Sweet potato slips - Ask Extension
I'm wanting to start my own sweet potato slips this year and finding conflicting info online. Should they be in light or darkness for the first few w...
Knowledgebase
Sweet potato slips #924364
Asked February 09, 2026, 12:19 PM EST
I'm wanting to start my own sweet potato slips this year and finding conflicting info online. Should they be in light or darkness for the first few weeks?
Douglas County Oregon
Expert Response
There is no recommendation to keep slips in the dark.
Below are the best practices:
Use sandy, loose soil in raised beds to allow for root expansion and better drainage. Cover beds with black plastic to heat the soil to ~80°F, as sweet potatoes thrive in high temperatures. Set slips 10–14 inches apart, burying the stem 2–3 inches deep up to top leaves. Plant Keep the soil consistently moist for the first 7–10 days, then reduce to about 1 inch of water per week. Shield young plants from deer and rabbits. Harvest in the fall when the vines turn yellow, typically before the first frost.
Hi there! I appreciate your quick reply, but I'm not sure you understood the question. I have organic sweet potatoes in trays of dirt in order to make my own slips. Not anywhere near the planting or outside stage yet.
Thanks again and I appreciate your help!
Roxanne
The sprouts will continue growing roots underneath the sliced tuber. When there are several green leaves and some roots attached to each sprout, they are ready to be “slipped” off the tuber. This can be accomplished with a twist of the sprout. I prefer to slice the potato, in between the sprouts. Using this method, each sprout and some root will be attached to a small piece of potato. I do this because if I try to pull or “slip” it off the potato, sometimes it breaks. That is also a good reason to plan on having some extra by using one more seed potato than you think you need. Now that the slips are off the potato, if the last frost date has passed, they can be planted into the previously prepared garden bed. Otherwise, they can be planted in small pots, and kept indoors under grow lights until after the last frost date passes.
