Sweet Potato

 A few years ago I ordered slips for sweet potatoes from a seed catalogue. They came on time and with a warning that said not to plant them right away but to get them used to the air and the light gradually. I did that and then planted them one warm evening. They grew and I thought I had successfully planted sweet potatoes but then over the next few days I watched as every single one of them died. After testing the soil and re-thinking all of the steps, and receiving some advice, I realized I hadn't let them adjust long enough.

I ran across an Internet article on starting your own sweet potato vine indoors and after reading that, I can't believe it hadn't occurred to me before. This year I am determined to do it and as I wait for spring, I have started a sweet potato growing indoors. I read several blogs on how to accomplish this and it sounded so easy. Most people said it is "so easy a child could do it" and that many people remember starting vines as children. I am not sure how I missed this as a child, as my mother assures me this was a common activity among parents and children. I hedged my bets and decided to start three plantings, one done each way I had read you should do it. I bought some local, organic sweet potatoes and off I went.

The first two I placed pointy ends down, toothpicks inserted, suspending them each in a jar of water. The third, I cut in half, placing the cut side in a shallow dish. I put one in the warmest area of the house having read they are tropical and require warmth and the other two I left at room temperature but in rooms that were a bit chilly at night. None of them grew. Not a hair of a root, not a leaf. After they started to mold and shrivel at about a month, I threw them out and tried again. Ah ha, this time it worked. After a week, tiny white threads began forming in the glass jar. I have no idea why none of the first ones worked and the final one did. Try as I might I do not have a green thumb. I bought all of them from the same local producer, they were the same batch of sweet potatoes. After about three weeks, the first tiny leaves began growing. I have no idea why this one worked after three failed attempts, but it did and I am so excited!

The roots and first tiny leaves appear 

The vine is now growing fast and it is quite pretty. My "green-thumbed" friend tells me that soon I can break off the stems and put them each in their own container of water, wait for roots, and plant them outside in soil where it is hoped each plant will grow may tubers and feed us sweet potatoes all fall and maybe winter too.

Hoping I end up with a finished product