Sweet Potato Seeds

True Seeds of Sweet Potato (TSPS). Ipomoea batatas. Hard to get these anywhere else! I’ve been growing them as a direct-sown annual for a few seasons here on the edge of USDA zone 6b/7a. The results have been pleasing and growing from seed does surprisingly well. Not as productive as growing from slips, but you should get tubers of harvestable size on almost every seedling.

What I like about growing sweet potato from seed is all the variations in shape, color, leaf patterning, and flowering. The spectrum of genetic diversity really shines when growing these. As sweet potatoes need cross-pollination to set seed, if you grow out a patch from these you ought to get plenty of seeds for future seasons. As a member of the morning glory family, their flowers and seeds are much the same, being found in small, round capsules containing up to 4 seeds each. Each seed makes a brand new variety and you can save your best selections for planting out as slips in following seasons!

I share them in hopes that these bring joy and nourishment to you to, and together we can continue growing out bioregionally-adapted sweet potato landraces. As you grow them season after season, they gradually become more and more suited to your climate.

For best results you may want to start seedlings early under cover and transplant out when conditions are right. Germination rate variable, 25%-50%. 40 seeds for $10.