I adore ornamental sweet potato vines for pots, and of course I love edible sweet potatoes for the garden. The great thing is that you propagate them exactly the same.
Snip a few inches off the tip of a vine, stick it in water, and in a week or two it’s ready to plant out. I usually have it growing in a jar in my kitchen window. There is just something about that chartreuse color that reminds me of leaves when the afternoon light shines through them. I even used that color for the inside of my chicken coop.
Here are the steps for propagating a sweet potato vine:
All you do is snip several inches off a the tip of a vine, making sure to cut right below a leaf. Then remove the leaves from the bottom half. They usually snap right off.
You can even use further sections of the vine, just make sure to remember which is the top. You can tell by looking at the leaves. Baby leaves will be sprouting from the top joint of the larger leaf stems in the direction of the tip.
Now, take enough stem cuttings to fill a jar and you’ve got a beautiful arrangement for your home while they root in water.
Once they have a few inches of root growth it is time to pot them up. Use a general potting soil and you are good to go. Fill the bottom of a pot 1/3 full of soil, place one or two rooted stems in, and fill the rest of the way.
I like to set the pots in a container and spray the plants until the water goes half way up the pot. Leave it overnight and then remove to drain. In a week or two they can be placed in a larger pot or given to your neighbors, which is what I’m doing with these. You’ll never have to buy another sweet potato plant again.
