Germinate sweet potato

Germinate sweet potatoes

There are two different methods you can use to germinate a sweet potato for propagation. Below are the instructions for each procedure.

Start early

You will be amazed how quickly sweet potatoes start to sprout. But before you can put the new shoots outside in the ground, they should have formed enough roots. Since planting outdoors is only possible when temperatures are frost-free, May is considered the appropriate time. Nevertheless, it is advisable to start germination as early as January.

Germination in a water bath

1. cut off the end of a sweet potato tuber
2. fill a glass with fresh, warm water
3. place the sweet potato in with the cut side down
4. if necessary, fix the tuber in place with toothpicks
5. change the water regularly
6. don't wait too long before taking the potatoes out of the water bath. Otherwise their growth will stagnate

Germination in the potting soil

1. fill a box with ordinary potting soil
2. plant a tuber in it
3. sufficiently water the substrate
4. put the box in a warm, bright place (windowsill)

With both methods, the first new shoots appear within a few days. Until you can plant the sprouted potatoes in the garden, it is best to repot them in growing containers.

Re-germination during storage

Sweet potatoes also sprout again during storage in the basement, similar to normal potatoes. Even so, the tubers are still edible. However, you should carefully remove the new shoots before consumption, as they taste bitter. If you want to prevent re-sprouting, add an apple to the sweet potatoes.