You can follow these instructions to successfully start your own sweet potatoes at home.  There are two ways to start them.  Here is the first and the only method I have tried.

1) Poke three toothpicks into the sweet potato to hold it in a container.  We used sweet potatoes we had stored over the winter.

2) Place the sweet potato into a jar or container of water with a narrow top and place it near a sunny window.  It should look like the picture on the left.

3) After the roots form, you will probably need to add some more water, and then the slips will start to form.

4) Remove the slips off the sweet potato and plant them in wet potting soil.   Keep them watered very well.  Over a period of time, they will root out.

5) You are now able to transplant them out doors after the danger of frost is over and watch them grow!

6) Just before the first frost is the best time to harvest sweet potatoes.

Method 2, which I have never personally tried, is to take the sweet potato and bury half of it in dirt. If left in an area with sun, it will sprout and you would follow the same procedure described above.

Josiah’s Tips:

• I would use black plastic versus fabric just from my experience with the fabric.

• If you use any plastic or fabric, it will attract mice.

• I recommend using the sweet potato variety Beauregard.

Happy Growing! Josiah