Best Tips on How to Grow Sweet Potatoes

Spring is the best time to grow sweet potatoes either by growing them starting from slips or from scratch. But if you want to do it the easy way, growing sweet potatoes from slips is the best way to go. Sweet potatoes are one of the best tasting potatoes that you can enjoy mashed, boiled, fried, or even added to a savory dish that you and your family can enjoy.

The nice thing about sweet potatoes is that they grow easily, and requires minimal care. You can also expect a large batch of harvest, which is great to share with family and friends.

To grow sweet potatoes, here are the steps that you should do:

Step 1: Choose Your Sweet Potato

We have already mentioned that growing sweet potatoes can start from slips. Slips are the small outgrowths that can be found in the plant. You can use the slips to make new sweet potatoes. Slips can be purchased from online retailers or from garden supply stores. But if you have the time and experience, you can also grow your own slips.

Step 2: Cut Your Sweet Potatoes

If you want to do it from scratch, cut two sweet potatoes in halves and wash them. Make sure that these potatoes are untreated, fresh, and healthy, in order to yield the same for your harvest.

Step 3: Place Your Sweet Potatoes In The Jar

Get a clean jar with an opening that will fit your potato. Fill it with water. Skew the potato with sticks and allow it to hung from the opening, living half of the potato submerged in water, while the other half is exposed in air.

Step 4: Sweet Potato Slips

After a few days or weeks, you will notice the slips growing from the potato already. Snip the slips and plant it to make new sweet potatoes.

Step 5: Grow The Roots Of Your Sweet Potato Slips

To prepare your slips for planting, you must first grow the roots. You can do this by submerging the slips inside a jar full of water.

Step 6: Plant Your Sweet Potato Slips

Now that your slips have roots, it is now ready for planting. Choose your garden bed. The garden bed should be in a place where there is direct sunlight always. This is because sweet potatoes love the warm weather. Sweet potatoes grow under the ground so you do not have to do anything, aside from watering it, after planting the slips. Just make sure to at least plant the slips 6 inches deep, where the half part of the plant is submerged in soil. Also, since sweet potatoes grow underground, you might want to make sure that the soil is a bit loose, to allow easy tilting under.

These are the different ways that you have to do, if you want to grow sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are easy to manage, easy to plant, and yields a good amount of harvest that will surely delight you.

How to Grow Sunflowers

Many people love the idea of growing sunflowers. It is because it can easily add a stunning feel in your garden, and can also be a nice source of fresh and vibrant flowers that you can use to decorate your home.

Sunflowers do not always have to be planted in lawns or in the ground. You can also plant them in pots, so that you do not have to cut them, in case you want to place them indoors to bring summer inside your home.

If you are planning to pot and grow sunflowers, here are the things that you have to do:

Choose Your Sunflowers

There are several types of sunflowers that you can grow. Some grow really big that you can use to boarder your lawn, while some are smaller in size, which you can use to decorate parts of your garden.

Sunlight for Sunflowers

Even if your sunflowers will be planted in pots, you still have to remember that they need at least 6 hrs of sunshine every single day. Therefore, you have to place your pots in an area where there is sun. Sunflowers that do not receive enough sunlight will be weak and will not be able to grow as expected.

Containers & Pots for Sunflowers

If you want to grow giant sunflowers, you will have to give them separate pots. You do not always have to buy the pots. You can use an old 5 gallon bucket that you might have in your basement. Just make sure to clean them thoroughly, so that it will not contaminate the soil.

What Soil to use for Sunflowers

Garden potted soil is always best to use for sunflowers. This is because this type of soil is often treated with fertilizers that will help your sunflower grow tall, produce vibrant colors, and will have a lengthier life.

Growing Sunflowers from Seed

The seeds can be purchased anywhere. Sunflower seeds are very common, and you will be surprised to find them even in your local grocery store (in the garden section). Most often than not, the packets will have instructions on how to plant your seeds. Follow them, because the way you plant your sunflowers will depend on the type of seed that you want to grow.

How to Arrange Sunflowers

If you want to create a stunning sunflower display in your garden, then you might want to arrange your pots accordingly. Big flowers go at the back, while the smaller varieties should be arranged in front. You might also want to arrange them according to color. Your creativity will be exercised here. You can check out some pictures online to find inspiration on how to arrange your sunflower garden.

As your sunflowers grow, make sure that they are receiving enough sun. They love the sun, and they will only grow appropriately when they receive the needed nutrients from the sun. Water them too, but not too much, because you will just loosen the soil to the point of knocking the off.

These are the ways that you should do, if you want to plant sunflowers in pots to make a beautiful and stunning sunflower garden at home.