We planted the sweet potato vine in our flower bed thinking it’s a pretty vine. We just pulled all this up from the soil. My google search says “purple speckled potato”. My friends on FB say it’s wild and poisonous. They’re bright purple, white on the inside and HUGE. Can you identify and tell me if they’d be good to cook with?
They are, indeed, ornamental sweet potatoes. They are also just as edible, although not near as sweet. They will be starchy and resemble potatoes.
All Ipomea (sweet potatoes, morning glories, etc) are edible when cooked. This includes leaves and roots, and flowers as well. Flowers can be consumed raw, but it is better to cook the plant since it can be a bit bitter.
How to store sweet potato for keeping them fresh for months?
Your best option will be to cure and store these inside, if the area is too wet to do so outside. This article will help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-storage-tips.htm
The leaves to the sweet potatoes are so pretty and I have one that is sprouting leaves. I'd like to try to grow it indoors but don't know if it would have enough light.
As long as you have a horticultural light fixture, then you can grow this indoors. Mine currently reside under Powerful LED lighting along with the rest of my garden. In fact, I just harvested mine, and started a new plant from one of the tips of the last. You can even do this with the ornamental varieties. The leaves are also edible, as long as you cook them first.
Sweet Caroline Ipomoea cuttings growing in peatmoss based growth medium in greenhouse that are supposed to be chartreuse have reddish tinge and some reddish veining, but otherwise seem healthy. What fertilizer or other supplement do they need? They are for use in hanging baskets.
If they are in a peat mixture, then it is likely that they do not have any nutrients at all. Any well balanced fertilizer will be fine. If you were to replace the peat with potting soil, then you will not need to fertilize at all. They are not heavy feeders, as they have edible root storage for nutrients. (These are sweet potatoes, essentially!) If you choose to leave them in the peat, then they will need a weekly half strength liquid fertilizer. Any 10-10-10 will be fine
I live in Colorado Springs, altitude about 6,400 MSL, zone 5b (near the Air Force Academy). Can I grow sweet potatoes here and how can I do it?
You can! You will be best doing this in container, though It would help to start them indoors well before the soil warms up under horticultural lighting. This will allow you to plant out a fully mature plant. This means that you will get a good harvest, even though your warm season isn't long enough for sweet potatoes.
This article will help you to grow sweet potatoes in container: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-container-crops.htm
Container Sweet potatoes had luxurious vines. Suddenly the leaves are missing! I have vines with upright stems and NO leaves! Cannot see any insects. Each morning there are a few beautiful green leaves fallen onto the ground around the container. Dug into the soil and found healthy tubers. What’s ailing my plants? (Photos show what appear to be healthy vines, bare stems and leaves found on the ground this morning)
Cabbage Loopers may be the culprit.
This article will help you.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/cabbage/cabbage-looper-control.htm
They should be ready to harvest in about 150 days. Here are tips for growing in containers:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-container-crops.htm