Around the holidays, sweet potatoes and yams get a little more love than the lovely plant already does. For the rest of the year, white potatoes are the go-to for French fries. However, there are some nutritional benefits for eating sweet potato French fries that outrank white potatoes. While white potatoes are best for Vitamin B, sweet potatoes nailed Vitamin A. Both are a good source for potassium, Vitamin C and fiber. White potatoes, however, have more calories than sweet potatoes, which may make growing sweet potato clips more intriguing.

Why Sweet Potato Slips Are Preferred Over Growing Full Potatoes

While most vegetables require buying seeds, it works a little differently with sweet potatoes. To grow white potatoes, gardeners cut seed potatoes and spread them apart in cold, wet soil. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, may rot if planted during cold weather months and next to white potatoes. So it’s advisable to plant sweet potato slips instead, which are the rooted sprouts that grow in the tubers of sweet potatoes. They look like little sticks and leaves growing from the vegetable.

How To Grow Sweet Potato Slips

Sweet potato slips can be purchased from a reputable seed company, or homeowners can grow their own with soil or water.

Growing Potato Slips With Water: Place a sweet potato in water with the root side down. (Use toothpicks so it doesn’t keep floating to the top of the jar.) At least half of it must be covered. Place the jar in a well-lit area but not in direct sunlight. The ideal temperature is about 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Growing Potato Slips With Soil: Use a pot with drainage holes. Fill it with sand or potting soil, and lay the sweet potato on its side.

In approximately four to six weeks, you should notice a handful of sweet potato slips. When they are one-fourth inches long, they’re ready to be planted. Just twist them out or slice them off (with the tuber still attached). Each sweet potato slicer is good for approximately six sweet potatoes so make sure you’re ready to have this many on hand (or give some away).

How To Grow Sweet Potatoes

Once the slips are removed, you’re ready to plant sweet potatoes in loose, well-drained soil. Make sure each slip is about two to three inches deep and spaced about 10-14 inches apart. Ideally, grow them in rows that are at least three feet apart. Keep the soil moist for the first week, especially if the sun becomes intense. If you can add some shade to them, even better.  After that, one inch of water per week is fine.

Removing them will heavily depend on what size you want them to be. Generally, 90-120 days is enough for a suitable sweet potato to be carefully pulled up. If it’s still not big enough, replace your sweet potato in its previous position to grow a little longer. Once you’re ready, try again.

And the cycle continues: grow slips, grow potatoes and enjoy finding sweet potato recipes (or eating them on their own).