Sweet Potato Vine

I was wondering if anyone has experience in overwintering sweet potato vine? I have the tri-color and it's doing fantastic! I just hate the thought of loosing it over the winter. Is there a way it can be stored dormant? Or must it continue to grow through the winter as a houseplant? Any thoughts? Thanks. Jenny zone 5

Hey, Jenny--my canna's doing great! And, it bloomed a canary orange. =) I have 'Tricolor' too and will be overwintering it. I've kept 'Margharita' throughout winter, and although it doesn't thrive, it does exist well. lol When the season warms, I place outside, and the original plant remains in its "existence" only stage, but does put on new growth that I clip, root, and start over with!

I plan on overwintering several pots of all four of my cultivars, and reroot in spring.

That sounds like a good plan. ;o) I'm glad your canna did well for you. We had an unexpected late freeze here and I lost about 1/2 of my cannas. :O( But the remaining ones should be blooming soon. So I'm anxious to see what colors I'm left with. I have a feeling, it's all the red ones. LOL Jenny

I dug up the spuds last year and started them inside this spring - probably a 50/50 success rate, was my first year of trying so that may have been a factor. I also did cuttings that took off quickly.

I too am curious if anyone has had any success with them as a houseplant...... I really hate to see them go at the end of the season ......

I've overwintered as a houseplant--underplanting in a group. Didn't grow much, but did maintain/exist!

I dug up all of the tubers, washed them off, dried them real well and stored them in saw dust (shredded pine shavings from the pet store) in an airtight plastic kitty litter bucket (cleaned out, of course!) and left them in the garage up on a shelf. Most of them looked great this spring but only 3 of them sprouted. I figured that alone saved me about $25! I'll do it again this year!

OK.... I was google'n on our question about sweet potato vines as houseplants..... one of the links that came up is this one...

http://www.canoe.ca/LifewiseHomeYardWeekend00/0513_potato.html

Can you get the same sweet potatoe tuber in the produce section of the grocery store...... How do you know which vine it produces - I'm assuming the basic green one ? I've never bought a sweet potatoe to eat - are they cheaper this way ...? Has anyone done this ?

My understanding is they are not the same as what we get in the grocery store, but then again, I've never tried to grow one of those.

Ditto, Gardengirl........

Hey, Y'All....

I have grown Sweet Potato Vine as a trailing plant in my BIG, mixed planters. I might as well give up on planting anything else in there, as by this time of year, The SPV has taken over everything--choked out all other plants! But you know what???? I know that by the end if the growing season I will have the pleasure of eating the sweet, awsome flesh of the tubers it produces. Dig....Dig....Dig.....

They are red in color, and, when baked, the consistency of a cross between a sweet potato and a Yukon Gold. I just scrub it clean, wrap it in some paper towels, and Nuke it for 3-4 minutes on high--depending on the size. Then i eat it with some butter/margarine on them. AWSOME!!!!!! YUMMMMMM!!!!!

Yes! I have taken a bunch of cuttings from my overflowing vine, and if less than a week, they have big, long roots on them. Stuck them all in a big, empty pot full of soil. Looking forward to more culinary delights......Try it! You'll like it!!!!

Gita