Sweet Potato Vine

11 years ago

Hi there!

Last March I decided to try my hand at growing an ornamental sweet potato vine from sweet potatos. I did it-they grew vines, I put them in soil, they have grown amazingly. However, my sweet potato vines are not the bright green color you typically see on a container sweet potato vine. As you see in the pics, they are a deep green. Any ideas? Mine look more like weeds, and I would love to get that bright green color. And there is even some green variation between the leaves, but I can't figure out why. Is this directly related to how much sun they get? The vine in this big pot gets a lot of sun, and it's still dark green. We have had A LOT of rain this summer, could that be related?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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Comments (4)

jaybea20
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
This is a little closer to the bright green color...still not exactly right.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
11 years ago
Ornamental sweet potato vines are a bit different than just growing a vine from a hunk of sweet potato. They are specific cultivars grown expressly for their leaf shape and color and the tubers they produce, while edible, are not anywhere near the quality of a true sweet potato.
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natureinspiredM_ 6B NJ
11 years ago
gardegal is right.

The shade of green is normal for the kind you are growing. Has nothing much to do with sun exposure. Just one useful info in case you like to try new things, the greens of true sweet potato are really delicious sautéed with fresh garlic (I grow these vines for the edible greens).

if you desire to grow the beautiful bright almost neon green ornamental variety you probably will have to buy one or ask someone for a cutting.
wisconsitom
11 years ago
Jay, start by looking up the cultivar 'Margeuritte' (Sp). There are a great many additional cultivars since that one came out but it is the standard bearer for chartreuse sw. potato varieties.

+oM