Overview

Embark on a rewarding gardening journey with our premium selection of purple sweet potato slips. These live plant cuttings offer a straightforward and effective way to grow your own nutritious and visually stunning purple sweet potatoes right at home. Often referred to by various names, including Okinawan sweet potato or sometimes simply ‘Khoai Lang Tím’ in Vietnamese, these unique tubers are known for their striking purple flesh and sweet, earthy flavor. Unlike traditional sweet potatoes, these varieties bring a beautiful pop of color to your culinary creations and are packed with antioxidants. Our slips are carefully selected to ensure vigorous growth, providing you with a strong foundation for a successful harvest. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or just starting, propagating sweet potatoes from slips is an enjoyable and productive process, yielding a rewarding bounty of delicious and healthy tubers.

Key Benefits

Growing your own purple sweet potato slips offers a multitude of advantages, from adding beauty to your garden to providing a healthy food source:

• Nutrient-Rich Harvest: These sweet potatoes are not only delicious but also incredibly healthy, loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that contribute to overall well-being. Enjoy fresh, homegrown produce with superior nutritional value.
• Vibrant Culinary Appeal: The striking purple flesh retains its color when cooked, making it an excellent ingredient for adding visual interest and unique flavor to a wide range of dishes, from savory to sweet.
• Easy to Grow: Sweet potato plant cuttings are known for their resilience and ease of cultivation, making them an ideal choice for gardeners of all experience levels. They establish quickly and require minimal fuss once planted.
• High Yield Potential: With proper care, each slip can produce multiple sweet potatoes, ensuring a generous harvest from a relatively small planting area. Maximize your garden’s output with these prolific plants.
• Drought Tolerant: Once established, purple sweet potato plants are quite tolerant of dry conditions, reducing the need for constant watering and making them suitable for various climates.
• Versatile Plant: Beyond their edible tubers, the vibrant green foliage can also be used as a groundcover in your garden, adding an attractive element to your landscape.
• Sustainable Gardening: By growing purple sweet potatoes from slips, you participate in a sustainable gardening practice, reducing waste and fostering a deeper connection to your food source.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Successful cultivation of your purple sweet potato slips begins with proper planting and consistent care. Sweet potatoes thrive in warm climates and prefer full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Choose a location in your garden that receives ample light throughout the growing season. The ideal soil for sweet potatoes is loose, well-draining, and rich in organic matter. A sandy loam is often recommended, as it allows the tubers to expand easily. Avoid heavy clay soils or overly wet conditions, which can lead to rot. If your soil is heavy, amend it with compost or sand to improve drainage and texture. Plant your sweet potato plant cuttings after all danger of frost has passed and soil temperatures have warmed to at least 65°F (18°C). Space the slips about 12-18 inches apart in rows that are 3-4 feet apart to give them room to spread. Water thoroughly after planting to help establish the roots.

During the growing season, consistent moisture is important, especially when the tubers are forming. Aim for about 1 inch of water per week, either from rainfall or irrigation. Reduce watering as harvest time approaches to prevent cracking. Fertilize sparingly; too much nitrogen can encourage leafy growth at the expense of tuber development. A balanced fertilizer or one higher in phosphorus and potassium is suitable. Keep the planting area free of weeds, as competition can reduce yields. Sweet potatoes are generally pest-resistant, but keep an eye out for common garden pests. Harvesting typically occurs 90-120 days after planting, usually before the first hard frost. Look for signs of maturity like yellowing leaves. Dig carefully to avoid damaging the tubers. Curing the sweet potatoes after harvest by allowing them to sit in a warm, humid environment for a week or two will improve their flavor and storage life. Understanding sweet potato propagation is key to a robust harvest.

Size & Details

This offering includes 10 purple sweet potato slips, carefully prepared and ready for planting. Each slip is a healthy cutting, typically measuring between 6-10 inches in length, and may or may not have developed roots upon arrival, depending on the shipping duration and conditions. These cuttings are specifically selected for their vigor and potential to grow into productive plants. Sweet potato plants are vining in nature and can spread significantly, often covering an area of 3-6 feet per plant when mature. The tubers themselves can vary in size and shape, generally reaching a length of 6-12 inches, with a weight of 0.5 to 1.5 pounds each, depending on growing conditions and variety. Expect to see initial leafy growth within a few weeks of planting, with tubers developing over the next 2-3 months. The average growth rate is moderate to fast, allowing for a satisfying harvest within a single growing season. These slips are an excellent choice for anyone interested in Okinawan sweet potato cultivation.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big do these purple sweet potato slips get? A: Each slip will grow into a vining plant that can spread 3-6 feet. The mature sweet potato tubers typically range from 6-12 inches in length and weigh between 0.5 to 1.5 pounds each, depending on growing conditions.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: While the slips can be started indoors, growing purple sweet potatoes is best done outdoors in a garden bed or large container once soil temperatures are consistently warm and all danger of frost has passed.
• Q: How much sunlight do sweet potato plants need? A: Sweet potatoes thrive in full sun, requiring at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily for optimal tuber development and plant health.
• Q: Are these sweet potato plant cuttings easy to care for? A: Yes, sweet potatoes are relatively easy to grow and are quite resilient. They require well-draining soil, consistent moisture during growth, and warm temperatures, making them suitable for beginner gardeners.
• Q: What condition will the slips arrive in? A: Your purple sweet potato slips will arrive as fresh cuttings, carefully packaged to ensure their vitality. They may or may not have roots formed, which is normal for slips, and they will root quickly once planted.
• Q: When is the best time to plant sweet potato slips? A: The best time to plant is in late spring or early summer, after the last frost date, when soil temperatures have consistently reached 65°F (18°C) or warmer.
• Q: What is the ideal soil type for sweet potato propagation? A: Sweet potatoes prefer loose, well-draining, sandy loam soil that is rich in organic matter. Avoid heavy clay soils and ensure good drainage to prevent tuber rot.
• Q: Will Okinawan sweet potato plants survive winter? A: Sweet potato plants are tender perennials typically grown as annuals in most climates. They will not survive frost, so they are usually harvested before the first hard freeze. In very warm, frost-free climates (USDA Zones 9-11), they may grow year-round.
• Q: Can I grow these in containers? A: Yes, you can grow purple sweet potato slips in large containers or grow bags, provided they are at least 15-20 gallons in size to allow sufficient space for tuber development.
• Q: What’s the difference between a slip and a seed? A: A slip is a sprout grown from a mature sweet potato, essentially a cutting of the plant. Sweet potatoes are typically propagated from slips, not from seeds, as slips ensure the new plant is genetically identical to the parent, maintaining desired characteristics.