Starting Sweet Potatoes from Seed (True Seed/biological seed

[macmex]

Yes, the seed looks much like morning glory seed. My experience, so far, has been that seed from a purple fleshed "mother plant" produces very similar roots. I have yet to keep a purple seedling past the first season because they seem identical to their parent.

Interestingly, the roots from Seedling #1 had a violet core the first year, but when grown out from slips, in 2022, so far, every root I've eaten has been white fleshed, through and through.

[Tucson Grower]

Thanks macmex, that's what I thought about the seed. Most likely the seed I received, small and brown aren't sweet potato seed. I hope they're viable so I can grow them and find out. I recently planted seed that was sold to me as butterfly bush, only to find that the seed grew into eucalyptus trees. Nice plants, just not what I was expecting. 

Surprises are often nice, but sometimes they can come with a little disappointment, too.

[Tucson Grower]

I'm anxious to start these sweet potato seed. Well, next payday is on 2 Feb. Then I'll be able to get a second thermostat controlled seed starting heating mat. My current one, which is large enough for 6 small starter trays, with 12 cells in each, is mostly occupied with asparagus seed starting, 12 each of 3 varieties, the remainder with cauliflower, peas, rutabaga, bok choy and turnips. The new heat mat will be 2x wider, so it could accommodate 12, 12 cell starter trays. I had not realized that asparagus seed can take 6 weeks, or more, to simply germinate, and weeks more before they're ready to plant out.

[Tucson Grower]

macmex was generous and sent me some of his sweet potato seed to try. I planted 6 of them, one per cell of 6-pack, and I planted about 4-5 of the tiny brown (sweet potato seed) ones in the 6 cells adjacent to the seed from macmex. Now I'm watching and waiting to see what grows.

[Tucson Grower]

One of the sweet potato seed from macmex has germinated, none of those from Amazon has moved, yet.

[Tucson Grower]

Two more of macmex sweet potato seeds germinated, still none of those from Amazon.

[Tucson Grower]

The more I think about it, I think the sweet potato seeds via Amazon are most likely dried anthers. If I had access to a microscope, I could likely, tell.

[macmex]

That would make sense. My plants flower and fail to produce seed more than they succeed. When I first started looking for seed I thought that the dried flowers, which had failed to produce seed, still might have had seed in there somewhere. I remember stashing a few and then finding that, nope, nothing grew from them. 


Here's a photo of a plant which had nothing but flops on it.

[Tucson Grower]

Through the years I've bought or swapped for seeds, sometimes I didn't always get seed - or the seed I ordered. Once, my Buddleia davidii seed grew into Eucalyptus trees. Nice trees, just not what I had expected. I once received, rosemary seed from China that were a dozen, or so, individual dried rosemary leaves. Its hard to know if its a scam or if they're just botanically challenged. Buddleia and Eucalyptus seed, do look similar.

[Tucson Grower]

The 3 nice sweet potato seedlings had been attacked by a roach. At the time all three were just starting to produce their first true leaf. One had its cotyledon leaves entirely chewed off, but the other two were almost untouched. Since then they have all made a good recovery and I'm sure they'll be ready to plant out, come the warm weather of April.

I know it was a roach because a day later I caught it in a sticky trap, which I'd set up the day after the attack.

[Tucson Grower]

Just in case there are more critters waiting to destroy my sweet potatoes, I'm going to plant each one in its own 15 gallon pot, then if they're safe, next season I'll probably use a root or two to produce slips for subsequent crops grown in the ground.

[macmex]

With a long enough season (100 days) you may yet have time to grow a slip or two for production. I need to start my seed for this year.

[Tucson Grower]

Apparently, on average we have about 210 days between 1st and last frost dates.

[Tucson Grower]

I am growing each of the 3 sweet potato plants in individual 15 gallon plastic pots. 2 are nearly filling their pots with foliage, and the 3rd is only half the size of the other two, since I had to wait for its pot to be available before I could plant it. It's about a month behind the first two. Two, of the three have lots of red color in their leaves and stems, while one is almost entirely green, throughout. This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see a cluster of 3 charming purple flowers on the all green plant. Making this sweet potato a very ornamental flowering plant.

[macmex]

I love it when they flower. Seems most I've grown from seed are also good at flowering. Perhaps you'll even get more seed this year!