[Trillium]

I've got thin roots and cloudy water  , but no shoots/growth. It'll be 3 weeks on the 20th since I started, should I be worried??

You can toss out that water and gently rinse the potato base under some running water, put the potato back in and top with fresh water and it'll be fine. Sometimes it just takes a while to get those shoots going but the roots say it'll be soon. Put in a sunny window if possible to encourage those shoots.

[Tattyanne456]

I've not checked them for a couple of days, but when I looked today I was amazed at how much growth they had put on! The slips are now about an inch long!! I will leave them to get longer then pot them up. I think i will try a couple in the polytunnel at the allotment, and a couple in a very large tublike thing in the greenhouse. Oooooh it is exciting!

[harry]

I've had no success so i'm going to buy some. Suttons have an offer of 10 plants ready to pot for £14.95 i think i will try these.
Sorry folks i know i'm a let down

[Trillium]

No, you're not a let down. Sometimes the potatoes have been sprayed with an anti-sprouting concotion and yours might have gotten a good dose. Try it again for next year but this time, start in Nov or Dec.

[tweetpia]

The suggestions for warmth are keeping them close to a furnace, a woodstove that's in use, top of a fridge if you haven't that many potatoes, the kitchen stove, etc. As for humidity, they can sit in a closed poly bag with some gravel at the bottom and a bit of water; the gravel so the potatoes don't sit directly on the water. True, its a bit of a fiddle but trust me, organic sweet potatoes are so much superior to most shop potatoes that its worth the extra effort.

ellow trillium can i use this method with other potatoes like anya? cheers

[Trillium]

Hi, No, sorry, this is strictly a method for sweet potatoes. The potato itself is not used, what we're trying to get are the greens, called slips, which we eventually snap off and plant to get the future root crop. Odd, but that's how it works. To do this with regular potatoes is asking for fast rotting.

What you want is to chit potatoes, and if you look above in the top line of topics, beside Home, you'll find Growing Help. Click on that then find how to chit potatoes.

[Tattyanne456]

Sorry to hear that Harry, do you want me to send you one of mine? I've grown 4 and I dont need that many. Inbox your address and I'll wrap one carefully and send it to you.

[harry]

Its very kind of you thanks 

[grinling]

Is it possible to grow sweet potatoes and if so where would I find seed to grow?

[noshed]

Hi Grinling, yes you can grow them but you do it from existing tubers, which you allow to sprout and then plant the sprouts. There's a thread on here about it. You can buy the 'slips' and that may be your best bet at this stage of the year.

... in fact this is the thread

[Goldfinger]

Just another question on this experiment...

My shoots on my tubers are about half an inch, still a while yet before potting on I think.

So....

Could I add some kind of liquid feed/fertilizer to the water to help them along???

Any idea if it'll work??

[Trillium]

It wouldn't really do anything as the tuber itself supplies all the energy to the shoots. As long as it has water for the roots, it will come quickly enough. I keep mine in a sunny window all the time and the s.p.'s love it.  You wouldn't be able to plant out until it warms up, which would be around the end of May so plenty of time for more growth.

[kingston boy]

Am i allowed to play as i am ordering sweet potatoe plants. 12 for £15 + s/h

[Trillium]

Of course you are  It would be a bit late to try to start your own at this time, so buying slips is fine too though you miss the great fun of growing your own slips. There's always next year 

[Goldfinger]

Thanks tillium for the reply and advice, think i''ll just sit back and watch them continue growing. The shoots on mine are about an inch long now