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Sweet
Potato Vine |
| Amaze
the kids by sprouting a lush vine from this grocery-cart staple |
Growing a lovely houseplant from a common sweet potato straight
from the grocery cart is just as much fun for kids today as
it was in Grandma's time. If you help your children sprout
one, you can share in their delight as purplish-green leaves
emerge from the top of a vegetable you usually boil and mash,
or candy in butter and brown sugar. And, if you're lucky,
your child's plant may produce some lilac-coloured blossoms.
 The
stubby vegetable is actually the storage root of Ipomea
batatas - the botanical name for the white or yellow
sweet potato and the orange yam. Sweet potatoes are tropical
American members of the morning glory family. Outside, they
grow best where summers are fairly long and warm. Inside,
they were once common houseplants grown on kitchen windowsills,
the beautiful vines trained up and around window frames.
To
help your kids grow their own vine, choose a firm sweet potato.
Some are treated with heat to keep them from sprouting on
grocery-store shelves, but most grow roots in a matter of
days after being placed in water. Using four toothpicks, have
your child suspend the vegetable on the rim of a jar or mug
filled with water. Make sure the bottom half - the pointed
end - is under water. Place in a sunny spot, and change or
add water as needed. In a few days, roots will form below
the water. And, two to three weeks later, leaves and stems
will sprout from the top. Continue to grow the plant in water
or, after a month or two, pot the sweet potato in a houseplant
potting mix. Keep the soil moist. The stems are weak, so help
your child tie them to strings, wire or a stake. Feed once
a month with a balanced water-soluble fertilizer such as 20-20-20.
As the vine grows, cut it back a few inches to force the plant
to grow bushy.
 If
your kids want to try growing sweet potatoes in your garden,
you can have them root 25- to 30-centimetre (10- to 12-inch)
cuttings in water, then plant them outside in late May to
produce sweet potatoes they can dig and eat in the fall. Plant
30 centimetres (one foot) apart and feed once a month with
5-10-10 fertilizer. Mulch with straw or dry leaves to control
weeds, and keep the soil moist. The tubers need approximately
120 days to mature, so let them grow as long as you can. But
don't let frost hit them. In case of an early frost, cover
the plant overnight with newspaper to keep the vines growing.
Late in the season, probe beneath the vines to test the size
of the tubers. Be careful not to puncture or bruise them.
Store the tubers in a cool, dry place, and wrap them in newspaper
to keep them from sprouting.
Some
varieties of sweet potato vines are so attractive, they're
sold as ornamental foliage plants at garden centres. They're
striking in window boxes and containers, and also make great
groundcovers. Some even produce edible tubers. Pinched-off
tips can be rooted in water and the tubers can be saved till
late winter or early spring to sprout in water just like their
grocery-store cousins
Ipomoea
batatas 'Blacky'. Dramatic dark purple foliage with large
lobed leaves. Ipomoea batatas 'Marguarita'. Heart-shaped,
chartreuse foliage.
Ipomoea batatas 'Tricolor'. Striking pink, white, and
green leaves.
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| Related
Web Sites |
Close-up
view of Ipomoea batatas
'Blacky' (ornamental sweet potato vine), a groundcover
with dark purple-black foliage, lavender flowers, and edible
tubers
Close-up
view of Ipomoea batatas 'Marguarita'
(ornamental sweet potato vine), a rapid-spreading groundcover,
large brilliant chartreuse leaves and lavender blooms
This
site explains the differences between sweet potatoes
and true yams, and includes recipes for Candied Yams and Sweet
Potato Pecan Pie.
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