Sweet Potato Vine Plant Flowers

Sweet potato plants can provide a beautiful low ground cover in planters that will trail out over the edge.

Sweet potato vine plant flowers.

Unlike ground planted potatoes that immediately multiply sweet potatoes need to grow brand new plants. Ornamental sweet potato vines ipomoea batatas are classic spiller plants for container gardens. This beautiful easy to grow herbaceous perennial has long tendrils that tumble over the edges and down the sides of containers. Even better the leaves are edible and tasty.

The foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms. Sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas named for its edible cousin is an ornamental warm season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit. With edible sweet potatoes as with most root crops and herbs it is important to remove any flowers. Sweet potato vine loves lots of sunlight and does best in the heat of summer.

However if a sweet potato flower does occur it resembles its cousin the morning glory convolvulus spp mostly in shades of light blue to purple. Rinse the cuttings thoroughly under cool running water to wash away any pests then place them in a glass container or vase filled with clean water. The sweet potato is part of the morning glory family. It can have the tendency to crowd other plants it s planted with.

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. Neither type of sweet potato is grown for the flowering capability. For a similar trailing effect you can plant your sweet potato vines in pots or hanging baskets. Growing sweet potato vines is not too difficult.

Plant a sweet potato in water and almost before your eyes it transforms into a sprawling vine with lime green or purple tinged leaves. Of all houseplants to grow from kitchen scraps sweet potato vines are probably the fastest growing and the most fun. Place your sweet potato tuber in a glass of water with the top third exposed by securing it in place with toothpicks. They are easily propagated either from small rooted pieces from the eye buds of the tuber or by stem cuttings no plant seeds to worry with as with their morning glory cousin.

How to grow a sweet potato vine in water. Take several 10 to 12 inch 25 5 30 5 cm cuttings from your sweet potato vines before the plant is nipped by frost in autumn.