The foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms.
Sweet potato vine care.
Sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas named for its edible cousin is an ornamental warm season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit.
It does best in full sun and warm weather temperatures should remain above 55ºf before planting outside.
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.
Otherwise there are several easy ways of overwintering a sweet potato vine.
If you have space you can simply bring the plants indoors and grow them as houseplants until spring.
The one season in which it s generally not advisable to plant sweet potato vines is the winter.
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.
Ornamental sweet potato vines are in the same family as edible sweet potatoes and are in fact the same species.
Most of the time the sweet potato plant is planted in the spring.
Overwintering sweet potato tubers.
Sweet potato vine does well in containers where it is a common spiller plant.
Although the plant works well as a ground cover it is especially effective.
When to plant sweet potato vine.
Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet.
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.
Bulb like tubers grow just beneath the surface of the soil.
Care of sweet potato plants.
As a tropical plant it prefers warmer temperatures.
They can also be kept as house plants.
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.
Though prolific growers you may fertilize monthly if desired using a general all purpose water soluble fertilizer.
The care of sweet potato plants is similar to most other vining houseplants in the home spending summers outdoors.
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.
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.
However depending on your growing zone it can be planted at other times of year.
The sweet potato plant or sweet potato vine has been cultivated for around 2 000 years for its sweet tasting tubers.
In this article we will share some smart tips and information to help you grow these lively colorful plants successfully in any setting.
