"Blackie" Potato Vine

http://plantsdatabase.com/go/53067/index.html

Just got one for 98 cents today! It's the prettiest thing alive! I planted it under my oak tree- will this be okay? Should I fertilize it? Does it bloom? Will it get big?

Nathalyn said she gave hers eathworm casings and cow manure...her postings are near the bottom of this thread:
http://davesgarden.com/t/438639/

Crims,

I'm not sure what's proper care for these. One of my customers gave me a bunch of these. I have 3 different, make that 4 different colors of these vines. The blacks aren't growing quite as wild as the green and yellows. The pinks will go green if conditions (I don't know which conditions) aren't right.

This shade garden gets a bit of morn. sun and a bit of afternoon sun. There are 2 oak trees overhead, one to the right and one further away to the left. I had to raise the ground between the 2 trees just to get some soil I could dig into (because of the shallow root system) I haven't fertilized, had the plant about a year and haven't seen any blooms.

Sorry Crims I don't have the technical knowledge, only the practical experience.
:^)))
Molly

It's okay! I was just curious. :-) It's such a pretty vine. Thanks guys!!!

I stick mine in a big pot as underplants for brugs and they get fertilized like the brugs, obviously. Very fast growers but they do need sun to really show off. I like the Ace of Spades a lot. It doesn't seem to dry on the edges like the Blackie can do at times. Remember to save the tubers for next year.

Blackie? Get big? Oh noooooooooooooo, crim. It'll never get big. Just quietly go out with a shovel and remove any plant growing within 8 feet of the bugger, that all. And then when you are digging in that area next spring and you find these really big potato looking things in the ground - just remember: aliens put them there. Really.

Seriously it will grow quicker in the sun but it will grow anywhere. And grow....and grow.

See all that purple stuff in this pic below (taken in december I might add - them ain't no daylilies baby! ONE Blackie plant. Period. The front bed was done with a single cutting from in back. The back bed is so full of Blackie that it actually forms a mulch and I have to cut it away from the other plants.

MollyMc BTW I find the black grows many times faster than the pink and about the same as the green, but I haven't tried the new Black Ace of Spades with the heart shaped leaf. Mine is the original trilobed blackie, so maybe more vigorous. Also, gets TONS of water. Couldn't drown it if you tried. Actually put some in my aquarium and its doing great.

I have found that the Ace of Spades variety doesn't grow as fast as the others.
I havesome in a ganging basket... with some million bells & Scavolea.

gabagoo those are some seriously chunky scavolea you have there? what do you fertilize with!!!

When mine get out of control, I snip pieces off and throw them in the pond and they root and grooooow all over it. Sun , Shade mine don't seem to have a preference. Lou

Oh wow- in your tank???? Like planted UNDER the water?

Mine are in full sun, and like Delphiniumdiva, I have to cut them very often..Planted in pots, but you would never know it.. They have run and are rooted all over the place, One has even threatened to take over my front porch..I cut a 12 foot strip that had crossed half my porch the other day, it was back behind my rocking chairs..I decided it had to get off there so I could see the snakes, just in case.....I throw them out and they root....They grow faster than I can keep them from covering my other plants, lol..

larkie

I am liking this vine better every day! LOL

Like the idea bout throwing the cuttings in the pond dispatcher!

LOL, Delphiniumdiva!
They are a bit chunky aren't they?

I guess they come in different varieties like peanut butter.... smooth or chunky.

Nancy