It is now mid-May, and the nighttime temps are staying above 50ºF, so it is time to get the sweet potato slips planted into the garden. This year instead of planting the sweet potatoes in the ground where they have to be dug up in the fall, I am going to be growing them in containers which can be turned over on a tarp to dump out all of the potatoes, and then put the soil back into the container. The container gardens I use are the Mineral Lick Tubs which I can get for free from local beef cattle farmers. These food grade plastic mineral lick tubs are usually between 20 and 25 gallons in size, and they are very durable -- they are made for cattle to kick around, and they can take that abuse easily. I drilled 5/8" holes around the bottom 1" up from the bottom, and the holes were drilled 6" apart so that there are a total of 10 drain holes near the bottom.
In mid-April I posted a video on the process I used to start the sweet potato slips from an old sweet potato, and I am now planting some of those slips that developed and rooted. That video can be viewed here:
• The Easiest Way to Gro...
Now, after about 6 weeks of developing the sweet potato slips, they are ready to be transplanted into the container garden.