My Sweet Potato Vine multi-color

Sweet Potato Vine – I’m Saving The Tuber

My Sweet Potato Vine is history this year, but I have hopes of continuing her pretty foliage into next year. I have a great big tuber pulled from the pot where I removed her frosted and wilted remains.

It looks just like a regular sweet potato which I have previously grown in a glass of water inside the house. But I have never kept the tuber all year in order to put it out again for the second year.

So this year I am going to try that. ( Note to self: Let’s try and remember, honey, where you put the thing….mmmkay?)

Sweet Potato Vine - Saving The Tuber

I guess these tubers from the Sweet Potato Vine resemble a big rhizome ( like for an iris plant), but in this case I am using the term tuber.  My tuber is a fairly large one in my estimation. I can put something next to it to show perspective. There now. Here it is.

My Sweet Potato Vine Tuber

Storage over the winter will be in a bit of vermiculite. I just happen to have some of that, being a hypertufa maker and all. I always have that stuff in the garage or garden shed.  I am using an empty coffee container and filling it all up and over the top with this medium, keeping it in a cool place. I have a basement, so I will keep it there.

Buried in the vermiculite - My Sweet Potato Vine Tuber

Plans in Spring for the Sweet Potato Vine Tuber?

When I was a girl and worked in the garden with my Mom and Dad, I recall that we planted potatoes by cutting them up into pieces, making sure each piece had an “eye,” that little bump or dimple that will grow a new shoot and make a new plant.

The Eyes of the Sweet Potato Vine Tuber

I am planning to do the same with this tuber. It looks like there are a lot of eyes to be able to slice it up and have many plants. I will try it next spring and you will see the results. Hopefully that will work and I will have new shoots next spring and end up with several plants.

cracked lid for tuber

I poked some holes in the top of the coffee container so that it wouldn’t be sealed. Well, I tried to poke holes but it is cold and it cracked instead of punched. Let’s hope this tuber stays alive. I can’t wait to plant a bunch of different hanging baskets and trailers for “free.”

At least that’s the plan. Wish me luck!

5 Comments

  1. Alicia Mackey says:

    I’m not sure how old your article/ blog is since I don’t see a date but in case it’s new I thought I’d share what I’ve learned on sweet potatoes. Your method described above to regrow by cutting the potato into pieces, in the dirt with eyes up is actually the method to grow regular potatoes. Sweet potatoes are regrown totally different and in a totally different plant family.. who knew!?! Not me until I failed then researched. In the spring, using your sweet potato you have lay it longway in a shallow pan of growing mix with only half of the potato in the soil. Keep the soil & potato damp/moist but not drowning and in a sunny window, if it’s early in spring or before or outside if the weather is warm enough. Your potato will start to grow shoots/stems called ships and lots of them over time. Once a ship/ shoot is about 3-4″ Tall, twist it off at it’s base where it’s growing out the potato. Then take that ship and place it in a glass with water for a few weeks until it has roots about 2-4″ long. At that point your ship is ready to be planted outside or in a container where it will grow lots of new sweet potatoes from its roots. Your original sweet potato will keep producing lot of ships, in which each ship is a new sweet potato plant. Therefore, your original sweet potato can produce about 100lbs of sweet potatoes from its babies- the ships. Given you have the space for that many plants. I wish you the best of luck!!

  2. Gale from North Providence says:

    I bought plants this year but took me forever to pot them.
    I found small tubes growing. I cut them off and planted them.
    so far I have 1 plant growing.
    Can’t wait to save my tubes for next year!
    Happy Planting

    1. Congrats on your new plants. And they should all grow next time too!

  3. Sue Heppe says:

    Hi Kim – I’ve saved my sweet potato vines for 3 or 4 years now by simply putting the entire pot (which includes geraniums and some other plant) in my basement over the winter. My basement is cold but not freezing. The entire pot goes outside as soon as it’s warm and within a few weeks everything is growing like weeds. Not sure if there is a way to post a picture but I’d be happy to share one with you.

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