Bearded Iris
I have read about starting sweet potato slips in potting mix instead of in water (which I have always done) and decided to give this method a try this year.
Will there be any differences in sprouting?
To find out, on March 17, I placed one Purple Sweet Potato in water and another in potting mix. The SP in water sprouted earlier than the one in the potting mix, unfortunately I neglected to note the dates.
Growing Purple Sweet Potato Slips – Left: in water. Right: in potting mix.
Purple Sweet Potato Slips – Left: grown in water. Right: grown in potting mix.
Will there be any differences in yield?
To find out, I planted in the garden (all bare roots) 5 water grown slips in one row (left in photo below) and 5 potting mix grown slips in another row (right in photo below), now I must wait for results that I will publish in later post/s.
Purple Sweet Potato – Left: 2 of 5 slips grown in water. Right: 2 of 5 slips grown in potting mix.
Transplanted all sweet potatoes slips into the garden on Wednesday, 5/24, as rain was predicted for Thursday, 5/25, to be followed by 2 cloudy days.
And rain it did. Plants are happy so are the weeds.
Was only going to plant 2 varieties this year – Purple and Ginseng Red. But Mary gave me 2 slips of Wilma’s (a new variety for me) so now I am growing 3 varieties.
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First harvest of container grown Peppermint Swiss Chard.
Container Peppermint Swiss Chard
Cut chard, stems and leaves, into bite-sized pieces, combined with thinly sliced garlic greens, and stir-fried briefly in a bit of oil, salt & pepper to taste. Garden to wok in less than an hour.
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Also transplanted my Chinese Long Beans seedlings. Seeds were started in containers instead of direct sow.
Chinese Long Beans. Top Rows: Red Noodles. Bottom rows: Green.
Chinese long beans are also known as yard long beans, asparagus beans and snake beans. Click here to learn more and a recipe.
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The week of May 8 we had a few nights where temperature was in the 30’s°F.
All the semi heading mustard seedlings bolted.
Bolting Semi Heading Mustard
However, the Toy Choi Hybrid I started 3/19/17 and transplanted into window box on 4/26 did not bolt.
Toy Choi Hybrid
My guess is the Toy Choi had passed the seedling stage therefore hardier and able to withstand temperature below 50°F.
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Tomatoes I took a chance and transplanted on 5/12 all survived and are doing well.
Tomato – Speckled Roman Paste
Speckled Roman Paste is one of my favorite tomatoes. Good for making sauce as well as for slicing.
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Garlic are doing exceptional well this year.
Garlic – German White & Duganski
Both the German White and the Duganski are hardneck garlic. Looking forward to harvesting garlic scapes in a couple weeks.
Direct sowed: Green leaf Lutz beets, Crosby’s Egyptian Beets. Semi-heading Mustard and Tri-colored Amaranth.
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In her comments on last Monday post, Kimberly Brandt ask for a photo of the Goji aka Wolfberry plant.
Goji, aka Wolfberry, plant
The above photo is for you Kim.
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Last of my tree peonies. Deciduous peonies should be blooming any day now.
Tree Peony – Yellow
It was sunny when I took the above photo so the color is a bit washed out.
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Garden to Wok 
Funny, my Toy Choi bolted and my Win-Win did not! As far as I know they both were subjected to the same temperatures. Interesting to see how the different S.P. slips do. I have started in both water and soil but never compared. Now I start in water, and pot up in soil before planting out.
Hello Dave,
There goes my theory about bolting, sure wish I could figure out this vexing issue.
I can tell this is going to be a very good year for you, Norma. Can’t wait to see those long beans!
Hello Angie,
Thanks, I hope so.
The soil-started sweet potato looks like it has stronger roots. Cool experiment.
Hello Eva,
Yes, the roots of the soil-started sweet potato are stronger but so far both look the same in the garden bed.
Things are certainly looking great in your garden. It should be interesting to see how your sweet potatoes do – my only question is will it be easy to tell which potatoes are from which plants?
Hello Margaret,
I hope so, the water rooted slips are in a row on one side of the bed and the potting-mix rooted slips are in a row on the opposite side of the bed with quite a bit of space between the rows.
Isn’t it infuriating when seedlings bolt?
How much room do sweet potatoes need?
Hello Lisa,
The guidelines are 12-18 inches apart and 3 feet between rows, but there are semi-bush varieties, example the Ginseng Red and Wilma’s, that will not spread like the vining varieties, example the Purple, that can take over the whole garden.
We start our sweet potato slips in a bed of rotted sawdust and they do great. I’ve started them in water just to get some to fill in gaps. I’m very curious now to see whether you discover a difference in yield, but I’d guess there won’t be.
Our spring plantings are bolting now–mustards, spinach, bok choy, chinese cabbages, romaine lettuce, all bolting. But our kale is staying strong and healthy and our beets and turnips are now ready to harvest. Even picked the first green beans of the year yesterday. It’s a great time of year!
Hello Bill,
I thought your hoop house would prevent your mustards, spinach, bok choy, chinese cabbages, romaine lettuce from bolting since they are protected.
All these are growing outside. I have tomatoes, squash and beans in the hoop house.
Hello Bill,
Do you think it would make any difference if they were planted in the hoop house?
They would probably bolt sooner in the hoop house, because the soil temperature is higher there. My guess is that they are better for fall/overwintering in the hoop house.
Hello Bill,
Am going to do some reading on this subject to see if it it possible to do something about spring bolting.
I’ve read that mulching helps slow down bolting, because bolting is caused by soil temperature not air temperature.
Your leeks and tomato plants look great. That’s some chilly temperatures you got in May, it’s good that you were able to get your tomatoes in early. I think the up and down temperatures of early spring tends to make a lot of greens bolt.
Hello Phoung,
We are having unusual weather pattern this spring, not sure how well my sweet potatoes will grow due to the below normal temperature we are experiencing on and off.
Love seeing reports on how your garden is doing and everything looks so great. I grew Goji berry plant last year in a container but mine look a lot different than yours. Can I send you a picture and you let me know if that is the right plant?
Hello Balvinder,
Sure, do send me a picture of you Goji plant. I don’t know a lot about the plant, but I understand there are different varieties and many are hybrids, the one I have is an heirloom.
I like to read about your adventures in the garden. I still don’t have one, so at least I follow yours. The picture with peonies is so beautiful
Hello Marta,
Thanks for following my blog, I am sure one day soon you will have your own garden.
Oh wowza…. you sure are gonna have a Stella year in the garden me thinks. My garden is coming along beautifully. Will be sure to write a post when I harvest. First year in forever I’ve got some real action. Think it’s because I’ve been learning from you for years.
Hello Anna,
Glad to learn your garden is coming along beautifully, looking forward to reading about your harvest.