This jar pictured here is purple tinged to match the purple leaves of the sweet potato. Cut a 4- to 6-inch piece of the stem from the end of the vine, making the cut just below a node where one of the leaves attaches to the stem. Place the sweet potato in a container of water. Gather four toothpicks to insert into the sweet potato. Tie the stems to a stake. Use gentle pressure on the tuber to avoid tearing or damaging the skin. Grow a sweet potato vine in a container on your porch or patio, or plant one in a pot right in your house. Insert toothpicks into the sides of the sweet potato to help hold it in place. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Sweet potato vines are poisonous to pets, so keep them in an out-of-the-way place. Potatoes grow from tubers, meaning they grow underground from roots that sprout upward and grow the actual potatoes. You can also plant sweet potato vine from seed. Make sure at least two of the "eyes" are below the surface of the water. As a tropical plant, it prefers warmer temperatures. You can also grow the vine from cuttings taken from existing plants. Make sure none of the remaining leaves touch the water. Cut off the leafy shoots to promote longer, more vining growth. Place your sweet potato in a location (ideally a sunny window) where it can receive sunlight. Propagating Sweet Potato Vine. Put the sweet potato in the jar and wait for 3-4 weeks. Prune the vines that grow from the top of the sweet potato if they become excessively long or unkempt. Root sweet potatoes in early spring. Replenish the water as needed with clean water to the same level, until the cutting begins rooting. The foliage lends a tropical feel to the garden and comes in a range of colors and varying forms. Can I Plant a Cut Potato to Grow More Potatoes? 2. Once a tuber or a cutting takes root, in about three to four weeks, you also have the option of planting a sprout from the tuber or the rooted cutting directly in the soil. Suspend half the sweet potato in a jar of water using toothpicks. Use pots with drainage holes at the base to minimize moisture buildup in the soil. Fill the jar with water until it covers some of the eyes on the bottom of the potato. Most of the bottom half of the sweet potato should be dip in water. 'Blackie' (Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie') has dark burgundy leaves; 'Marguerite' (Ipomoea batatas 'Marguerite') has lemon, lime or chartreuse leaves; 'Tricolor' (Ipomoea batatas 'Tricolor') has variegated leaves in shades of violet and pink. Fill the jar with water until it reach ½ inch below the rim. Find the rooting end of the sweet potato, which is the narrower of the two ends. we grow them in a jar of water. In a few weeks a vine with several stems will begin to sprout. Sweet potatoes prefer a warm environment, so try to choose an area that gets a lot of sunlight (especially if you live in the north) and is well drained. Put the sweet potato into the entering of the jar with the narrow, with the pointed down. Once the bottom of the jar is filled with roots, the sweet potato vine may be transplanted. Choose from the edible variety of the tuber for its green, heart-shaped leaves, or opt for an ornamental variety with deeply lobed purple, chartreuse or variegated leaves. Set the sweet potato in a wide-mouthed jar so the toothpicks rest on the opening of the jar, supporting the full weight of the tuber. set in kitchen window or other area where it will get a lot of light and wait. Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension: Sweet Potato, Missouri Botanical Garden: Ipomoea Batatas, How to Make a Potato Plant in a Water Cup. Press the toothpicks in halfway, or until they feel sturdy. (07/17/2008) By badwater. Plant the potato piece in a large container with about 4" of potting soil and drainage set in the bottom. Ensure its large enough to house half the sweet potato and developing roots. Growing a sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) in water is so easy that teachers use tubers from the vines in elementary school classrooms to teach kids about the natural world. Blot the skin dry with a clean paper towel. Water the original plant a day or two before taking a cutting to ensure that it is well hydrated. A glass jar or drinking glass works well. How to grow sweet potato vine indoors: Place in a container of water. Remember which end is the rooting end because the tuber must be correctly placed in the jar. Sweet potatoes need heat to grow, so if it's too cold outside, keep the potato indoors. The easiest way is to start your plant off in a jar of water and grow … Place the jar in an area with filtered light and watch the roots grow and the eyes sprout. Your sweet potato will begin sprouting vines in several days. Place one or more cuttings in a clear glass jar, with the stem about halfway down into the water. From what I could tell, they could live indefinitely in the jar… Fill the jar with water until it covers some of the eyes on the bottom of the potato. Susan Lundman began writing about her love of gardening and landscape design after working for 20 years at a nonprofit agency. Suspend the potato in a wide-mouth glass jar resting the toothpicks on the glass rim to support the potato. Since sweet potatoes rarely flower or produce seeds in temperate regions, they are grown from rooted cuttings called slips: Select a healthy sweet potato tuber and find a glass container slightly larger than the tuber. Stir fried is an excellent way to cook them. Replenish the water in the jar as needed to keep the water level constant. Once rooted, the tuber can be used for growing sweet potatoes in the garden or enjoyed as an ornamental houseplant or as an outdoor perennial in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, according to Missouri Botanical Extension. The sweet potato vines will continue growing in water for months or even years, whether from cuttings or from a tuber. Submerge the bottom of the potato in the water. Each sweet potato can produce up to 50 slip sprouts. Keep the water level constant, and empty the water and refill the jar with clean water every few weeks to discourage bacteria from growing. They also are popular as indoor plants, and can be grown inside year-round or just during the cold of winter. You can grow these in your kitchen window or anywhere else in your home, where there is natural sunlight. When to Plant Sweet Potato Vine. When the bottom, cut portion of the sweet potato is partially covered with water and the upper portion is exposed to air and sunlight, roots will begin to grow from the bottom and stems from the top. Both types grow best in sunny conditions, but if you want to grow the garden varieties that produce edible tubers, it will take quite a long growing season. She has written about plants, garden design and gardening tips online professionally for ten years on numerous websites. Ornamental sweet potato vines are versatile plants that are equally suitable for filling outdoor containers, spilling over a wall, or covering ground in a landscape bed. The pointed end should be down in the water. Adjust the toothpicks to reach the edges of the jar if they are too short to support the sweet potato. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Pierce the sweet potato with four to five toothpicks equally spaced around the middle of the tuber. Here are a few ways to determine the difference between the rooting end and the sprouting end: Look for small thin roots on one end. It takes 100 to 140 days for sweet potatoes to grow harvestable tubers, depending on the variety. Place the jar in a bright, warm, sunny window and wait for vines to appear. Until it covers some of the jar in a jar and allow the tip of the tuber it takes to! 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