|
This article gives simple directions for starting a sweet potato vine.
You will need :
- a glass jar
- wooden toothpicks
- water
- a sweet potato or yam with buds
How you do it:
- Put the sweet potato into a jar with the small end down. Use the toothpicks (about three should do) stuck into the sides of the potato to hold it up.
- Fill the jar with water enough to keep the bottom of the sweet potato wet.
- Keep your jar in a sunny window and watch it put down roots (several weeks) and begin to sprout leaves from the top.
Sweet potatoes take a while to root, as many as six weeks. While rooting, a dark place is best. When roots have formed, you will see vines beginning to sprout and leaves will start to unfurl. This takes a long time and you may think it will never happen.
Another way to grow a sweet potato vine is to put in in a planter full of potting soil. Look for eyes on the sweet potato where the vines will sprout, and cut the potato in chunks with an eye on each. Plant these chunks. A lush plant with beatiful leaves can be grown in a flower bed or in a container like a hanging basket.
Try This Experiment
The sweet potato or, grown in southern climates like Texas and Louisiana, is the best type of potato to use for this project. It might be a fun experiment for students in homeschools or in classrooms to try some of the different potatoes now on the market--golden potatoes, new or red potatoes, russet or Irish and even some organics like the blue potato. Will they root and grow or do they shrivel and rot? What sort of vine forms?
Make a chart and draw pictures to color showing the potaoes and the leaves that grow. Mark the date you set the potatoes to root, the date you see roots starting, the date vine and leaves begin to appear.
The copyright of the article Grow a Sweet Potato Vine in Kids Activities is owned by Elece Hollis. Permission to republish Grow a Sweet Potato Vine in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
Aug 20, 2008 11:06 AM
Guest :
I bought two sweet potatoes and left them on the counter. It's been about
3 weeks and one of them already has sprouts about 6" long with tiny
leaves ..I was surprised and pleased. Don't really know what to do with it
when it gets real long..guess will put it in dirt. So they do sprout.
Aug 22, 2008 11:28 AM
Guest :
Thanks for this tidbit of info. I will follow it and look for the results.
I too am happy that a child has shown interest in plants and
took it upon him/herself to find do some research. It is important to
nourish curiosity so it will bloom into knowledge.
Sep 8, 2008 2:37 PM
Guest :
I started a sweet potato in a jar with water...boy, has it sprouted vines!
Does anyone know when I should plant it in soil? Should I keep it inside
until next spring? This was my first attempt, I am pleasantly surprised by
the growth but I don't know what to do next, any help would be appreciated.
Sep 21, 2008 5:28 PM
Guest :
I am pleased a child is using the internet for more than a game. Remember
that a child may not have the keyboarding skills of an adult.
Oct 4, 2008 1:07 PM
Guest :
I glad to see Ms. Parson is doing something hands on with her students and
has them interested in seeing what the problem may be. Ms. Parson, keep up
the good work.
Oct 6, 2008 6:22 AM
Guest :
I also had success with the toothpick-water-jar method. So far there are
two very long white "roots" coming out of the bottom. My
children are very excited. We also are not sure when to plant it. There
are not leaves or anything coming from the top of the potato.
Any advice would be appreciated.
If anyone is thinking of
trying this. It works. We had roots within a few days... it was amazing.
Oct 6, 2008 1:14 PM
Elece Hollis :
You don't need to plant the vine at all. Leave it in the jar of water. Add
water occasionally and your vine will grow by adding leaves and roots. It
will fill the jar with roots. The leaves are beautiful and the plant looks
cheerful in a windowsill during the winter.
Oct 10, 2008 6:26 PM
Guest :
I love to eat potatoes and and grow them and this is a extra credit
project
Nov 1, 2008 5:33 AM
Guest :
Referring to your number 1 on 'How you do it':
I want to know whether,
it is the vine or the potato tuber you are referring to. Again you used
simply potato, is it the normal or rather ordinary potato or the
sweetpotato? you can reach me with the email below
My regards
Chris Nigeria.
Nov 11, 2008 7:55 AM
Guest :
Could you just use oh lets say an organic potatoe cut in half width wise
and see if that will grow ?
Nov 11, 2008 8:13 AM
Elece Hollis :
Dear Reader, It would be fine to try sprouting a potato which has been cut
in half in water, but I think it will rot. If you bury the cut piece and
most of the half potato in dirt with the sprouts up, it may grow. Why don't
you try both and see what happens? Plant one half in dirt in a flower pot,
and the other set to root in water. It would make a nice experiment. Be
sure you let us hear the result.
Mrs. Hollis
Dec 11, 2008 5:31 AM
Guest :
This is great, I Love it..
Feb 3, 2009 10:00 AM
Guest :
How does growing a sweet potato this way differ from growing a red potato
or russet?
Sep 18, 2009 7:05 AM
Guest :
mines a week old and is just growing mold is that bad?
Sep 24, 2009 8:13 AM
Guest :
My class room has planted a sweet potato. Its growing wonderful BUT as i
was cleaning the water i noticed my potato was feeling mushy. Is it
rotting? I there a way to save it? What did i do wrong?
Thank you, Ms.B's cass
15 Comments
|
