I have NEVER tried to grow sweet potatoes, but I was inspired a few years ago when I saw my friend Fran starting sweet potatoes in Ontario. I thought, "If they can grow them in Ontario then surely we can do it in Pennsylvania!" So of course I went to "Youtube University" and watched a bunch of videos on methods to start sweet potatoes and yams. In the end since we have kids and dogs in the house, I chose to use the in the soil method rather than in the water (I was afraid they'd knock the table over and make a mess). I bought organic yams at the store, two types, and then placed them in trays of soil added a good bit of water back at the beginning of March and then... nothing. I was beginning to get discouraged, so I went back to "Youtube U" and realized my spuds were too cold in the kitchen, so they went into the living room on a table next to the woodstove covered on three sides with a reflective blanket to keep the heat in. Once we maintained temps of no lower than 68 degrees, viola' roots and now sprouts. I will let you know how the next phase goes when we begin to break off the sprouts and root them in water.