Sweet Potato Vine Root Edible

The ornamental varieties are simply cultivars of the species plant.

Sweet potato vine root edible.

While store bought sweet potatoes are likely to be orange fleshed and sugary tasting the tubers of the decorative vine are generally white and don t taste very appealing. However if you cut the vines away and transplant the section of the plant with the new root it will give you sweet potatoes. Like the edible varieties the ornamental sweet potato vine will produce tuberous roots. Although both edible and ornamental sweet potato vines grow from tubers the edible variety are easier to obtain.

The edible leaves and stem tips of sweet potato vines are well known in many parts of the world. Leave it in a warm sunny spot. It will send out roots and stems within 2 weeks. They store them in a cool dark location.

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 butter to make them palatable. Once the stems reach a few inches long snip them off the tuber and place these cuttings in another jar of water. Pierce the sweet potato. To start set one end of a sweet potato tuber in a jar of water so that half of it is submerged.

Sweet potato plants ipomoea batatas are vines of tropical origin that thrive in hot weather. Are sweet potato leaves edible. The purple tuberous roots are edible but gardeners who have tried them say they re not tasty. All varieties of the sweet potato produce edible tubers.

Some gardeners try saving the tuberous roots overwinter much like dahlias. Often considered a poor man s food sweet potato foliage has a rich protein content that helps supplement the nutritional value of the roots. However the leafy green tops are edible too. Sweet potato vines are available in a wide array of colors from almost black to chartreuse and there are several different leaf shapes from which to choose.

If you ve never tried eating potato vine leaves you re missing out on a tasty highly nutritious veggie. Buy any type of edible sweet potato and follow these steps. This long time gardener also pointed out that where the vines root no sweet potatoes form there.