I think it's starting to be a little late now. You have to get the sweet potatoes to sprout which is done by standing each one in a jar of warm water (85 degrees). They usually sprout within a few weeks, after which you can excise the sprouts ("slips") and plant them out. I like to perform an intermediary step of rooting the slips in pots first but many people don't find it necessary. Sweet potatoes are more vigorous than regular potatoes so it's not really more difficult to get them going. It just takes longer and if you start them now, you won't be able to get them in until late June, so your yields will be reduced.

So is that the same as just waiting for them to sprout, cutting, and planting as I do for regular potatoes?

Negative. Sweet potato is a root. You transplant the sprouts. You can even transplant the cutting from a vine. Actually easier to grow than an Irish potato, but a quite different plant.

I meant waiting for it to sprout from the potato itself... I thought I was clear enough in the original post but if I wasn't...

wait for the potato to sprout (from the potato itself) cut the potato, then plant that part of the potato that sprouted...

You can wait for the potato to sprout if you wish but it is faster to put the potato in water or wet potting mix. The sprouts grow faster.

Then you snap off the sprout from the outside of the potato an a) root the sprout in water for a few days and then plant or b) plant it directly and keep the soil moist until the sprout roots itself.

No need to plant any part of the potato itself, only the sprouts.

Dave

Thank you!

I do mine the same way Dave does and I come up with absolutely beautiful, healthy well rooted sprouts to stick in my garden.

Old timers around here lay a sweet potato on its side in a shallow pan with dirt about halfway up the side.

Grew them last year and found them to be less work than red potatoes. They can still be planted in zone 7 now. Buy slips (small SP plants with roots and leaves) at your nursery. Plant them. Mulch and keep watered. Harvest in the Fall. I loved the way they looked in my garden through the hot months of summer.

Looking at the zone you are in you should be fine. The last two years due to the drought I've planted the first week of July here in zone 6a and they have produced well. I cover mine with about a 1/4" of potting soil and keep it moist and then harvest and plant the slips as they form. I usually go straight to the garden with them and then cover with a light covering of straw for a few days if it is going to be above 80. Set them out last year and the next day was 100 and I lost one out of 30 slips. The problem I have with putting them in water is they tend to get slimy and will die in 3-4 days if water isn't changed. If I can't plant them and I'm going to be around I just wrap a wet damp cloth around them. They will send out roots and do fine until I find time to plant them.

Looking at the zone you are in you should be fine. The last two years due to the drought I've planted the first week of July here in zone 6a and they have produced well. I cover mine with about a 1/4" of potting soil and keep it moist and then harvest and plant the slips as they form. I usually go straight to the garden with them and then cover with a light covering of straw for a few days if it is going to be above 80. Set them out last year and the next day was 100 and I lost one out of 30 slips. The problem I have with putting them in water is they tend to get slimy and will die in 3-4 days if water isn't changed. If I can't plant them and I'm going to be around I just wrap a wet damp cloth around them. They will send out roots and do fine until I find time to plant them.