Grow Sweet Potatoes and Irish Potatoes from Kitchen Scraps

Have a bit of fun and grow kitchen scraps into new plants.

Take a look in the pantry for a bit of inspiration and free resources. Those baking potatoes and sweet potatoes starting to sprout are a good place to start.

The irish potatoes are tubers and the sprouts, or eyes, are the beginning of new plants. Cut the potato into several pieces with one or two eyes per section. Plant them in a well-drained potting mix.

Sweet potatoes are tuberous roots with the new growth coming from the buds (eyes) at the top of the fleshy root. Plant the whole tuberous root or just the top few inches with the growing point intact.

Keep the potting mix moist for both. Once rooted, grow in a sunny window and water thoroughly and often enough to keep the soil slightly moist. Then wait for the leaves to appear. Once your sweet potato starts to grow, you can take cuttings and start new plants.

A bit more information: Here’s how to root your sweet potato cutting. Start with 3- to 4-inch pieces of the leafy stem. Remove the lowest leaf and stick the cut end in a well-drained potting mix. Place cuttings in a warm bright location and keep the potting mix moist. Once rooted, move to a sunny window and water thoroughly and often enough to keep the soil slightly moist.