✿ Harvest day! Okinawan Purple Sweet Potato

✿ The Continuance of Sweet Potato Slips Shipping Survivability Test

It has been a whole week since the shipping survival test of the sweet potato slips. How are they doing? Let's take a look!

I trimmed all the yellow and black leaves off and planted the stems in a small pot with garden soil followed by a complete soak. The pot was left on the porch without direct sun.

Wow! Yellow leaves greened up. Thanks to the sun!

✿ Sweet Potato Slips Shipping Survivability Test

Shipping live sweet potato slips is nothing new, people have done it for awhile now. Have you ever been wondering if they will survive the shipping and what is going to happen within the shipping box? We conducted a shipping survival test of the sweet potato slips recently, so our buyers can get an idea what to expect when they receive their package.

Test Date?
6.7-6.13

Test Location?
Porch with afternoon sun

What was the weather like?
Sunny, 70-90°F Average

How was the test conducted?
We packed two rooted sweet potato plants like how we normally pack them for the buyers. We examined them on a daily basis. The actual shipping time only takes 2-3 days within the US, and the plants generally stay in the box for a total time of 3-4 days. However, we extended the test to 7 days to find out how tough the sweet potato slips really are.

Day 2. Still not much has changed. The plants looked fresh and green as we first put in the box.

Day 4. This is the day we noticed some differences. A few yellow spots showed up on the big leaves,  possibly due to the lack of sunlight. However, the roots still appeared nice and healthy, stems remained green. During the shipment, some of the roots may break off, this is normal and the plant will regrow the roots once they adjust to their new home.

Day 5. Plants don't grow in a box of course. Without proper light, soil, air circulation, etc, they deteriorate. As you can see, the yellow spots continued to get bigger and bigger. The center spot even turned brown. Part of the stems started to feel slimy. Surprisingly, the root system still looked good. 

✿ General Guide for Care of Sweet Potato Slips

Unpack the cuttings right away. They may look wilted and pale from shipping which is normal. Sweet potato plants are tough and strong and most of them will survive if they are set properly and have a good growing climate. Plants will succeed even if they are yellow, slimy, and even become slightly smelly.

To revive them before planting, remove any dead or yellow leaves, trim the rotted end and rinse any slime off of the roots. Stick the roots in water for a day or so. Do not wet the stem or leaves. Change water a few times if needed. Keep at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.