[stompy]

Ok, i've read alot of the thread on sweet potatoes and understand what you do to get the slips.

So my questions are.
 
1. how do you remove the slips, do you cut or break them off and where do you do this, is it at the base of the slip, part the way up or do you take a small part of the potatoe with it.

2. as the potatoe roots from the bottom and the slips apear from the top why can't you just plant the whole potatoe with roots and slips attached, will the slips not root from where they join like regular potatoes do, and will the tuber not feed the slips as a regular potatoe does?

I would like to try this this commong season as i have an old dustbin ready for use.
I did try it last year and got roots but no slips so i will be starting it earlier this time.

Thans Andy

[mumofstig]

this post on the thread answers your questions 
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=69949.msg838060#msg838060

you can get the tuber to produce slips by planting, but then the advise is still to take them up and remove the slips for planting out, as Trillium says...........they don't behave like the potatoes we are used to!

[stompy]

Thanks Mos. 

[Trillium]

MoS is right about not planting the whole 'potato'. I've been to Louisiana where sweet potatoes is a major industry, and seen them planting acres of potatoes. Once the slips show above ground, the whole lot is immediately dug up, slips separated from the exhausted parent (which is binned), then the slips replanted individually to produce the actual potato crop. Its double work but the only way it does work.

[stompy]

Thanks Trillium,

I wasn't saying it wasn't the right way to do it i just wondered why thats all.

I shall be attempting to grow them from slips only next season.

Andy

[Trillium]

I know you weren't disagreeing. I was just trying to explain how different they are as the name potato does confuse a lot of folk on how they're grown. It would be better if they'd been named sweet (fill in another name here).

[stompy]

Sweet (nightmare to grow) 

[Trillium]

I think you've nailed it