Variety Sweet Potato Slips – 20 Slips: Purple, Okinawa, Japanese Red, Beauregard

Overview

Embark on a rewarding gardening journey with our premium selection of sweet potato slips. This generous offering includes 20 live slips, carefully chosen from four distinct and beloved varieties: Purple, Okinawa, Japanese Red, and Beauregard. Each variety brings its unique characteristics to your garden and table, from the vibrant color of the Purple and Okinawa sweet potatoes to the classic sweetness of Beauregard and the rich flavor of Japanese Red. These live slips are the perfect starting point for gardeners of all experience levels who wish to cultivate their own delicious and nutritious sweet potatoes. Growing sweet potatoes from slips is a straightforward and highly effective method, ensuring strong, healthy plants that are ready to thrive in your garden.

Whether you’re an experienced horticulturist or a budding enthusiast, this variety pack provides an exciting opportunity to explore different sweet potato profiles. Our slips are carefully prepared for planting, ensuring they arrive ready to be transplanted into your garden beds or containers. Prepare to enjoy a bountiful harvest of these versatile and healthy root vegetables, perfect for a wide range of culinary applications.

Key Benefits

Choosing our variety pack of sweet potato slips offers numerous advantages for your home garden and culinary adventures. You’ll not only enjoy the satisfaction of growing your own food but also benefit from the unique qualities of each variety.

• Diverse Culinary Options: With Purple, Okinawa, Japanese Red, and Beauregard varieties, you’ll have a range of colors, textures, and flavors perfect for roasting, baking, frying, or adding to stews and salads. Each type offers a distinct taste experience.
• High Yield Potential: Sweet potato plants are known for their vigorous growth and generous harvests. These healthy slips are poised to produce an abundant crop of delicious sweet potatoes, maximizing your garden’s output.
• Nutrient-Rich Harvest: Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Growing your own ensures a fresh, organic source of these healthy root vegetables, contributing to a nutritious diet.
• Easy to Grow: Sweet potato slips are remarkably resilient and straightforward to plant and maintain, making them an excellent choice for both novice and seasoned gardeners. They adapt well to various soil conditions.
• Vigorous Growth: These live slips establish quickly and grow rapidly, developing into lush vines that not only produce tubers but also offer attractive ground cover in your garden. Learning to grow sweet potatoes is a rewarding experience.
• Extended Harvest Season: By selecting a variety pack, you can potentially extend your harvest period, as different varieties may mature at slightly different rates, providing fresh sweet potatoes over a longer duration.
• Adaptable to Various Climates: While preferring warmer climates, sweet potatoes can be grown in many regions with proper care and timing, making them a versatile choice for many home gardens.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your sweet potato slips is relatively simple, but understanding their specific needs will ensure a successful and abundant harvest. Sweet potatoes thrive in warm weather and require a long growing season. Plant your slips after all danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature has consistently reached at least 60°F (15°C), ideally 65-70°F (18-21°C). In most regions, this means late spring or early summer. Choose a location that receives full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Adequate sunlight is crucial for tuber development and overall plant health. When you grow sweet potatoes, remember that they are sun-loving plants.

Sweet potatoes prefer well-draining, sandy loam soil with a pH between 5.8 and 6.2. Avoid heavy clay soils, which can impede tuber formation. Amend your soil with compost or well-rotted manure to improve fertility and drainage. Plant the slips about 12-18 inches apart in rows that are 3 feet apart. Bury the slips deep enough so that only the top few leaves are exposed. Water immediately after planting to help them establish. For consistent moisture, aim for about 1 inch of water per week, either from rainfall or irrigation, especially during dry spells. Avoid overwatering, as this can lead to root rot. Fertilize sparingly, as too much nitrogen can promote leafy growth at the expense of tuber development. A balanced fertilizer or one higher in phosphorus and potassium is generally recommended once the plants are established. Keep an eye out for common pests like sweet potato weevils and deer, and address them promptly. Proper sweet potato plant care involves regular monitoring.

Beyond basic watering and sunlight, understanding how to nurture your particular variety, like the Okinawa sweet potato or Beauregard sweet potato, can enhance your yield. While the general care is similar, observing your plants’ specific responses to their environment will help you fine-tune your approach. Sweet potatoes are generally low-maintenance once established, making them a rewarding crop for home gardeners. They are typically harvested before the first frost in the fall, usually 90-120 days after planting, depending on the variety.

Size & Details

This offering includes 20 individual sweet potato slips, comprising a mix of Purple, Okinawa, Japanese Red, and Beauregard varieties. Each slip is a live cutting, typically 6-10 inches in length, and is carefully prepared to ensure optimal rooting and growth upon arrival. These slips are ready for immediate planting in your garden beds or large containers. Sweet potato plants are vigorous growers, with vines that can spread several feet, making them excellent for ground cover or trellising. The tubers themselves will vary in size and shape depending on the variety and growing conditions, generally maturing to a harvestable size within 90-120 days after planting.

The slips are shipped without soil or pots, ready to be rooted in water or directly planted into prepared garden beds. Expect robust root development and rapid vine growth once established. These varieties are well-suited for a range of climates, thriving in warm, sunny conditions throughout the spring, summer, and fall seasons. The mature plants will produce a generous crop of delicious and healthy sweet potatoes, perfect for fresh consumption or storage.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big do these sweet potato plants get? A: Sweet potato vines are quite vigorous and can spread several feet, often 6-8 feet or more in ideal conditions. The tubers themselves vary in size depending on the variety and how long they are left to grow, typically ranging from small to medium-large.
• Q: What size pot does it come in? A: These are live sweet potato slips, which are cuttings without roots or soil, designed for planting directly into your garden or rooting in water before transplanting. They do not come in pots.
• Q: Are these an indoor or outdoor plant? A: Sweet potatoes are primarily outdoor plants, requiring full sun and warm temperatures to produce tubers. While they can be started indoors, they need to be transplanted outside for a successful harvest.
• Q: How much sunlight do sweet potato slips need? A: Sweet potato plants require at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day to produce a good harvest. Full sun exposure is crucial for optimal tuber development.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, sweet potatoes are generally considered easy to care for, making them suitable for beginner gardeners. Once established, they are quite resilient, provided they have adequate warmth, sun, and moisture. Following proper sweet potato plant care guidelines will ensure success.
• Q: What condition will the sweet potato slips arrive in? A: The sweet potato slips will arrive as live cuttings, carefully packaged to maintain freshness. They may appear slightly wilted upon arrival, but they typically revive quickly once placed in water or planted.
• Q: How long until I can harvest sweet potatoes? A: Sweet potatoes are typically ready for harvest 90-120 days after planting the slips, depending on the variety and growing conditions. You should harvest them before the first hard frost.
• Q: Can I grow Okinawa sweet potato in my region? A: Okinawa sweet potatoes, like other sweet potato varieties, thrive in warm climates with a long growing season. They can be grown in many regions as long as they receive enough heat and sun during their growing period.
• Q: What’s the minimum temperature these plants can tolerate? A: Sweet potato plants are sensitive to cold. They require soil temperatures of at least 60°F (15°C) to thrive and will be damaged by frost. It’s best to plant them when nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50°F (10°C).
• Q: What is the best way to grow sweet potatoes from these slips? A: You can root the slips in water for a few days before planting, or directly plant them into prepared garden soil. Ensure the soil is warm, well-draining, and the slips are buried deep enough to cover several nodes.