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Blows my mind that most people don't know this let alone do it.

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[-] megopie@beehaw.org 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

This gives the same instructions for growing sweet potatoes and normal potatoes.But that method will not work for sweet potatoes, they’re very different from normal potatoes. To propagate sweet potatoes you need to sprout slips from them and then plant those. So half bury the sweet potatoes side ways in some potting mix and wait for sprouts with roots to form on it, twisting those off with roots intacked and growing those. This can also be done by suspending the sweet potato half way in a jar of water with some toothpicks, root end down. Then the sprouts can be planted outside ~3 weeks after the last soil frost.

Sweet potatoes are a completely different family of plants from sweet potatoes, being marigolds rather than nightshades, they don’t bud and spread the same way potatoes do, forming one singular root rather than multiple budding roots.

[-] lunatique@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

Thanks for mentioning that. They are yams so it makes sense they would grow differently. Can you inform the author of the post on the website so they can change the site's info?

[-] Faydaikin@beehaw.org 3 points 2 days ago

That's how I got into growing chilies.

Now I always have ridiculously tasty "spicys" for the winter.

[-] xylem@beehaw.org 4 points 3 days ago

Pests and diseases are another thing to be careful of. I've ended up with a pretty bad spider mite infestation after replanting some grocery store lettuce. Like any new houseplant, consider keeping it isolated for a while!

[-] CromulantCrow@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago

One thing to bear in mind is many of these plants don't grow true to seed. Avocado, peppers, tomatoes, etc., you may get a plant that produces a fruit that resembles the one the seed came from. You may not. I've even grown peppers from seed packages that weren't true to the variety on the label. All it takes is one bee to fly in from a hot pepper plant, for instance, and while the fruit made from the flower that bee pollinated will be true-to-type, the seeds of that fruit won't be.

[-] Unknown_0671 2 points 3 days ago

thanks for sharing! great read

[-] lunatique@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago

You are welcome

this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
46 points (100.0% liked)

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