Good questions! As long as you keep some vines alive and healthy until spring, you can use the rooted tips as slips. The challenge is avoiding indoor pests like spider mites and whiteflies. For this reason I would limit how much vegetation you have growing, keeping in mind that whatever roots are present now will be in very bad shape by planting time in late spring.

I suggest propagating your stock now, by rooting a fresh crop of stem tips in water, and then potting up some of those plants in late winter. They will grow into lush little plants that can be sunk into a bucket of sand when the weather warms in late spring, forming the foundation stock for your sweet potato slip nursery.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, Planatus! I have four lots growing in pots, and they are using the grow lights. Last year I did this and they survived until about February, but I think my living room was too cold when I was out all day. I am thinking of putting them on the cat's heating pad (cat deceased!). As back-up I want to try to keep the vines in water going. They look absolutely wonderful right now, but presumably plants cuttings cannot live by water alone for very long, so I was wondering if I should be putting some kind of fertilizer in the water.

My son says I am obsessed!!

Ashita

they will live and grow for quiet a time in water, they are also a shade tolerant plant, growing their lives on the jungle floors with no sun.

they don't need to ramble keep the vines around in circles over itself will be fine.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: lens growing sweet 'taters and pineapples