IMPORTANT Your sweet potato Slips You will receive bare-root "slips." Expect them to be wilted, dry, or pale in color from shipping. This is normal. Slips are very hardy and will still grow. If planting must be delayed by a few days, wrap the root end of the slips in moist paper towels, keeping the leaves and stems dry. Place upright and keep at room temperature, out of direct sunlight and wind. If planting must be delayed by a week or more, loosely plant the slips in sterile potting soil and keep soil moist; keep indoors or in a greenhouse. Gently lift out and separate slips when ready to plant. I have started Japanese sweet potatoes,half-whiskey barrel containers. I got just as much yield from the container as I did from a Raised Bed, but it was so much easier to harvest the Sweet Potatoes in the container. It would take me a over an hour to dig up the Raised Bed and find all of the Sweet Potatoes. With the container, all I had to do was to dump the container onto some newspapers and the Sweet Potatoes would just appear. No digging. No hunting.Sweet potatoes need loose, well-drained soil to form large tubers. You don't want the roots to face resistance when they try to expand within the soil. Loose soil is more critical than almost any other factor when it comes to growing sweet potatoes successfully.