Grow Your Own Sweet Potatoes!

Several years ago we got too busy to use a sweet potato we had and one day we noticed that it had beautiful green leaves on it. We decided to see what would happen and it turned into the most beautiful plant - that then produced more sweet potatoes! Even if you don't like to eat sweet potatoes (their leaves are also edible), we think they're pretty and easy to grow!

So we now purchase sweet potatoes from the store and purposely let them create "slips" we can then plant. The first two photos are ones started within the last few months and the other photos are two different types of sweet potato plants that were started several months earlier.

Suggested reading: "Joyce Gemmell's Vegetable Planting Guide" on sweet potatoes from the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. https://www.mastergardenersd.org/sweet-potato/

As noted in the article, when buying a sweet potato from the store the type will typically not be noted (or may be incorrect), in which case you may want to consider purchasing from a nursery. We purchased specialty slips this year from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.