We are all too familiar with the tubers of the sweet potato. Most of sweet potatoes we see in the market have a brownish skin. Now, there are tubers that possess a purple skin which are from Japan where some people are crazy over them due to some reported health benefits after consuming them. The leaves which are very nutritious can be bought from the local market where they can be stir-fried and eaten like a leafy vegetable.
The sweet potato is scientifically known as Ipomoea batatas and is a cousin of the ornamental flowering vine, the morning glory. For some people, it is hard to draw the relationship between these two plants. One common feature between the both of them is the similarity of the shape of the leaves.
Another feature lies in the flowers. Most of us would have seen the trumpet-like flowers of the morning glory vine, but have anyone seen those of the sweet potato? As I was walking through my community garden, I was surprised to see my sweet potato cultivar ‘Blackie’blooming. As I have read earlier, the facts coincided with what I saw – the sweet potato’s flowers resemble those of the morning glory and are violet in colour.
I was indeed surprised that my garden’s sweet potato vines actually flowered. Because the young shoots of these plants are regularly harvested for food, I thought the vines will never get a chance to grow long enough to mature and produce flower buds. Perhaps this vine managed to escape!
Hello! My name is Robin and I was wondering if your sweet potatoes that bloomed produced sweet potatoes. Or did they die after blooming? I’m not finding this information on the internet – yet.
Thank you so much for any help! Sincerely, Robin Stokes
This morning I saw my first flower on my sweet potato vine…I had no idea this would happen
The flower is purple and amazing!!!!!
I have several through out my garden in window boxes and I hope they will ALL flower before the frost…
Can you tell me if bring my plants inside will help them survive the Fall and Winter??
I forgot to mention that I live in Pennsylvania, USA
Hi Val,
Do you have grow lights? Sweet potato vines are plants that require alot of direct light in order to grow well.
You can try to take cuttings and put them under some grow lights to keep them growing in the warmth of the house or a greenhouse.
However, I envisage that the light emitted by the tubes would not be bright enough to keep the plant happy and you may experience some etiolation of the new growth.
Alternatively and also a better method, you can lift your sweet potatoes to see if they formed tubers. These can be stored in slightly moist medium which can be replanted when the weather warms up.
Hope this helps!
Wilson
Hi Sir,
I am learning sbout the breeding aspects of sweet potato.I would like to know the details of some institutes working on sweet potato improvement.
I live on the East Coast, so we’re still in Spring. I just purchased some small (3″ pots) of sweet potato vine, and have kept them indoors because the nights are still pretty cool here. Yesterday, I noticed that they were starting to bloom. I put them in a window box this morning, and the small flowers are popping open like crazy!!! My first sweet potato vine in bloom!! Just gorgeous!! I disagree with the man who said they love light. Mine are planted in semi-shade. They just get late afternoon sun, and they’re gloriously happy!!!