Size: #4.5, #10 Bskt
Description: Also known as Sweet Potato Vine, Ipomeas are beautiful and fast growing vines that provide an easy means of adding color to containers and flower beds. These plants are vigorous and help you add sophisticated color and form to containers and gardens.
Spacing: Plant 24″ to 36″ apart.
Height: Grows 8″ to 10″ tall.
How To Grow: Plant in full sun to part sun.
Outstanding Features: Once established the underground tuber retains enough water to get through some dry spells.
Tips: Cut often if needed to control for size and to create more branching. The vines are vigorous and will put on new growth immediately.
Uses: Garden Bed, Containers, Borders, Landscapes
My mother in law planted these and when she dug up there were actual potatoes..are they edible?
Annette,
Thanks for visiting our site. As a matter of fact, the sweet potatoes produced by the ornamental ipomoea plants are edible. My mother likes them. I don’t like sweet potatoes so I have not tried them myself. The potatoes are what make the ipomoeas drought resistant and provides the plants a reservoir of water to carry the plants through the dry time. I have seen them produce potatoes as big as basketballs. I suggest eating the smaller ones. They probably won’t be as tough and may taste better. :-)
Is there a way to start black sweet potato vine from an actual sweet potato? If so, what type of sweet potato would one buy and where? I have been searching online and can’t find this info.
Thanks if you can help, Alison
You can not get ornamental sweet potatoes as potatoes. However the vines like this one do grow potatoes like a normal sweet potato and are edible. I’ve seen them get as big as watermelons.
The potato tuber is what makes these plants drought tolerant by storing up water in the potatoes.