I did it! Now what? Japanese sweet potatoes

When I first discovered Japanese sweet potatoes at a local grocery (New Seasons), we tried them, and, oh, totally delicious. So I preserved the top one fourth of the potato, put it in potting soil cut with vermiculite, and, just as I became discouraged and was going to throw it out, discovered two sprouts coming up! It is doing quite well in the sunroom, with sprouts about 3 inches tall. Okay, good, I'm encouraged, but......I've never grown any kind of sweet potato, let alone the Nippon variety. A search of the internet does not show any source of Japanese sweet potato slips for sale. Anyone out there with an idea about care and feeding of this type of sweet potato? Since trying the first one, I bought a second, but not quite the same variety, and put it end down in a glass of water--it has sent out some sprouts as well. Being as how they are Japanese in origin, is it safe to guess they'll do okay here in the Pacific Northwest? Any info is more than welcome.

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:When I first discovered Japanese sweet potatoes at a local grocery (New Seasons), we tried them, and, oh, totally delicious. So I preserved the top one fourth of the potato, put it in potting soil cut with vermiculite, and, just as I became discouraged and was going to throw it out, discovered two sprouts coming up! It is doing quite well in the sunroom, with sprouts about 3 inches tall. Okay, good, I'm encouraged, but......I've never grown any kind of sweet potato, let alone the Nippon variety. A search of the internet does not show any source of Japanese sweet potato slips for sale. Anyone out there with an idea about care and feeding of this type of sweet potato? Since trying the first one, I bought a second, but not quite the same variety, and put it end down in a glass of water--it has sent out some sprouts as well. Being as how they are Japanese in origin, is it safe to guess they'll do okay here in the Pacific Northwest? Any info is more than welcome.

According to the OSU Extension Service, Sweet Potatoes are not recommended for anywhere in the state except the Columbia and Snake River Valleys, far East of your location. The main concern is they take a long season and a good bit of heat, which we usually don't have.

That said, I am trying sweet potatoes this year. It is just a little space since you already have the slips.

I did find one source for Red Japanese Sweet Potato Slips out of TN. TATOR MAN and they indicate that those in Northern States should put black plastic on the soil for two weeks prior to planting slips to warm the soil.

Good Luck!

Did you mean to post in New England?