Growing Sweet Potato Vines

I did everything right. Soil, black plastic, water, location, you name it. I followed Veseys instructions to the letter. And I grew beautiful potato vines—though not potatoes. By the time it was warm enough for the tender slips to be shipped across the country to me, planting had been delayed by several weeks. Bottom line: our growing season is sadly too short for these tropical beauties.

The vine really was a beautiful specimen, and I had grand ideas of what was probably developing beneath the earth. I even protected them from night-time frost for a few weeks, to give them a little more time; but to no avail.

For all the above-ground show, this is the sum total of what I found underneath. That largest one is only the size of a banana!

And so, we enjoyed our one meal of homegrown sweet potato fries.

But this is one experiment I would like to try again—as soon as I find a local greenhouse where I can get the slips several weeks ahead of planting time. My plan is to start them indoors several weeks prior to the last frost in addition to protecting them from the first frosts of September. I have a few ideas up my sleeve, so stay tuned!

UPDATE: I've just discovered several sites on the web that assure me I can grow my own sweet potato slips from store-bought taters! And I am stoked!! Now, to find me some organic sweet potatoes. . . .

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity.

An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. --Sir Winston Churchill