I was afraid I started my late but see I did not.
Some just place a potato half in a jar of water and let it sprout from the tops like we used to do just to have a nice vining plant in the house. I remember sticking toothpicks about midway and then resting the picks on the top of the jar of water.
I put one in a jar and the rest (3) laid on their sides in a dishpan of half sand and half potting soil moistened. I wanted to do a comparison. I just put the pan under the lights on the back porch April 1 and waited for two weeks or more and nothing happened.....so I put the dishpan on top of the upright freezer and in just a few days of bottom heat, voila! I had sprouts. I almost let them get too tall before I broke them off. I counted 20 from one potato; a few of them were way too tall so I snipped the tops off adding 5 more to the jar.
The potato in the jar, has made one strong slip and a couple of nubbins. The side planting wins out by far. I have planted them in just moist sand.
Of the three potatoes, one rotted. The original I pulled slips from has more to collect and the other has a few. This variety is Beauregard which does well for me here and are from my small crop of last year. I picked the size I liked and saved them back for slips. I stored them in a flat box in the spare bedroom under the bed. It is the perfect spot; I didn't loose a single one.
This is after I had removed slips from one of the potatoes a few days before:
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| From Gardening 2010 |
and the slips in the jar and a picture showing the root development.
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| From Gardening 2010 |
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| From Gardening 2010 |
I may end up with 35 to 50 slips from these two potatoes!
Sears repairman is here for the Jenn-Air range...second trip; first they ordered the wrong part; second trip (today) they ordered the wrong part! I still can only bake on two or three settings! To say I am aggravated is putting it mildly. I would buy another new stove (2004 for this one) if I thought I could find one that wouldn't be as bad as this one......I hate new appliances!
I have had no trouble with my GE Dual Fuel stove, and it was worth every penney of the $1000!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about the sweet potatoes. I was wondering how to do that. I don't have room for them this year but hopefully next year I will.
Glenda you sure do have a way with green and growing things. Those sweet potato slips look nice and healthy and I hope you get a good crop this year. Bummer about the stove. I hear you there.
ReplyDeletetigerdawn, I AM WRITING THAT STOVE DOWN! Does yours have the two ovens? I am thinking that for just the two of us that would be a nice feature. I have the electricals in the same location so dual fuel should be a simple hookup.
ReplyDeleteKris, some things yes and some things no. I cannot grow rhubarb for the life of me............
I got my stove in 2006. It's a Dual Fuel 120, the entry level dual fuel stove. It only has one oven. I'm sure you could find what you're wanting through GE with no problem.
ReplyDeleteGlenda - hahaha. I can't kill rhubarb. I dug it up and chopped it up and dumped it in the compost pile. For years it kept sprouting. I finally planted it again. I always have lots to share....
ReplyDelete