When the vines are at least 4-5 inches long, use them for cuttings. Plus, this easy-care houseplant looks great all year! Have you ever looked at a sweet potato during dinner and wondered what it looks like in its plant form? Okinawan and Molokai Sweet Potatoes Moderate watering is best. A little more about me. The plant grows best in moist, well-drained soil; if the ground stays too wet for too long, sweet potato vine may rot and die. A: In South America, the juice of red sweet potatoes was used as a dye when mixed with lime juice. Specially grown to be a vine, enjoy this beautiful plant's rich, deep purple leaves on trellises, arbors, and other structures. We're always looking to improve our articles to help you become an even better gardener. Similarly, while the leaves of commercial sweet potatoes are edible in salads and for other cooking uses while they’re young and tender, the ornamental varieties aren’t as tasty. And because its beauty comes from the foliage, you can enjoy sweet potato vine all season long without worrying about whether it's going to go in and out of bloom. Spreading beneficial nematodes around your garden is also a reliable measure to combat grub and larvae development. Even better, the leaves are edible and tasty. So are we! Moist, well-drained soil. Ornamental sweet potato vines are subject to amino acid (ALS) inhibitor herbicide injury. Purple is one of the more common colors for potato blossoms. For the most part, your sweet potato vines are independent and will take care of themselves, but here’s some helpful hints for best results. Ornamental sweet potato vine never goes out of style. **Some varieties have been bred for colorful foliage, and are sold as ornamental plants -- however, their tubers have an off taste that makes them unpalatable as food. Centennial – A excellent variety for those in northern climates with short growing seasons. They can also be grown outdoors as annual ground cover in flower beds. It will take care of the hard work for you! However, if a sweet potato flower does occur it resembles its cousin, the Morning Glory ( Convolvulus spp.) Illusion Midnight Lace Sweet Potato Vine Ipomoea batatas 'Illusion Midnight Lace' has a compact, mounding/trailing habit and rich purple foliage. Well-draining, moist soil is perfect for the sweet potato plant. Reputedly, bush turkeys will scratch deeply around the vines while searching for grubs. Be cautious with herbicides near your sweet potato vines. Costa Farms is a wholesale grower that discovers, develops, and grows plants for your home and life -- indoors and out. While the ornamental sweet potato plants don’t often flower, when Blackie does, it produces lavender or purple trumpet-like flowers. We at George’s Plant Farm would like to be your sweet potato plant provider!We have been growing and shipping quality, certified, sweet potato vines, sweet potato draws, sweet potato transplants, sweet potato slips, sweet potato starts all known as sweet potato plants for over 30 years direct from our family farm in Tennessee. Purple sweet potato color is also used as a ‘natural’ food coloring. Available in red, light green, or purple, it’s rapidly becoming a favorite! Also a less vigorous grower. Our articles, blogs, tips, and photos help you use plants to beautify your living spaces and enhance your life. And finally, researchers are beginning to investigate using sweet potato varieties to produce biofuel. The tubers can be variable in shape and can be red, yellow, brown, white or purple in color. The ornamental varieties are simply cultivars of the species plant. In Hawaii, where the plant is called ‘Uala, it’s used medicinally, and at least one variety was used as a fish bait. You can fertilize on occasion to spur rapid growth, but otherwise it’s not necessary. This heat loving perennial will die back if the plant experiences hard freezes below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 C.). It tends to be a little less tolerant of cooler temperatures, and needs protection if the temperature drops too low. This variety is truly named – its tricolored leaves are green with streaks of pink and white, giving it a distinct and unusual look when compared to other sweet potato vines. Where the Sweet Caroline variety and the Sweetheart varieties diverge is in their leaf shape – the Sweetheart variety has distinctly heart-shaped leaves which make for a beautiful display. While full sun is ideal, sweet potato vines accept partial to full shade as well. It spreads to 4 feet. The plant is loved for its colorful chartreuse, purple, bronze, copper, or black foliage. When growing ornamental sweet potato vines, there are a number of varieties to choose from. To prevent this, you can trim your vines at any time to keep them from choking out the neighbors. Purple sweet potato slips are rooted cuttings of the potato vine that you can plant directly into your vegetable garden. SolarPower Red sweet potato vine features rusty-bronze foliage on a plant that has dense leaf coverage, so it won't get lanky like older varieties can. Most of the time, the flowers on potato plants will fall off in the summer heat. The plant is loved for its colorful chartreuse, purple, bronze, copper, or black foliage. They’re also dryer than regular potatoes which is a big bonus when making pancakes. And because its beauty comes from the foliage, you can enjoy sweet potato vine all season long without worrying about whether it's going to go in and out of bloom. While it's traditionally used as an accent plant, you can also grow sweet potato vine as a focal point on its own. They do require some support to get them started, but once they’ve filled out, you can have a leavy cover over your backyard patio or a fence coated with vibrantly-colored leaves. The top third of the sweet potato should be above the ground. The only surprising thing about the sudden popularity of Sweet Potato Vines is why it took so long to happen. It’s better to avoid using weedkillers near your sweet potato vines just to be safe. It can be trained to a trellis, and can reach heights of 6-9 feet once established. Remove most of the leaves, leaving only a few at the vine tip, and place your cutting into a glass of water. Hi, I'm Kevin. Sweet potato vines make great companion plants in containers and raised beds. Their leaves may be differently colored in full shade conditions than they would be in full sun. Compact varieties are fun in hanging baskets and window boxes; larger varieties are outstanding in large containers or as an annual groundcover. Garlic is an excellent sweet potato companion plant. Plant a sweet potato in water, and almost before your eyes it transforms into a sprawling vine with lime green or purple-tinged leaves. Not nearly as wicked as its name implies, this Sweet Potato Vine has a trailing habit & deep purple leaves. The plant yields well in medium dry conditions and is tolerant to many diseases. The potato vine, also called nightshade jasmine, is a beautiful shrub native to Brazil.Its flowers do look very similar to those of jasmine. Often grown in container gardens for its trailing stems of purple, chartreuse, or variegated foliage, ornamental sweet potato vine is actually related to the sweet potatoes you'd grow in your vegetable garden. However, the best way to avoid these pests is to never get them in the first place. The structure of a potato plant flower is similar to that of a tomato plant flower. "A Real Simple magazine - Top 10 goofproof Plant" FREE Shipping. Smaller growing and a bit less vigorous than other varietals, these sweet potato vines are described as having a thread-leaf foliage and are more mounding than other types. While you may be able to coax your plant into producing sweet potato vine seeds, they aren’t guaranteed to be good, so it’s best to propagate in other ways. Garnet – Similar flesh to the Jewel variety, but the skin has a deeper reddish hue. Sweet potatoes are known to be sensitive to rot issues, including root rot, stem rot, storage rot, and soft rot. Some of the most popular ornamental vine types are documented here, but there are many more, and new varieties are being developed regularly. Use a well-draining pot large enough to accommodate it comfortably. Herbicides that contain Imidazolinones, Sulfonylureas, and Triazolopyrimidine sulfonanilides can cause stunting in plants, leaf yellowing, and can result in slow plant death. After the fragrant purple flowers disappear, the plant will produce attractive red berries. Sweet potato plants (Ipomoea batatas) are vines of tropical origin that thrive in hot weather. Intolerant of highly alkaline soil. In full sun, the Margarita produces a bright chartreuse leaf with a hint of yellow, but if grown in the shade, it is deeper green in hue. Send us an email and we'll get back to you. $17.07. They are bred for the beauty of their leaves rather than edible tubers, and the vines from these plants make them look more like a morning glory or clematis than a member of the potato family. Ipomoea butatas, or sweet potato vine, thrives in hot, tropical climates and is an ornamental foliage plant often used as a foil for flowering displays. Sweet Potato Vine Questions? And better yet, it’s easy to grow more from cuttings. As a tropical plant, it prefers warmer temperatures. Take a sturdy cardboard box and fill it with peat moss, vermiculite, or sand, and gently press the tubers down into it. We’re your online gardening resource for plant info and inspiration. With leaves that range from lacy to heart-shaped, and the occasional rare trumpet-shaped flower, these fast-growing ornamentals can provide a lush, eye-catching addition to your landscape. It’s most needed during the spring and summer months when the weather is warm and the plants are growing fast. In many cultures, all parts of the plant (leaves, stems, and roots) were used for animal fodder. Named for its purple skin and meat, this potato is very smooth and uniform and is great for the Asian market. These cultivars introduced in 2009 are more mounding than spreading, and are available in two shades. In most of the above cases, insecticides are known to help. © 2020 Costa Farms, LLC. Missouri Botanical Garden suggests that ornamental sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas) rarely flower but that some nonhybrid species types may occasionally produce pink or purple … (Vine Type) It does quite well in the heat of the summer, and spreads about 3 feet. In hot-summer climates such as Southern Florida, it can struggle in full sun during the hottest months, especially if the soil dries out. 21800 SW 162ND Ave. Miami, Florida 33170 |  (800) 327-7074 Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Purple Sweet Potato Vine is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor containers and hanging baskets. Make sure that you trim the vine at a leaf node. You can also store your sweet potatoes in a box of sand or peat moss over the winter, and in the spring, they may start sprouting on their own. Illusion Emerald Lace forms more of a mound than many other varieties, and shows off exciting, finely cut chartreuse leaves. If they do, some have reported success with cutting sprouted slips from the tuber and planting those. Vining plant. Finally, in Australia, a surprising pest is the bush turkey. While you're here, why not follow us on Facebook and YouTube? Sweet potato plants can provide a beautiful low ground cover in planters that will trail out over the edge. Home of the Whole Food Plant Based Diet (WFPB)! Plant the sweet potato in a container of potting soil when each vine has as least four to six leaves. It can have the tendency to crowd other plants it’s planted with. Don't be afraid to prune or clip back the plant whenever it seems to get out of bounds. This fun variety shows off heart-shaped foliage in a bright shade of chartreuse-green. One of the most versatile plants around, you can grow sweet potato vine in sun or shade and in container gardens, landscapes, or garden beds and borders. Like Blackie, it has leaves which are reminiscent of maple leaves, and works extremely well as a ground cover. Purple vine plants are common, as are green, red, bronze, and even multicolored. They don’t have as many natural sugars in them, and can be bitter. Presently, ruddy bronze and lime green varieties are available. It spreads to 3 feet. Well suited to trellis or arbor training, it can easily grow to a height of seven feet in a season, and is available in lime and black varieties. Hawaiian sweet potato, which is a variety called ‘Okinawan’, but is commonly called purple yam, Japanese purple potato or Japanese Sweet Potato. Botanical Names: Ipomoea batatas. When it's happy, sweet potato vine can be a vigorous grower, especially old-fashioned varieties that can grow quite large. Whiteflies, thrips, and a few types of aphids have also been reported to attack the foliage. Epic Gardening occasionally links to goods or services offered by vendors to help you find the best products to care for plants. Sweet Potato Plant Slips. So if you’re in an area where turkeys are common, or perhaps even chickens or other ground-scratching birds, keep an eye on your sweet potato vines to make sure you don’t have an avian rampage in progress! Plant in an area that receives full sun and has well-drained soil. One of the darkest varieties, it combines well with nearly any other color. Okinawa, hence its name. These purple sweet potato vines are so dark that they are nearly black, hence their name. It might not be the tastiest treat, but it’s certainly a feast for the eyes! Purple sweet potatoes are slightly less sweet than the orange ones and have a special floral taste. It grows 10 inches tall and spreads 4 feet across. Leave all of the stems exposed. Home » Sweet Potato Vine: Grow and Care for Ipomoea Batatas. That means the tubers it forms are actually edible; popular varieties like 'Marguerite' have small, round tubers, while varieties like 'Blackie' have longer, narrower tubers. While the ornamental sweet potato plants don’t often flower, when Blackie does, it produces lavender or purple trumpet-like flowers. The black version of the SolarPower is a purple sweet potato vine, and is deep purplish-black in hue. The best prevention for these is to make sure the soil is well-drained and that the surface of the soil does not puddle. Pull the toothpicks out of the potato and cover it completely with soil. Contrasting Colors. However, the large leaves are not as comfortable on bare feet, so it’s best to do this treatment in areas where children aren’t likely to play. The Costa Farms team is happy to help. $9.87 $ 9. However, in very hot climates, they can experience sunburn in extremely high temperatures (110+ degrees), so in the height of summer, it’s wise to provide a bit of shade cover for your plants. With unique almost-lacy leaves, this purple sweet potato vine is quite striking. With a myriad of colors and leaf shapes, the sweet potato vine may be your best bet for a lush landscape or a perfectly-planted hanging garden. Deep purple to nearly black in full sun; green undertones in partial shade. The larvae of those two types of beetles could become a problem if they’re laid in the soil near your plant, so watch for changes in your plant which might indicate root attack. When grown alongside sweet potatoes, it repels pests from the potato beds. If you want to buy slips, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange sells the Stokes slips (I think that’s what they are, they don’t state a variety…) and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds used to sell slips for the Molokai Purple (last time I checked they didn’t have them though…). It will put down roots and will push up sprouts. How to plant. 3.7 out of 5 stars 13 ratings. Neither type of sweet potato is grown for the flowering capability. Ragtime offered excellent performance over the summer in the Costa Farms Trial Garden. Some pests, some diseases, herbicide sensitivity. Okinawa – A Japanese sweet potato variety with purple flesh. Here is more about our approach. Sweet potato vines can reach 4 m (13 ft) in length and the plant is usually grown as an annual, harvested after one growing season. Plant with ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Lime', Million Bells® Crackling Fire, and ‘Red Roof’ coleus for a sizzling pop of color. If you are unsure, definitely do not place any of the root stock in the ground directly. Well, look no further, for here you’ll learn all about the sweet potato vine… the ornamental sweet potato vine, that is! Select a well-draining soil (test your soil if you’re unsure) and place it at the same depth that your potato vine seedling was at. Of all houseplants to grow from kitchen scraps, sweet potato vines are probably the fastest growing and the most fun. Some of these may be affiliate links, meaning we earn a small commission if items are purchased. It grows 12 inches tall and 36 inches wide. One of the most versatile plants around, you can grow sweet potato vine in sun or shade and in container gardens, landscapes, or garden beds and borders. SolarPower is one of the best performers in hot environments, growing to an average height of one foot and spreading about three feet wide. 87. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It can climb to 84 inches in a season. Ornamental sweet potato vines come in many varieties and colors, and they look beautiful as ground covers or for contrasts in pots and hanging baskets. Floramia Rosso sweet potato vine is a unique variety that features heart-shaped leaves in shades of bronze, rose, and brown. It spreads 4 feet wide. Because of the drier texture the batter is easier to work with and much less flour is needed to create the right consistency, leading to more sweet potato flavor. Sweet potato vine grows practically anywhere, from full sun to full shade. There’s multiple ways to use sweet potato vine in your landscape! Above ground, pesky flea beetles and cucumber beetles can eat portions of the foliage, but that’s of less concern as the plant is so quick to grow. Some mottle and mosaic viruses are also typical, as are a few varieties of leaf spot. A top performer in our Costa Farms Trial Garden, Desana Bronze features bronze-purple heart-shaped foliage. Commercial varieties have been developed to form sweet, delicious tubers. Grow Sweet Potato Vine Cuttings. The purple flower potato bush is a perennial shrub – this means you’ll see the plant return year after year to bring color to your garden from summer through fall. Creeping Charlie: How to Get Rid of Ground Ivy, Best Garden Hoses: Picking The Right Hose For You, Ground cover normally, but some climbing varieties can reach 7 feet, Warm weather preferred (annual in all zones, perennial in zones 9-11), Tropical (high) humidity preferred, does not like desert dryness. They spread about 3 feet. For a similar trailing effect, you can plant your sweet potato vines in pots or hanging baskets. I created Epic Gardening to help teach 10,000,000 people how to grow anything, no matter where they live in the world.

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