How to grow a sweet potato plant from a whole potato with sprouts coming out one end?
Question:I found 2 of these in my potato bin that I forgot were there.These sweet potatoes have white insides,not yellow.They have already started to sprout on one end.I want to start a plant to grow in the house.I tried this last year with a yellow one but it didn't work,it never grew,just dried up and died.I used the toothpick method but cut the potato in half and set it in the jar of water.Should I have left the potato whole instead of slicing it in half?Do you put anything in the water to help it grow?These plants are pretty and I would really like to try again.Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Answers:
Cut the end with the eyes on it turn the eyes up and cover with dirt. They wont grow if they don't have alot of dirt covering them. I'm not sure they will grow inside but cover it with 4 or 5 inches of dirt. Water it then. you may be able to grow more than one with 1 potato. It takes a slice with 2 or 3 eyes per olant.
I have never heard of anyone wanting to grow a potato indoors before, lol.
To grow the potato you must take the whole potato and cut off around the eye ( the sprout). Plant the potato piece in a large container with about 4" of potting soil and drainage set in the bottom. Drainage is very important when growing potatoes. Cover the sprout with a few inches of the potting soil. Miracle Grow potting soil works great for indoor plants. Try to leave just a tiny bit of the top of the sprout exposed. As the sprout grows add more potting soil around it until you fill the container.
Most commercial growers of any type of potato treat the potatoes with a chemical to prevent the eyes from sprouting. They do get around to sprouting eventually but may act a bit retarded when planted.
Best of luck to you. I agree with you regarding how nice the sweet potato plant is.
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