Growing Your Own Line of Stokes Purple Sweet Potatoes: A Journey of Adaptation and Sustainability

By Malcolm Pannell | FaceThyFear (FTF) Gardening Series

For the past year, I’ve been growing and propagating Stokes Purple sweet potatoes—not just as a seasonal crop, but as an evolving lineage. What started as a single plant, gifted to me by a customer, has now become an ongoing experiment in sustainability, adaptation, and selective breeding. Through patience and care, I’ve discovered that I’m not just growing sweet potatoes—I’m creating my own line of Stokes Purple, uniquely suited to my environment.

The Journey: Saving a Plant, Growing a Legacy

Last summer, I was given a Stokes Purple sweet potato plant from a customer’s garden. Instead of letting it die off after the season, I potted it, kept it indoors during the colder months, and gave it sunlight whenever the weather allowed. That simple decision—keeping the mother plant alive—became the key to continuous propagation.

By taking slips (vine cuttings) from the original plant, I’ve been able to grow new generations of Stokes Purple, ensuring that the same plant’s genetics continue to thrive. Over time, this process has opened my eyes to something bigger: I’m shaping my own strain of this variety.

What It Means to Create Your Own Line of Stokes Purple

When you consistently grow and replant from your own crops, you aren’t just maintaining a plant—you’re allowing it to adapt and evolve. Here’s how:

1. Selective Propagation for Strength & Yield

✅ Each season, I choose the strongest, healthiest slips to replant.✅ I look for plants that show vigorous growth, disease resistance, and high yield potential.✅ Over time, this selection process results in a more resilient and productive strain.

2. Environmental Adaptation

✅ Plants naturally adjust to their surroundings.✅ As I keep replanting from my own stock, my Stokes Purple sweet potatoes are gradually becoming more suited to my soil, climate, and care methods.✅ This means better harvests and stronger plants compared to store-bought slips that haven’t been locally adapted.

3. Potential for Unique Traits

✅ Over generations, mutations or variations can appear—differences in color, size, shape, or flavor.✅ If a new trait emerges that I like (such as deeper purple flesh or larger tubers), I can intentionally select and propagate it.✅ If done over multiple seasons, this could lead to a completely unique variation of Stokes Purple, specific to my garden.

Building a Community: Sharing Slips & Expanding the Vision

Last summer, I shared slips from my Stokes Purple plants with others, and I plan to do the same this year. This isn’t just about growing food—it’s about building a community of growers, where knowledge, seeds, and plants are passed along.

To take this idea further, I’m creating a mini garden center in my front yard. This space will serve as a place where I can grow, propagate, and share plants—starting with my Stokes Purple sweet potatoes but eventually expanding to other crops. It’s still in the early stages, but the goal is to make this a hub for sustainable growing, learning, and connecting with others who want to cultivate their own food.

The Future of My Garden Center

While I haven’t settled on a name yet, this mini garden center is an important step toward something bigger. Over time, I want it to be a place where people can:🌱 Learn about propagation and growing resilient crops.🌱 Trade or buy healthy, locally adapted plant slips.🌱 Connect over a shared passion for gardening, sustainability, and self-sufficiency.

If you have suggestions for what I should name my mini garden center, let me know. This space is about growth, community, and self-reliance, and I want the name to reflect that vision.

Final Thoughts: Small Beginnings, Big Potential

It all started with one plant, and now I’m producing new generations of sweet potatoes that are becoming stronger with each cycle. This process has shown me that with a little patience and consistency, anyone can take a single plant and turn it into a thriving, sustainable source of food.

For those looking to do the same, the first step is simple: keep your plants alive, learn from them, and let them teach you how to grow better every season.

I’ll continue documenting this journey, and who knows? Maybe in the future, you’ll be hearing about a new strain of Stokes Purple—born in my garden.

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© 2025 FaceThyFear. All Rights Reserved. This content is the intellectual property of FaceThyFear and may not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without permission. This article is for informational purposes only. Gardening results may vary depending on climate, soil, and growing conditions.