start, I usually keep them in the daylight whenever possible. Mine are usually about 5-6 inches long at planting time. I have seen pictures in "Johnny's seeds" where they sell what appears to be sprouts about a foot long. Wonder how they get that big?

Keeping it really warm seems to help a lot. My best luck was with the sweet potatoes in their growing medium on top of a heating pad with a fluorescent light very close to them. Watch the moisture with this set up.

Good luck all

Hepatica

My homegrown slips are not as long and skinny with few roots like the commercial ones. I prefer my shorter, stockier, and better rooted homegrown ones...no contest there.

naturegirl,

no need to determine which end is which, we cut them in 1/2 stand them in a bit of water and both ends produce exactly the same.

check our presentation it is that easy and this method produces maximum growing material.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens growing sweet spuds and pines

Thanks for the additional comments, denno, Hepatica, and wayne_5.

My local grocery store did end up having organic sweet potatoes today, so while my other one is still incubating, I think I'll start a new one. Here's a question:

Is it better to use long, thin sweet potatoes, or short, fat ones--or does it even make a difference? Thanks for any info.

Mine last year.

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Don

Neptune

I start my sweet potatoes every year in the bathtub, they get sun from a window. I have small, big potatoes, anything goes. They all get rooted in water and then planted in the garden.
The varieties that I already started are all bush varieties, the big potato is Colorette and is not bush.

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Silvia

After each annual harvest my SPs in storage will sprout on their own. By April I'll scoop off the slips (with a little flesh) and pot them up in old cell packs for a couple of weeks outside while their roots get well formed. This helps with transplant shock when planted by mid-May, esp if the heat comes on early which it usually does here.

whgille, i love gardeners! Next you could put a light set-up over the bathtub. No more water running down from the windowsills, messy dirt spills on the carpet. Never mind the need to bathe! Thanks for the smile.

BTW, those SPs look wonderful.

Hepatica

Len: "no need to determine which end is which, we cut them in 1/2 stand them in a bit of water and both ends produce exactly the same."

Thanks, Len! I had wondered about that, and suspected it, but thought it sounded kind of dumb asking which end was the 'right' end.

Sue

Thanks for the extra info, dem_pa, whgille, and vgkg.

Hepatica

You are funny! I do have an additional shower in the bathroom,lol. Also have a greenhouse, but it is too hot now. I start all my seedlings in the bathtub, tomatoes, peppers,etc and when bigger I take them outside to harden off.

Neptune - I got my sweet potato starts long time ago from Sandhill and after that I did not have to buy a sweet potato again and had shared starts with a lot of friends.

Here is a bed from another season with bush sweet potatoes

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Silvia