[ThatsNice]

Im going to be keeping mine in my greenhouse at home. I was thinking of putting them straight into a growbag?  Will this be deep enough for the roots? Should I use a proper potato grow sack thing? They are much deeper aren't they. Don't want to spend all this time nurturing them, to fail by what I plant them in, lol!

[ThatsNice]

Have just done the tin foil trick in hopes it will increase the light on the windowsill I've got them sat on

[Trillium]

Growbags are too shallow for the cluster of long tubers that prefer to grow downward. The potato grow sack would be a better idea or some sort of moveable container (against frosts, excessive rain, etc). One plant per sack.

If you've ever pulled sweet potato shoots, you'll find them growing like long thickish 'fingers' off the main stems, which means they need both vertical and horizontal space, and growbags just won't do it. If you watch the video of the pallet grow box harvest, the last one I believe, you'll see how they come out and spread everywhere.

[ThatsNice]

Thanks trillium, yes that makes sense. I've seen potato grow sacks on eBay and think my local hardware store has them too, so will get a couple in ready

[JayG]

just to clarify i am looking for green shoots off the top and not roots as such is that right ?

Couple more pics here - the first shows the potato starting to grow roots (below the water level) and the shoots starting to appear above the water. (I subsequently abandoned the cocktail stick "tripod" support in favour of horizontal sticks half way up as it was more practical.)

Second pic is of the mother tuber (on the right) and two of its offspring potted up in compost - from no roots at all to coming out of the bottom of their pots took about two weeks!

[Mum2six]

Wishing right now that I had a greenhouse, or lived in a hot climate.

So.  In the first clip, she mentioned that regular potatoes often fail in a planter made from a stack of old tires, because the rubber heats up too much for a cold weather crop.  But, she was thinking that it might be ideal for sweet potatoes, which need the heat.

Has anyone tried this?  Has anyone in the south of England, grown sweet potatoes without a greenhouse etc?

[Trillium]

For those interested, check Jay's first pic, and that the pointy top is where the shoots are and the rounded bottom is where the rootlets are.

Doesn't work 100% this way, but 90% of the time you'll get sprouts faster.

[Peas let my pumpkins grow]

Hey mum2six

Firstly SIX children?? That's amazing, I thought my family was big - I'm the youngest of four and the palava of trying to get into the bathroom in the morning was epic!!

And secondly - I'm trying sweet potatoes without a green house, I'm hoping that a cold frame will do the trick, then eventaully some sort of home made polytunnel type structure so fingers crossed! 

so ill be able to answer your question eventually! Unless the gardening gods see fit to send some luck my way and I get a preloved one....

But 3 little shoots on top of potato number 2 now - pointy side up has definitely proved itself 

[Mum2six]

Thanks Peas.  Yes, my children are 20, 17, 16, 11, 6 and 4.  They keep my on my toes!

I spent a few hours the other day reading through both of the long sweet potato threads, from 2010 and 2011.  I would still be interested in whether or not the tire method might help to increase the temperature - but I'm also wondering about the rubber etc leaching into the soil.  Maybe with a liner?

[mrsbean]

hi bought one sp today to have a go. question, do they suffer from blight?

[JayG]

hi bought one sp today to have a go. question, do they suffer from blight?

No. 

[Trillium]

The tire would not get hot enough to leach anything into soil so I wouldn't worry about it. You'd need near melting point for problems, or a tire that is literally falling to pieces (which you obviously wouldn't use).

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is only distantly related to the potato (Solanum tuberosum), so it wouldn't be susceptible to the same diseases/pests.

Sweet potatoes, being strictly tropical, would rot in the soil over cold winters, while regular potatoes, left in the soil, would easily survive cold winters.

[Mum2six]

Well my SP has been suspended in water since Wednesday evening.  If it doesn't sprout well, then I might buy slips in April.  I hope to have a polycarb greenhouse on the allotment by then, and would like to try a couple of plants in there - in the huge potato growing bags.  If they work even slightly, then my plan is to build a large trough inside the poly house, purely for sweet pots each year.  I can always use it for winter greens in the off season.

We eat a LOT of sweet potatoes, so I'm really excited about the possibility of growing them!

[Trillium]

I've had sweet potatoes take up to 2 months to sprout so be patient 

[marcofez]

Love eating sweet potato, so I'm gonna give this a try!