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This crop starts with a jar of water and toothpicks

Get sweet potato plants growing on your windowsill

Sweet potato sprouting in glass jar
This Garnet sweet potato has plenty of leafy sprouts and
pink roots. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)



Get going on your summer garden without getting your hands dirty. All these sprouts need is water, not soil.

It’s easy to grow your own sweet potatoes. In fact, you can start this favorite vegetable on your windowsill right now – without any seed.

Home gardeners can grow new sweet potato plants by sprouting a sweet potato tuber in water. All you need is a jar (with a mouth large enough to accommodate a sweet potato), toothpicks and a mature sweet potato.

The method is super simple: Stick the sweet potato in the jar. Position the sweet potato so that half of it will be below the jar’s rim (but not touching the jar’s bottom) and the other half above. Use three or four toothpicks stuck into the sweet potato to suspend it in that position. Fill the jar with water and place it in a sunny warm spot (such as a kitchen window). Then, wait. The sweet potato will start sprouting roots and leaves within two weeks.

It’s those leafy sprouts on top – called “slips” – that will become new plants. Let them grow out until they are at least 4 to 6 inches long. Each sweet potato will produce at least a half dozen slips.

When the slips are long enough, gently remove them from their mother sweet potato and root their stems in water, letting their leaves hang over the rim of a jar or dish. In mid-spring, those rooted slips will be transplanted into the garden or large pots outdoors.

In addition to giving you a head start on your summer garden, pretty sweet potato plants brighten your winter windowsill – and fascinate kids (and gardeners) of all ages.

In general, supermarket-bought sweet potatoes will work. The most popular varieties (all high yield) are Beauregard, Jewel and Garnet; they’re mild in flavor with yellow or orange flesh. Purple-fleshed Japanese sweet potatoes as well as white-fleshed sweet potatoes such as Hannah also can be started with this method.

First, remember sweet potatoes aren’t really potatoes; they’re members of the morning glory family. They even have trumpet-shaped flowers that look like lavender morning glories.

They’re also not “red yams.” That name was a century-old marketing gimmick to differentiate orange-fleshed varieties from the more common (at that time) white sweet potatoes.

Besides edible tubers, some sweet potato varieties such as Garnet also have edible leaves. (When cooked, sweet potato leaves taste similar to spinach.)

Sweet potato harvest
Since sweet potatoes like warm, loose soil, one way to grow
them is in a straw bale. These were harvested after growing at
the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in 2018. (Photo: Kathy
Morrison)

Sweet potato foliage comes in several different shapes, from simple hearts to deeply lobed five-point leaves. Like squash, varieties may be vining or bush.

A native of Central America, Ipomoea batatas likes it warm (75 degrees and up is ideal), but can’t stand frost. So, young plants are transplanted outdoors after all danger of frost and when air and soil temperatures have warmed sufficiently. In Sacramento, that will be some time in May.

Depending on variety, sweet potatoes take 60 to 90 days (or longer) to form tubers. They prefer rich, loose soil and consistent moisture (not too wet, but never totally dry).

But that crop all starts with a sweet potato in a jar of water.

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Dig In: Garden Checklist

For week of March 24:

In between cloud bursts, try to catch up with early spring chores. 

* Attack weeds now! Get them before they flower and go to seed. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout. Aim for 1 inch below the soil line.

* Start preparing vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.

* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.

* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit. To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.

* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product).

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Try using well-composted manure, spread 1-inch thick under the tree. This serves as both fertilizer and mulch, retaining moisture while cutting down on weeds.

* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.

* Seed and renovate the lawn (if you still have one). Feed cool-season grasses such as bent, blue, rye and fescue with a slow-release fertilizer. Check the irrigation system and perform maintenance. Make sure sprinkler heads are turned toward the lawn, not the sidewalk.

* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and cole family plants, such as cabbage, broccoli, collards and kale.

* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground.

* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.

* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.

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