Ornamental Sweet Potato Vine Tubers

Are the tubers from the ornamental sweet potato vine edible.

Ornamental sweet potato vine tubers.

Ornamental sweet potatoes are the same species as the edible kind but they have been selected for their interesting foliage not their tasty roots you ll need lots of brown sugar and. This beautiful vine has grown quickly in popularity for its fast growing habit and lush foliage. Overwintering ornamental sweet potatoes can be done by heeling them in where temperatures don t often stay chilly bringing them indoors or by harvesting and storing the tubers. The taste is a cross between a regular potato and sweet potato.

In the fall simply remove all foliage from the tuber wash off any soil and let the tuber dry thoroughly for about 24 hours. Often grown in container gardens for its trailing stems of purple chartreuse or variegated foliage ornamental sweet potato vine is actually related to the sweet potatoes you d grow in your vegetable garden. The plants grow from a fleshy underground bulb called a tuber. That means the tubers it forms are actually edible.

Yes you can store the tubers for next spring s planting. Heeling in sweet potato vines over winter. Ornamental sweet potato vines ipomoea batatas are frost tender vines with colorful foliage that climbs or trails. The ornamental sweet potato vines that have gotten so popular in planters and hanging baskets over the years are just a specialized variety of sweet potato one that seems predisposed to grow crazy looking tubers down in the soil.