How do I root a sweet potato

[Dan D.]

I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.

How do you root a sweet potato??
Do I cut them in half and stick the cut end in a saucer
of water??
Do I stick toothpicks in them and suspend them in the top
of a jar full of water??

I think we did this as children but sheesh that's 45 years ago
and I can't remember the details.

Peace!
Dan D. Louisville KY good ole USA
http://ky-dan.com
sorry my e-mail in the headers is dead
this one will work -- kydan at myrealbox dot com

[Cereoid+10]

No need to torture the sweet potatoes, Dandy Dan.

Just stick the rootstock in the soil in the spring and let them grow new
vines all by themselves.


Dan D. > wrote in message
om...
> I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
> in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
> the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
> in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
> they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
> I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.
>
> How do you root a sweet potato??
> Do I cut them in half and stick the cut end in a saucer
> of water??
> Do I stick toothpicks in them and suspend them in the top
> of a jar full of water??
>
> I think we did this as children but sheesh that's 45 years ago
> and I can't remember the details.
>
> Peace!
> Dan D. Louisville KY good ole USA
> http://ky-dan.com
> sorry my e-mail in the headers is dead
> this one will work -- kydan at myrealbox dot com

[paghat]

To root for a sweet potato, you hold it upward in your hand & cry out in
its presence: "Hip hip HOORAY. Hip hip HOORAY."

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

[David Hare-Scott]

"paghat" > wrote in message
...
> To root for a sweet potato, you hold it upward in your hand & cry out
in
> its presence: "Hip hip HOORAY. Hip hip HOORAY."
>
> --
> "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
> "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
> -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
> See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

Colloquial phrases are difficult in an international forum. Around here
the verb "to root" has a different meaning, it's hard to put it
delicately but ...hmmm... well if it applied to sweet potatos you might
think your hamster was also at risk.

David

[Dwayne]

The best way is to lay them on the ground or in a container in the house,
which ever works best for you and depending how far south you live. Cover
them with about an inch of sand and water it slightly. If it is warm
enough, it will start growing slips that will come out of the sand. When
they get 7 to 9 inches tall, hold the potatoe down with the fingers of one
hand, and pull a slip up with the other. Remove any leaves for 3 or 4
inches up, and set it in a cup or glass of water. You dont want any leaves
in the water. Leave it there for 2 or 3 days, and then plant it outside in
the garden, or pot. Good luck. Dwayne
>
>
> Dan D. > wrote in message
> om...
> > I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
> > in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
> > the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
> > in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
> > they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
> > I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.
> >
> > How do you root a sweet potato??
> > Do I cut them in half and stick the cut end in a saucer
> > of water??
> > Do I stick toothpicks in them and suspend them in the top
> > of a jar full of water??
> >
> > I think we did this as children but sheesh that's 45 years ago
> > and I can't remember the details.
> >
> > Peace!
> > Dan D. Louisville KY good ole USA
> > http://ky-dan.com
> > sorry my e-mail in the headers is dead
> > this one will work -- kydan at myrealbox dot com
>
>

[Cereoid+10]

Nobody is asking you to shag the root, you filthy minded bugger.

Have you been resorting to hamsters because your local pet store is out of
gerbils?


David Hare-Scott > wrote in message
u...
>
> "paghat" > wrote in message
> ...
> > To root for a sweet potato, you hold it upward in your hand & cry out
> in
> > its presence: "Hip hip HOORAY. Hip hip HOORAY."
> >
> > --
> > "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
> > "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
> > -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
> > See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
>
> Colloquial phrases are difficult in an international forum. Around here
> the verb "to root" has a different meaning, it's hard to put it
> delicately but ...hmmm... well if it applied to sweet potatos you might
> think your hamster was also at risk.
>
> David
>
>

[Cereoid+10]

"Potatoe"? Is there another Dan Quayle among us?

http://www.capitalcentury.com/1992.html

It would be far easier to simply plant them out in spring.

But that would take all the fun out of your playing with your root all
winter, wouldn't it?


Dwayne > wrote in message
...
> The best way is to lay them on the ground or in a container in the house,
> which ever works best for you and depending how far south you live.
Cover
> them with about an inch of sand and water it slightly. If it is warm
> enough, it will start growing slips that will come out of the sand. When
> they get 7 to 9 inches tall, hold the potatoe down with the fingers of one
> hand, and pull a slip up with the other. Remove any leaves for 3 or 4
> inches up, and set it in a cup or glass of water. You dont want any
leaves
> in the water. Leave it there for 2 or 3 days, and then plant it outside
in
> the garden, or pot. Good luck. Dwayne
> >
> >
> > Dan D. > wrote in message
> > om...
> > > I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
> > > in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
> > > the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
> > > in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
> > > they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
> > > I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.
> > >
> > > How do you root a sweet potato??
> > > Do I cut them in half and stick the cut end in a saucer
> > > of water??
> > > Do I stick toothpicks in them and suspend them in the top
> > > of a jar full of water??
> > >
> > > I think we did this as children but sheesh that's 45 years ago
> > > and I can't remember the details.
> > >
> > > Peace!
> > > Dan D. Louisville KY good ole USA
> > > http://ky-dan.com
> > > sorry my e-mail in the headers is dead
> > > this one will work -- kydan at myrealbox dot com
> >
> >
>
>

[DGiunti]

In article >,
(Dan D.) writes:

>I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
>in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
>the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
>in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
>they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
>I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.
>
>How do you root a sweet potato??
>Do I cut them in half and stick the cut end in a saucer
>of water??
>Do I stick toothpicks in them and suspend them in the top
>of a jar full of water??
>
>I think we did this as children but sheesh that's 45 years ago
>and I can't remember the details.

The easiest thing to do would be to repot them in the pots they came from, or
somewhat larger ones if you wanted to leave room for more of them, and start
watering them when they get active.

A friend showed me how to culture them a while back as hydroponics. For
that he saved some widemouth jars that he suspended in the south facing window
with twine (like macrame) and then he suspended common store variety sweet
potatoes over them with just the slightest bit of the tuber in the water filled
jar. If you are not into macrame you can use tooth picks to suspend them, and
adjust the watering so that they don't get too wet. In no time at all he had a
living window covering.

I think that you would likely do better, in terms of propagation, in the
ground though.
Dave

paghat writes:

>To root for a sweet potato, you hold it upward in your hand & cry out in
>its presence: "Hip hip HOORAY. Hip hip HOORAY."
>
>--

You go Girl!


David Giunti email:
What is the question? Gertrude Stein's last words
No one mouth is big enough to utter the whole thing. Alan Watts

On Display in the UK http://www.web-gallery.co.uk

[paghat]

In article >, "David
Hare-Scott" > wrote:

> "paghat" > wrote in message
> ...
> > To root for a sweet potato, you hold it upward in your hand & cry out
> in
> > its presence: "Hip hip HOORAY. Hip hip HOORAY."
> >
> > --
> > "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
> > "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
> > -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
> > See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
>
> Colloquial phrases are difficult in an international forum. Around here
> the verb "to root" has a different meaning, it's hard to put it
> delicately but ...hmmm... well if it applied to sweet potatos you might
> think your hamster was also at risk.
>
> David

I suppose this qualifies as a gardening topic.
When I was a counsellor at the Counselling Service, I had to keep a
straight face & not seem shocked by a chap who wanted to be reassured he
wasn't too weird to live because he had a vegetable fetish. I tried to
keep reminding myself "I know lots of women who've done it with veggies,
why should it seem weirder if a guy does it? Anyway, who does it hurt?"
then reassure him he was not too weird to live. He had all sorts of ways
of gettiing it on with all sorts of veggies, but the only one I remember
two decades later is how he'd worked out the "oven" times to get a pumpkin
or squash to the temperature he preferred, then would carve a hole in the
warm pumpkin just his size. I mentioned to some friends at a gathering
(when the subject of fetishes came up) that I'd once counselled a
vegetable fetishist, & someone at the gathering piped in that as a
projectionist he once had a horrible job working in a porno theater.
Horrible less because of the films than from having to clean up messes in
the theater, which was sometimes a gross-out depending on what the
customers had been doing. He said the weirdest thing he ever had to pick
up & throw away was some guy's hollowed-out pickle.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

[B & J]

"Geoff" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 10:51:35 -0700,
> (paghat) wrote:
>
He said the weirdest thing he ever had to pick
> >up & throw away was some guy's hollowed-out pickle.
> >
> >-paghat the ratgirl
> >
>
> So he'd been involved in some covert kind of drill!??
>
> Geoff

Does that mean he drilled the hole thing, Geoff? ;-)

John

[Cereoid+10]

Not at all surprised that BJ has some kinky ideas of what to do with a sweet
potato root!!!


B & J > wrote in message
...
> "Geoff" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 10:51:35 -0700,
> > (paghat) wrote:
> >
> He said the weirdest thing he ever had to pick
> > >up & throw away was some guy's hollowed-out pickle.
> > >
> > >-paghat the ratgirl
> > >
> >
> > So he'd been involved in some covert kind of drill!??
> >
> > Geoff
>
> Does that mean he drilled the hole thing, Geoff? ;-)
>
> John
>
>
>

Now, keep up with the plot Cereoid, and don't get *yourself* in such a
pickle. Paghat's story and John's follow up was about someone who had
taken advantage of a pickle, not a sweet potato root. By all means try
to use a pickle thread to root out what you perceive to be deviant
behaviour, but nobody will be rooting for you if you pick all your
arguments from flawed premises that are easily able to be rooted out!

Regards
Geoff

On Thu, 13 Feb 2003 17:11:08 GMT, "Cereoid+10" >
wrote:

>Not at all surprised that BJ has some kinky ideas of what to do with a sweet
>potato root!!!
>
>
>B & J > wrote in message
...
>> "Geoff" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 10:51:35 -0700,
>> > (paghat) wrote:
>> >
>> He said the weirdest thing he ever had to pick
>> > >up & throw away was some guy's hollowed-out pickle.
>> > >
>> > >-paghat the ratgirl
>> > >
>> >
>> > So he'd been involved in some covert kind of drill!??
>> >
>> > Geoff
>>
>> Does that mean he drilled the hole thing, Geoff? ;-)
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>
>
>

[Frogleg]

On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 21:37:46 -0700, "Dwayne" > wrote:

>The best way is to lay them on the ground or in a container in the house,
>which ever works best for you and depending how far south you live. Cover
>them with about an inch of sand and water it slightly. If it is warm
>enough, it will start growing slips that will come out of the sand. When
>they get 7 to 9 inches tall, hold the potatoe down with the fingers of one
>hand, and pull a slip up with the other. Remove any leaves for 3 or 4
>inches up, and set it in a cup or glass of water. You dont want any leaves
>in the water. Leave it there for 2 or 3 days, and then plant it outside in
>the garden, or pot. Good luck. Dwayne

>> Dan D. > wrote
>> > I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
>> > in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
>> > the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
>> > in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
>> > they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
>> > I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.
>> >
>> > How do you root a sweet potato??

Dwayne's suggestion sounds about right. The people that grew sweet
potatoes in a community garden always set out "slips." As for rooting
one, they seem pretty hard to *stop* from rooting. I expect cutting up
with at least one 'eye' per chunk, and putting into moist sand or
planter mix would do just fine. A sweet potato simply left out in
some light will often (usually?) begin to produce sprouts

[Dwayne]

"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 21:37:46 -0700, "Dwayne" > wrote:
>
> >The best way is to lay them on the ground or in a container in the house,
> >which ever works best for you and depending how far south you live.
Cover
> >them with about an inch of sand and water it slightly. If it is warm
> >enough, it will start growing slips that will come out of the sand. When
> >they get 7 to 9 inches tall, hold the potatoe down with the fingers of
one
> >hand, and pull a slip up with the other. Remove any leaves for 3 or 4
> >inches up, and set it in a cup or glass of water. You dont want any
leaves
> >in the water. Leave it there for 2 or 3 days, and then plant it outside
in
> >the garden, or pot. Good luck. Dwayne
>
> >> Dan D. > wrote
> >> > I had 3 different varieties of decorative sweet potato vines
> >> > in hanging pots last season. When frost was right around
> >> > the corner last fall I emptied the pots and found a sweet potato
> >> > in each pot. I've left them laying on a shelf in my basement and
> >> > they seem OK. At least they are firm and not moldy.
> >> > I want to get sprouts from them for this year if I can.
> >> >
> >> > How do you root a sweet potato??
>
> Dwayne's suggestion sounds about right. The people that grew sweet
> potatoes in a community garden always set out "slips." As for rooting
> one, they seem pretty hard to *stop* from rooting. I expect cutting up
> with at least one 'eye' per chunk, and putting into moist sand or
> planter mix would do just fine. A sweet potato simply left out in
> some light will often (usually?) begin to produce sprouts


It all depends on what you expect from the sweet potatoes. Do you want to
raise a beautiful plant for in the house, or on the patio, or do you want to
produce a crop of sweet potatoes?

I learned my method from the guys who grew them to eat in Arkansas. With
this method you could get up to 10 slips per potato. I just looked at one
of my seed potatoes that I am going to use this year, and it has 3 slips
already coming out of it, not from an "eye", but on the stem.

Have you ever tried planting an eye, and if so, what kind of luck did you
have. I have used my method for four years now and last year I planted
nearly 100 sweet potato plants and gave extra slips to three people for
their garden at 10 to 15 slips each. That came from approximately 20 seed
potatoes.

Try it both ways and from then on, use the method you like best. Let us
know how you did.

Good luck. Dwayne