Ornamental Sweet Potatoe ?

I went back to read some of HollyAnn's postings, I have a question. When do you pull your tubers? Should I wait till the tops get frosted and die?

I have one of each color and would like to try storing them till next spring, then I could spend that $ on another type of plant. I buy OSP plants every year.

Chris

I don't think frost will hurt the tubers, but you could probably pull them any time now. I'm curious to discover how large or numerous my tubers have become! I'm planning to take some cuttings of mine also... I overwinter lots of different trailing plants from cuttings by sticking them here and there in hanging baskets and even mixing them into larger containers.

Ok...wintering for dummies needed here...again. Do you store them the same as other non-hardy bulb type plants. I pulled my tuberoses last year...stuck them in shredded paper in a brown paper bag. I may have misted them 1-2x during the winter. Once it was warm enough back in the pot they went. Is it different for the OSP's?

my OSPs have been so dry in the pot that they had not made any tubers at all. I would check for digging and storage directions for sweet potatos and go with that.

I only grow a couple of Sweet Potato Vines--mostly in my big, combination planter in front of my house
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I look sooooo forward to digging up the few tubers they will have grown deep in the pot. WHY????? Because they are delicious to eat!
I love to just wash them up, nuke them for about 3 minutes each, and eat them with some butter. Just like a sweet potato.
Yummmmmmmmm!!! Heaven! I would never throw any away! I would raid every planter in the shopping centers if I could. Only my civil decency keeps me from doing it.

Try it---you will love it! After all--it IS only a potato! The flesh is a cross between a Yukon Gold and a Yam. VERY good!!!!!

Gita

I got sweet potato slips from the garden center once, for eating. If oyu can store just one potato, then put it halfway into water in spring and take off the sprouts that grow with roots along the stems. There's your plants.

There was a great thread about doing just that this spring... maybe over in the propagation forum?

Yes! Here it is! Holly started it...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/694728/

What great information - gonna over winter those cuttings I got from you, Jill - then plant them out come spring and go hunting for taters next fall...yipee!!! Matter a fact, when my DD's not looking - I'm snatching some of the Blackie from in front of the Vets she works at...LOL. You KNOW they'll just let them die off in a few weeks. If I could dig in there w/o embarrassing her...I'm telling you...I would!! LOL

Oh, just drop your keys "accidentally" into the planter... while you're rooting around looking for them, who's to know if a tuber finds its way into your hand.... LOL

Surely, that Blackie is creeping out to the sidewalk and somebody could trip and hurt himself!! If some one would only get those trailing stems cut off and taken far away....bet they would root in water fast.
miata- I think I have your blackies from Swap( some black, lobed leaf OSP)- I'm bringing those in in a pot for winter with a silver plectranthus from Jill's

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This message was edited Sep 26, 2007 8:03 PM

LOL ya'll are too funny...didn't think about "looking" for a "dropped" item...now THAT just might work. I would assume you just follow a sturdy plant down to the soil and dig beneath - or is there a better way? I've never seen something root so readily as these plants do...simply amazing.

Sally, that does sound like a pretty combination! Now I know in which container Miata's 'Blackie' OSP will be spending the winter. :-)

Good point... cuttings are even easier to "snatch."

Hmmm...that's a thought...I guess I could retrieve the orphaned Ficus that's continuing to put on growth as it sits on top of the dirt...LOL. I suppose I could get another pot for him and put the rooted OSP's around him....kinda like that idea. Poor guy...he deserves to be taken care of now.

Chantell- you know sometimes a plant has worked so hard it just needs another chance..

The organic farm lady at farmers market sold me some sweet potato greens to eat. They cook like spinach but don't really taste like anything. : ^l Maybe they need some ham or something for flavor.

Chantell,

Just a heads up. Some of them tubers are near the surface, but some are a foot deep. Never know which. Better bring a shovel in your tote bag to dig while you are "searching for your keys".

Might be easier to ask the place when the landscapers are coming to pull everything up.

Gita

I arrived early...parked in a discreet area...checked the area thouroughly for witnesses...and carefully approached the subject.....
WHAAAAA.........LAAAAAAAAAAAA...........scored a victory...Blackie and ummm the Mar______?

You GO, girl! Wow, 4 colors of OSP now for your ficus pot... :-)

I waited too long to dig up the tubers last fall, nothing but mush. Had some cuttings already going, though.

Anyone have any luck getting these to bloom? I think I had one flower last year. Frustrating... it's a nice but weird flower.
Maybe it's in HollyAnnS's thread somewhere.

Chantell, no ___garita for you?

Just a quick check in this AM. I found the plant files on OSP it shows the flowers + some nice land scape using them.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/165579/

Hey same some __ garita for me around 6:30 pm I'll need one walking in the door!

Ha!!! That's what the lime colored one is Margarita...right? I knew it was Mar - something or other...LOL!!!
Hey Jill - should I keep these separate from the ones I got from you? If I remember correctly both the ones from last night are rather "pushy"/large. Your's seem a little more delicate...any thoughts regarding that?
Of course after driving around to the back of the Vets and picking up my daughter....ugh!! She looked in the back and said "Seriously, mom...please tell me you didn't." LOL I said, "Ok, I won't" Nuf said.

LOL!

My Tricolor was a little slow to get established, but then it took off.... the green and white ones I got from a friend when she moved, and they're more vigorous now that they're getting more water. I wouldn't worry about putting them all together... If one of the varieties starts getting overwhelmed, you can always move it to another pot.

Chantell!!!! You go!!! I love it!!! Adrenaline rush for ya? Or do you lift plants all the time?

I'd love to say it's something new for me but sadly, I like to bring plants back with me from vacations (i.e. cuttings/seeds etc) They don't always make it but I enjoy trying just the same. My first outside cactus was from bringing home an orphaned pad I found in Delaware...LOL.

as for spv blooming; it is my understanding that they only bloom when they are stressed....; not sure what that means....ie...little water, rootbound etc etc

Chantell,

Confession time......I DID it also......:o( Yes, I did!!!!

Went to the Avenue at White Marsh, the neatest, most wonderful little 2 blocks just outside the White Marsh Mall. It is like a Main Street in Anytown, USA. Immediately comfy cozy!
Little shops on both sides, awnings in front of all of them. Bricked pedestrian crossings. music piped from speakers in the ground, Gorgeous plantings everywhere--BIG pots and planters, elevated HUGE bowl-planters near the shops, A central court framed by a huge Loewe's zillion seat Theater and across from it a huge fountain spewing cool water 20' high. In the winter, they drain the fountain and erect a very tall Christmas tree in its place. The fountain has a concrete edging all around it you can sit on and just take it all in.
Oh, there is also a stage in this area, with free concerts in the Summer as people stroll around or pop into the many restaurants for dinner or for happy Hour. This is a major hang out place for young and old and seniors walking around holding hands. Too neat to describe!

WHERE is this magical place? Why, ONLY 5 minutes from my house! I tell you, this is THE place to live.....

Anyway, as I finished shopping at the AC Moore Craft store, I snitched about 3 cuttings from the overflowing planters on the street corner. They will never miss them! These were the dark, lobed SP's. with the beautiful blue, bell shaped flowers. Stuck them in a vase and hope they survive until Spring. If I go there again, will snitch a couple more.

We all could spend the day in this area and have about 10 restaurants to choose from for dinner and drinks. OR--MY house, so close by.

Any takers?

Gita

Sounds really nice, G. I am super scheduled until around Thanksgiving but in Dec, if all goes well with my Mom's medical stuff, I will have time to play and shop. But if frost threatens somebody may need to make an emergency cutting run.

I think it sounds like a beautiful day...count me in!! Matter-a-fact if you can swipe me a couple more cuttings of that next time you're up there, I'd be very grateful. Guess I should ask you IF they looked different from the ones I got???

Chantel,

Checked your picture again/ They sure look like the same ones.

Does anyone have any idea how well these cuttings will fare in water for the Winter???? I have never had the patience to deal with matted roots in a vase of water for the sake of saving it until Spring.

Need some encouraging words here......

Gita

they do well in the winter

just keep the water changed....

This message was edited Sep 28, 2007 8:54 PM

Thanks Gita - if they're the same - don't worry about it...I still have my source if I need more...LOL. Soon as mine have roots they're going in soil in w/the ficus or a hanging pot.

Hi Guys, I'm Back, Pulling and storing OSP. Well the last two years I had a few that were left sitting out on a shelf in my laundry room in small brown paper bags. They overwintered there very nicely and I got a lot of new starter shoots from them. Plenty of plants to pass around. Last year I tried storing a lot of them in a 5 gal plastic bucket with peat moss. Although they all looked good comming out of the bucket none of them rooted for me they all rotted. I had planted mine in window boxes and pulled the potatoes out when the boxes died which would have been around the first frost. I did get a few flowers on some of the ones in the window boxes. My DIL collected a few seeds from them this year I guess we will see if they germinate for her. This year I planted one each Blackie and Margarita in the veggie garden just to see how many potatoes I could get to winter over for next year. I'll be digging them up as soon as I can. I now that OSP are used a lot in landscaping farther down south but man they were everywhere. Planted a lot with Cannas. Very pretty the lime green Margaritas with the very colorful Cannas. Funny, last year I planted one in a pot with a Canna. It looked nice but it sure is different seeing whole masses of them.
Chantell, They would look great planted at the base of your orphan Ficus. I pinched a very pretty Coleus from the Timeshare we were staying at. It was definitely out of balance and the gardeners would have cut it back any way. (Or that's what I keep telling myself. LOL Well we had a great time and I have a ton of pics that I will be posting later along with a trip review. I have a lot of work to do better get outside and start digging those potatoes.
Here is a shot from a Nursery near Myrtle Beach I really liked them in the bed with the impatients.

I dug up one of my (Margarita-lime green one) sweet potatoes yesterday. Gotta dump out the whole, big pot to get to the rest as they are near the bottom.

The one I dug up, I scrubbed clean, microwaved it and ate it with some butter. YUMMMMMM!!!!!

You CAN eat them, you know!!! Very tasty!

Gita

Welcome home, Holly!!!
Can't wait to hear and see about your trip!!! What a beautiful pic...can't go wrong with that Margarita OSP - it seems!!! Mine have all rooted nicely...now I've got to go get Freddy Ficus up out of the back yard and into a pot...esp. with the temps what they were here last night. Arrghhh - I dread bringing things in!! Everyone was BATS'd within the last 2 weeks so hopefully they won't be bringing friends indoors with them...LOL

Gita - I've only got roots - no tators...I'll have to wait until next year for those.

Holly, Can't wait to hear about you trip! That picture is great, going to make a note of the OSP as a ground cover for summer.

Gita, I can't wait to up-root my OSP, I didn't know you could eat them till I read on of your posts. Love sweet potatoes and yams. I sprinkle cinnamon sugar on mine.

Good reasons to plant more OSP : )