Sweet Potato Vine Plant Care

As a tropical plant it prefers warmer temperatures.

Sweet potato vine plant care.

Most of the time the sweet potato plant is planted in the spring. In this article we will share some smart tips and information to help you grow these lively colorful plants successfully in any setting. Typically used as spillers in containers they also make fantastic groundcovers typically spreading 4 to 6 feet. Sweet potato vine ipomoea batatas named for its edible cousin is an ornamental warm season annual grown for its attractive leaves and vining habit the foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms.

They can also be kept as house plants. The one season in which it s generally not advisable to plant sweet potato vines is the winter. However depending on your growing zone it can be planted at other times of year. 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.

When to plant sweet potato vine. 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. 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 vines are in the same family as edible sweet potatoes and are in fact the same species.

The ornamental varieties are simply cultivars of the species plant. A vigorous annual or a tender perennial it takes off in summer heat. Though prolific growers you may fertilize monthly if desired using a general all purpose water soluble fertilizer. One of the easiest ways to create multi seasonal interest in the garden is to use plants with interesting foliage.