Sweet Potato Vine Care

Ornamental sweet potato vines are in the same family as edible sweet potatoes and are in fact the same species.

Sweet potato vine care.

Although the plant works well as a ground cover it is especially effective. The sweet potato plant or sweet potato vine has been cultivated for around 2 000 years for its sweet tasting tubers. Care of sweet potato plants. 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.

Ornamental sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas makes an excellent addition to any garden they do well in traditional flowerbeds in landscaping and are wonderful container plants. Gardeners turn to the sweet potato vine for its ability to power through just about anything while bringing interesting shapes sizes and colors to a pot or plot. A vigorous annual or a tender perennial it takes off in summer heat. 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. In this article we will share some smart tips and information to help you grow these lively colorful plants successfully in any setting. It does best in full sun and warm weather temperatures should remain above 55ºf before planting outside. Overwintering sweet potato tubers.

When to plant sweet potato vine. While tolerant of drought these plants prefer to be kept moist not soggy. Sweet potato vine does well in containers where it is a common spiller plant. They can also be kept as house plants.

The care of sweet potato plants is similar to most other vining houseplants in the home spending summers outdoors. The ornamental varieties are simply cultivars of the species plant. Ornamental sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas is valued for its colorful foliage and rapid easy care growth habits. Some of the older varieties may even grace your garden with a few sporadic lavender blooms that look like a slightly more tubular morning glory and for good.

Otherwise there are several easy ways of overwintering a sweet potato vine. However depending on your growing zone it can be planted at other times of year. The one season in which it s generally not advisable to plant sweet potato vines is the winter. Though prolific growers you may fertilize monthly if desired using a general all purpose water soluble fertilizer.

If you have space you can simply bring the plants indoors and grow them as houseplants until spring. As a tropical plant it prefers warmer temperatures. Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet. It is said that columbus brought the plant to europe from the new world on his expedition missouri botanical garden though the variety of sweet potato plant that produces the edible tubers can be planted for its trailing vines more recently different variations have been.