thanks for sharing . great tips

Here is a link that might be useful: growing sweet potato

Why do you have to start it in water? Why couldn't you just stick the SP itself in the ground?

When they say to start from slips, do they mean to make a cutting from the green growth on the potato sprouted in water?

If it is grown in a pot, does it need something to climb on or is it just a big bush?

Heat for sweetpotatoes is the key whether in water or the ground...gotta have GOOD heat. Sticking them in the ground will sprout them once temps are in the 80s!!

If it is grown in a pot, does it need something to climb on or is it just a big bush? Well it depends whether it is a bush variety or not.....most are not. The vines don't need to climb.

When they say to start from slips, do they mean to make a cutting from the green growth on the potato sprouted in water? Mostly is means the entire green growth back to the tater.

socks, I have had better luck rooting in a shallow pan of vermiculite or potting soil (as opposed to water), burying only a 1/4" or so of the potato. I cut off the sprouts next to the potato when they are a few inches long and root them in water. Now that I have been reading elsewhere about rooting in water, I suspect it would be better to root them in sand, potting soil, vermiculite, etc. Some of the sprouts form roots right on the potato, so I cut off a chunk of potato with the sprout and its roots. Perhaps if I tried burying the potato deeper, all my sprouts would come with roots. I'm out of potting medium at the moment, due to my wintersowing adventures, so that experiment will be left to others this year. hepatica

Just pull the slip off the root when it gets about 6 inches in lenght. Lots of folks go to the extra trouble of rooting them, but it is not necessary. If the soil is warm enough, the slips are almost indestructable. You can even cut pieces off the ends of the vines, stick them in the ground and they take right off. As for starting the slips from potatoes, any warm moist medium works. Half submerging them in water works well, and has been used for years for a dozen or so plants. Larger numbers you should put down a plant bed, with growing medium. One potato will give you a dozen or more slips.
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Thank you, everyone!