To produce slips (transplants), sweet potato roots should be placed on their sides in hotbeds about a month before the nighttime temperatures stay above 60 degrees F. Cover the sweet potato roots with 2 inches of moist sand and keep the hotbed between 75 and 80 degrees F. When the sprouts develop, remove them with a twisting tug. Additional slips will form from the bedded sweet potatoes if left in place.