Chaman I always start my roots that way. Don't have any real documented proof, but I believe that they are less prone to have rotting problems when started in potting medium (vs. water) and intact (instead of cut). "Horizontal" put more of the root in contact with moisture and thus, likely to grow sprouts. That's just my reasoning. But there are people who have done the toothpick and water approach for MANY YEARS and they get sweet potatoes! Glenn Drowns, at Sandhill Preservation Center, has been doing quite a bit with sweet potatoes. He has the most extensive collection of varieties, available for sale, that I know of. But he, being in a Northern environment, has also been doing a lot to learn about the plant's requirements. Probably the #1 thing I've heard from him, over the years is that the sweet potato requires HEAT to grow and prosper. Glenn often counsels folk not to plant their starts until the nights and soil are warm. Starting slips in the garden early does not give better results than starting late but with plenty of warmth. Last year he started some varieties towards the end of July and still got good results. I started my last planting here on July 18 and found that two out of three varieties did not plump up quite as well I would have liked. My theory on this is that here in OK we have a number of weeks in the summer, when temps are so high, and we get no precipitation, that a lot of plants just sit there, rather than growing. Still, I would not hesitate to plant any sweet potato (here) anytime in June or early July. Sweet potato vines are incredibly resilient! I do not know why I do lose a slip or two almost every year when planting. But most of the time I put them out and water them (from a can), mainly for my own sake, not for theirs. When we lived in the high desert, in Hidalgo, Mexico; we helped a private school with agronomy. We used flood irrigation, as it rained infrequently. Anyway, I once saw a student harvest sweet potatoes and drop a vine in an unused garden plot. That plot received no irrigation or rain for four months. The vine was crisp and brown. When someone irrigated that plot the vine grew sprouts and rooted again! This was a native variety so folks, don't try this one at home, unless you just want to satisfy your curiosity. In my opinion, sweet potatoes are one of the most neglected and most useful crops a person can grow, and, I believe Northern gardeners really should try them. If one has a really short season or cool nights, then go with earlier varieties and use black plastic mulch. George Tahlequah, OK

Ornamental sweet potatoes may contain significantly higher levels of cyanogenic glycosides and other antinutrients, like trypsin inhibitors. Cooking takes care of the tiny amount in regular cultivar sweet potatoes.

chudh - For future endeavors, you can take one potato, and submerge about the bottom third of it in a glass of water. You can stick toothpicks in the potato about a third of the way down and rest the toothpicks on the glass. The potato will begin to sprout. After the sprouts are about 6 inches long, you can pop them off of the potato and put them in water and they will make roots. These small plants are called slips, and you can make multiple slips from one potato. In fact, I have a barrel of sweetpotato plants growing in my garden right now that all came from one potato. I didn't throw it out when I finished and now my kitchen window is filled with potato vines. You will have to add more water to your glass from time to time. Easy to grow.

I grow sweet potato 2 years in a row to havest the leaves and young shoots without problem. Surprisingly, I have havested some big roots in the fall too. I planted them from the top of the plant: easy and cheap method. I just bought one lbs of top of sweet potato plants in Korean SuperH market (it's similar to Harry Farmer Market, or any Chinese grocessry store) for about $2.00. I will wait for tomorrow when the temp is warmer, and stick those top of plants into the ground. The next week will be kind of rainy, and it's good for young shoots growing. The trade of of this method is that I am not able to plant the variety I like... The good thing: I don't have to worry much about taking care of the seedling from the roots. Cheers