Sweet Potato Vine Flower Box

The lush foliage of sweet potato vine comes in many colors making it a surefire win for any window box.

Sweet potato vine flower box.

Sweet potatoes are known for their sprawling habit but this cultivar has short and compact vines. This is a very undemanding crop to grow. Edible sweet potato vines and some ornamental varieties bloom with flowers that resemble morning glories in shape but some ornamental sweet potato vines do not flower according to missouri. Store dormant tubers in a cool dry place and replant in spring.

They also thrive in heat. Sweet potatoes are drought and heat tolerant and have few pests or diseases. Plants can also be brought indoors and treated as houseplants. Take cuttings several weeks before your average first frost date and place in water.

Many ornamentals are also sterile and only really viable to produce from cuttings. Many gardeners reference portio rico also referred to as bush or vineless as an ideal variety for smaller gardens or containers. 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. 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.

The sweet potato is a large sweet tasting root of the morning glory family. This beautiful easy to grow herbaceous perennial has long tendrils that tumble over the edges and down the sides of containers. Ornamental sweet potato vines ipomoea batatas are classic spiller plants for container gardens. Ornamental sweet potato vines don t produce many flowers which means they often don t produce seeds.

Consider getting the lime green margarita the deep purple sweetheart or the. Sweet potato vines enjoy a bright sunny location outdoors with similar conditions in the home. A vigorous annual or a tender perennial it takes off in summer heat. 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.

Place your sweet potato tuber in a glass of water with the top third exposed by securing it in place with toothpicks. The sweet potato is also very nutritious and relatively low in calories. With edible sweet potatoes as with most root crops and herbs it is important to remove any flowers. Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet.

Stem cuttings can also be placed in water with rooting taking place within a few weeks.