The sweet potato plant delights many gardeners with its climbing shoots. They like to use the morning glory plant in raised beds or as a tendril on house walls or walls. The sweet potato also produces beautiful flowers. The shoots can still be used for other purposes. Find out here what possible uses there are and how to properly care for sweet potato shoots.
What can you use sweet potato shoots for?
Sweet potato shoots can be used for propagation by cutting 10 cm long cuttings and allowing them to root in water or moist soil. The long shoots are also suitable for decoration on walls or fences with a climbing aid.
Propagate sweet potatoes through shoots
Use the shoots to obtain cuttings and propagate your sweet potato in this way.
- cut a 10 cm long shoot from the mother plant
- place it in a water bath or in a wooden box with moist soil
- the first shoots form after just a few days
- if frost is no longer expected outside, you can plant the young shoot outdoors
Note: The shoots must not remain in the water bath for too long. Otherwise growth will stagnate.
Trail for the shoots
Sweet potato shoots can grow up to 3 meters long. The batate is therefore ideal for growing a house wall. It also looks beautiful when wrapped around a garden fence or railing. A climbing aid is always an advantage. Use a metal or bamboo pole for this.
Do the shoots need to be cut?
The sweet potato does not need to be cut. Actually, it is precisely the long shoots that give the plant its appeal. If you still find these annoying, you can cut them off without hesitation. However, wilted shoots must be removed.
Remove shoots before consumption
If stored for a long time, the sweet potato tubers will sprout again. However, they are still edible. However, you should definitely remove the shoots beforehand. They also remove nutrients and water from the vegetables, so you should use the tubers as quickly as possible as soon as they sprout. An apple that you place with the stored sweet potatoes protects against new shoots forming.
