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Sweet potato vine woes....
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Posted by
joannemb 6 (
My Page) on
Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 9:46
| I have several long planters lining my front porch. They each hold two 1x2ft. planters. In each planter I planted 2 zonal geraniums, and 2 sweet potato vines. Geraniums in back, sweet potato in the front. They look beautiful, and the sweet potato really took off, but even with my cutting it back every few days, it has affected the rigor of the geraniums. Last year when I planted the geraniums with millionbells they thrived---grew really large and bushy. This year, they are puny. I prefer the vine to the million bells because the calibrachoa got rather ratty by August. Any suggestions for a substitute next year? OR, thinking maybe planting 4 geraniums and ONE sweet potato vine right in front in the middle would be better? The spot gets about 5-6 hours of full sun Any thoughts?
Thanks so much,
Joanne |
Follow-Up Postings:
Sorry, should say 3 geraniums and 2 sweet potato
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| (Typo) 3 geraniums in back, 2 sweet potato in front |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| Sorry, should have said THREE geraniums in back, two sweet potato vines in front. Typo |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| In the past 2 years I have had the sweet potato vine take out everything I planted it with. It even took out an elephant ear. It was a beautiful container for about 2 months. Then it took over. This year I tried it with lantana and got the same result. Not sure how to make this vine happily cohabitate.. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| I'm not much of a container gardener, but could you plant the sweet potatoe vine in a small container and then sink that planter into a larger container and plant your other plants around it? That way the roots of the sweet potatoe vine would be contained and couldn't interfere with the other plants. Hopefully, that would allow them both to flourish. Martha |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| This is puzzling. I have grown sweet potato vines in pots for years and have never known them to squeeze out another plant. Be that as it may, I think that one vine would be sufficient regardless. And if all else fails, Martha makes a good suggestion too. You would just need to be sure that the vine in the smaller pot gets adequate nutrition and water. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| The ones that took over my containers were the purple variety. Wonder if it makes a difference. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| The ones that took over my containers were the purple variety. Wonder if it makes a difference. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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- Posted by edie_h 5aNY (Finger Lakes) (My Page) on
Sun, Aug 18, 13 at 7:04
| Mzdee, not only the color but the specific variety makes a difference. Ornamental sweet potatoes vary in their aggressiveness. I've grown the older chartreuse "Margarita" (various spellings) and that one will take over containers and slurp up all the water. I liked it better planted in the ground. Newer varieties have been bred to run less rampant. Look for one of those next year. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| The darned thing bloomed!! I have seen them forever and had no idea that they fllower. A nice surprise. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| After almost 3 years of trying to figure out what plant I have that is not poison ivy that I keep getting a poison-ivy-like rash from, the culprit seems to be good ol' Margarita, Ipomoea batatas. It's the latex, same stuff that makes Euphorbia sap irritable in those susceptible. A little caution about making sure to wash the sap off well if contacted could save days of itchy agony. If you are unsure if you are allergic to latex sap (not gloves,) it's not an experiment I recommend conducting. Every bit as miserable as PI. I add SPV to various containers all spring/summer. If it gets too big, just cut pieces off. They take root in 2-5 days, so can then be added to another pot, and another, and another... Here's some of it. When it gets to this point, about every 2-3 weeks, I cut everything back to near the crown, find a place for the cuttings to decorate, give some away. When frost comes, you can dig up the potato to save, if it's not hardy where you are. Later cuttings may not have had time to make one, but store-bought plants from spring should. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| Stuck these cuttings in this dog house pot about 6 weeks ago. |
RE: Sweet potato vine woes....
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| This year I added a chartreuse potato vine to my containers. What a surprise as the leaves grew huge almost covering the other plants. Previously various dark purple/black varieties have been used and while they grew long and needed to be cut back, the leaves were never huge. Think I will see if these have made tubers and plant them in the ground next year. |
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