Pre-growing sweet potatoes in winter: set up your spring harvest early

When it is frosty and wet outside, you can still lay the groundwork for a generous sweet potato harvest in spring from the comfort of a warm home. With just a few simple steps, the tubers will start to sprout on the windowsill and produce sturdy young plants that can later be moved into a bed or a container.

Why pre-growing sweet potatoes in winter is worth it

Sweet potatoes do not tolerate cold. In our climate, that makes the true outdoor season comparatively short. If you wait until the soil is warm enough in May, you lose valuable weeks.

"If you pre-sprout sweet potatoes in winter, you begin spring with ready-made young plants and make much better use of the warm season."

Using slips instead of planting whole tubers

Rather than planting the tubers straight into the ground, many experienced gardeners rely on so-called “slips”. These are small rooted shoots that grow from a mother tuber. Later on, the slips are planted out as independent plants in the soil – much like tomato seedlings.

Choosing the right tuber: what to look for when buying

Success starts in the supermarket or organic shop. Not every sweet potato is equally suitable for sprouting.

Buying checklist for sweet potato tubers

• Choose healthy tubers: no rotten patches, no bruises, and no shrivelled specimens.
• Preferably organic:

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