How to Care for an Indoor Sweet Potato Plant

Sweet potatoes can grow over a foot long.

Sweet potatoes are a low-maintenance crop that can easily survive when grown indoors in containers. It grows best in the summer during months when the soil is warmest. Once you grow and harvest your sweet potatoes, you can store them in a cold cellar for several weeks. The nutritional value of a sweet potato makes it a good choice for an indoor container crop.

Things You'll Need

• Bushel basket
• Potting soil
• Organic compost
• Sweet potato slips
• Garden stake
• Twist tie
• Garden spade

Instructions

1. Plant the sweet potatoes in a bushel basket or other potting container that is at least 1 foot deep. Fill the container with 2 parts potting soil and 1 part organic compost or wood ash. Push the slips into the soil far enough down so that the shoots are above the soil line. Space the slips at least 2 feet apart in the bushel.

2. Set the pot in your sunniest window so the plants will receive at least eight hours of sunlight daily.

3. Water the plant frequently enough to keep the soil moist to the touch. When you water, apply the water to the soil and not to the leaves of the plant. Add enough water to the soil so that it comes out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the planting pot.

4. Insert a garden stake into the pot and secure the growing vines to the stake with a twist tie or put the container in a hanging planter and allow the vines to grow freely.

5. Harvest the sweet potatoes in the fall, if you are growing them for food and not just for the decorative vines. Use a small hand spade to dig the potatoes out of the soil.

References

• House Plant: How to Grow Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Vine
• Canadian Gardening: Learn to Grow a Sweet Potato