Ornamental sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batata) make an excellent addition to any garden. They do well in traditional flowerbeds and landscaping, and are wonderful container plants. They can also be kept as house plants.
Both ornamental and traditional food crop sweet potatoes are edible; however, the tubers of the ornamental plant are small, tough and not at all tasty. Another difference is that ornamental sweet potatoes bear abundant foliage in an array of dazzling colors; whereas the foliage of the food plant is attractive and abundant but only comes in bright green. Both types of sweet potato plant produce trumpet-shaped lavender or pink flowers; however, these are not large or showy. On the ornamental variety of plant they may be entirely obscured by the large, colorful leaves.
potato plants typically need 1-2 inches of water (2.5-5 cm) per week. this can come from a combination of natural rainfall and additional watering. if the climate is especially hot and dry, the plants will need more water. deeply watering the soil helps to keep the ground cooler during hot periods.
Partial sun generally means less than six and more than four hours of sun per day. Plants for partial sun will do well in a location where they receive a break from the sun each day. They like the sun but will not tolerate a full day of it and need at least some shade each day.
Keep the temperature in the room between 70-80F. Protect your plants from drafts and extremes of temperature.
Here’s a handy guideline: increase pot size by 2.5-5 cm (1 to 2 inches) in diameter for plants that are growing in pots 25.4 cm (10 inches) in diameter or less. For larger plants, those growing in pots greater than 10 inches in diameter, increase the pot size by 5 or 7.62 cm (2 or 3 inches) in diameter.
