PlantFiles: Ornamental Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Vine
Ipomoea batatas 'Margarita'

I love this plant. I have it planted on the east and north side of our home. It is beautiful and has nearly eliminated any weeding in these areas. I have cut the plants back and dug the tubers. The instructions to propagate from tubers says to let them dry for about 14 days to toughen the skin. Remove any roots that appear to be rotting, store in a cool, dry place in hay or dry moss. In early spring, plant the tubers in loose soil about 2 weeks before the soil reached 60 degrees. Remove the new plants from the tuber when they are 3-4 inches in height and plant in your flower beds. Leave the tuber in the ground to propagate more plants.

Adds a great bright yellow green color. I also found it will develop a thin dark margin (looked purplish) under some conditions--they did this early this year before I potted them up and none of them have it anymore, neither shade nor sun, so I'm going to work on that next year.

It grows really fast here. Though i could not see it bloom last year. I think, short days this year will trigger its bloom this time. It has pretty foliage, grows best in soil bed.

Thhis plant is my greatest success story. In hot dry and hot wet conditions here in south florida it has flourished. I have it in both rich soil and sandy soil and in both it thrives. I bought one plant and had an incredibly easy time of propogating from clippings. Every couple of days I cut the tips off of my parent plant, dippedends in water and rooting hormone and stuck in the ground all over the place. In no time at all the babies grew rapidly. Now I don't even bother with rooting hormone as it seems unnecessary.

I have not had as much luck in containers. They seem to need much more water than I can reasonably provide. The containers I have tried are outside in scorching sun. They may do better in shady conditions.

The only criticism I have is that their extremely vigorous nature is not compatible with shared plating beds of small sharubs or flowers. The sweet potato vine will take over any plants that are 8 inches or so in height or less. They seem to be fine, however, with taller plants that I have mixed in beds such as birds of paradise and canna. They don't inhibit the larger plants at all.

I am starting to train these guys up trellises and so far so good - they look fantastic! Love 'em!

I am a beginning gardener. My husband used to be the only one that was interested in plants. He planted two Queen Palms, pretty tall, in a corner area of the yard near our new pool. We put some plants in there, however it looked sparse as they were all new, and I knew he would mulch it if I didn't think of something....I transplanted one Sweet Potato Vine back around Mid-April. Today it has completely taken over (in a good way). I love to check out it's new growth every day. It's in full sun. It actually seems to like the heavy rains we've been having. When it starts to overtake another plant, I merely cut the leaves back and put them in an 'empty' spot as 'mulch'. It has completely filled out that back corner just as I wanted it to. In areas where it is starting to take off where it shouldn't...I just trim it back and have been putting in a large vase where it looks very pretty. I can transplant those later if I get the urge to.

I've had a strip along the driveway that's been a weedpatch. Weeds are plentiful in southwest Florida, and mulch is one way to keep them down and keep moisture in the ground, but the weeds still grow and the mulch has to be redone regularly. So I thought, how about a groundcover that's prettier than mulch but will accomplish the same? I round-up'd the weeds, cleaned them out, bought a few sweet potato vine plants, mostly green and some purple (black) at the advice of my nursery, planted them and mulched (hopefully for the last time) to protect the plants and encourage their growth. I fertilized the ground and have been watering daily. They are doing phenomenally! It does appear that the weeds are not growing underneath the plants (the foliage is dense) and I am having to water less every day, plus the rainy season is coming. I have taken 12-18" cuttings, stripped off a few lower leaves, and either plunked them in other spots and watered or started them in a pot for a few days, then transferred them into the ground, and after a few wilty days they go. It's like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The vine is a beautiful iridescent green with splashes of deep purple. I seeded some cosmos in with the vine along the drive, and they are also doing well. I also seeded some four-o'clock s, but they may be too short to rise above the ground cover. Behind the ground cover on the fence is jasmine. Time will tell what the sweet potato vine will do over time, if it's too aggressive, if it really will substitute for a mulch. But right now, I love it! I will send a picture.

I absolutly love this plant. When it is full and lush it gives out wonderful vibes that make you feel good as you stand next to it. It is very easy to propagate by tubers, cuttings, roots, just about any way you can think of. It loves the shade, the sun, and various inbetween settings. I have found that all you need to do is break off a piece and stick it into wet earth and it will grow into a lovely plant. There's really no need to put it into water and wait for roots to grow. Of course, you do need to keep it watered, especially in the heat of the day and while waiting for it to root.
I understand form the input of others that it's tubers are edible, but have never tried it yet. I'd like to find out if anyone ever eaten one and what it taste like? I have just recently moved and the one I have has yet to put out tubers, so I must wait to try eating it. Would like to get some more input from those that have tried it to see if it tastes different from the "normal" varieties that we get from the stores. I'd love to hear back from anyone that has ventured into this epicurean delicacy.

I started planting this vine last year but it has ever grown to the extent it has this year. I have people stopping and calling asking what I planted. It has taken over my flower beds but I am not complaining. It is just beautiful! I need to know how to store? or try to keep them until next spring. I would like detailed info like do I wait until the plant dies and then harvest all of the potatoes? etc. I would really appreciate the help. Thanks, Kim

Amazingly easy for us to grow. One vine planted in the ground has surrounded our mailbox and grows freely in full sun. Several vines in planters grow well from full to partial sun. The vine is much more restrained in a planter but still has the vigor to cascade over the sides. We have used a readily available plant food supplement about once a month for the planter vines.
Our ground vine has done well with minimal watering (unless it is sneaking a drink when neighbors with automatic sprinklers let their watering overflow down the roadside) and no feeding, but those in planters have required constant watering since mid July - daily in August - but then, our August had almost no natural rain and temperatures that set a new record for the month by 2+ degrees.
The color is splendid, and the small insect holes don't bother us - some concern at first until we realized that the vines grew faster than the bugs were eating!
We have not dug to find tubers yet and haven't thought about holding them over the winter. Our dogs have not yet tried to eat the leaves, though some leaves are in reach.
We also have two Blackie vines that have done well in planters in partial sun. They cascade even more than the Margaritas but are equally as thirsty.

I have this plant growing in 4 containers with its counterpart "blackie" they have been growing amazing. I have them facing west were they receive afternoon sun 2 of the boxes have more shade due to trees and i find the lime ones like the shade more so than blackie,
and the two that get more sun have seem to turn more Yellow than green . I was wondering on how to overwinter these guys- I am going to attemp to take cuttings and put them in water, also i have noticed in the pots that there are several tubers-- from golf ball size to a tennis ball-- can you store these? anyway I hope that I will be successful in keeping these plants going- if not I will deffinatly buy More next spring and use them for more areas than just planters the colors of the two together are just stunning!!!!
we are in around zone 7-7b and they are doing wonderful!!!

I've gotten a little burned out on this one -- one just sees it used so often anymore. I used to plant it in large containers with cannas for 'filler'.

I have this plant as a ground cover, it is doing beautiful. I live in Zolfo Springs FL, zone 9a. I would like to know if the tubers are edible? I found one, when I was digging.

In hot Texas, this plant grows extremely quickly--up to a couple feet in one week. It will also grow here in full sun, part sun, part shade, or full shade--it's pretty happy to grow anywhere you can plant it. The leaves look like large morning glory leaves. It looks fantastic in containers with other plants, and can cascade over the sides of the container (if you unwind it from the other plants first, because it will try to climb them) or will climb a trellis or other support behind the container. I've got it growing with red coleus and purple Persian Shield, and the contrast for the colors is wonderful.

I grew two in a container on a windy south-facing patio. They started off well but went downhill quickly when the foliage became bleached and dried around the edges. I am not certain if it was because of the direct sun or the wind drying it out, but I won't be trying it in this location again. In the same pot I had some "Blackie" sweet potato which fared far better. I ended up transplanting one into another container and the other into the ground. Both have recovered a bit, but still are just small clumps.

Super positive! I love this plant. I buy only one per year--then, I propagate it into numerous hanging baskets and garden beds.........it's gorgeous in a mass planting, just stunning!

This is a great plant for any kind of place where it can trail or cascade over things. Great for window boxes. It can grow quite large, as ours did this summer. It is a wonderful bright green and goes well with purple or red plants.

We just dug up the tuber. It is huge! I doubt it will have survived over the winter in Zone 7 though...

I live in zone 6- the sweet potato vine is doing great. Does anyone know how it grows inside ?

I use this as an annual for my zone 5 garden. No invasiveness as they cannot overwinter in the ground. Use it for underplanting.

I started the vine from a store bought sweet potato. In no time, there were tubers growing from the potato, and I planted it to soil. I did have trouble with the potato rotting, so I cut off the tubers, and potted them into soil. The bloom in the picture is the end result. A very easy plant to grow, loves sun, and lots of water.

Although this plant grows like wildfire, it also draws more than it's share of insects. Whiteflies absolutely adore the chartreuse color and there is also an insect that eats round holes in the leaves at night (not slugs). The leaves look like they have been shot with a BB gun. I have just about stopped growing it altogether, since it is very difficult to spray or powder the undersides of a groundcover. In pots it is easier to spray, but the plant is so vigorous it needs constant watering in containers. The roundish tubers are a bright purple color and can get bigger than honeydew melons. They behave like dahlia tubers and only sprout from the stem end, so be careful not to damage the growing points when digging and storing. If you can grow year round, take tip cuttings and root in water to replenish your supply.

Mine did not live through the winter and I am zone 10.

Wonderful trailing plant! Great for adding a little spicey foliage to containers and flowerbeds. Definitely different.

Other spellings of this variety's name are Marguerite, Marguarita and Margarete.