Purple sweet potato vines are from Central and South America. They are a beautiful vining plant that starts off green and turns a deep purple as they mature. The tubers produced by both edible and ornamental sweet potatoes are edible, but the ornamental varieties will not taste very good. Below is growing and care tips for purple sweet potatoes vines.

Sun
Purple Sweet potato vines need 6 to 8 hours of full sun a day.

Soil
They can grow well in well draining garden soil, which will allow the tubers to dry out little before they need to be watered again.

Spacing
Growing purple sweet potato vines are different than growing purple sweet potato for the tubers. For this reason you can plant them close together and in hanging baskets. The vines will growing beautifully and the tubers will be small.

Water
Purple sweet potato vines need about 1in/25mil of water a week, give or take depending on the weather.

Food
Purple sweet potatoes vines don’t need to be fertilized in fact fertilizing can cause problems with growth. Instead make sure to pull up and separate the tubers as needed to prevent the plant from becoming root bound and dying.

Annual or Perennial
Sweet potatoes are a perennial that can live for a minimum of 2 years. You can grow new plants from the tubers and have beautiful purple sweet potato vines for as many years as you wish.

Climate/Hardiness
The climate that works best for purple sweet potato vines is warm summer weather. They do not do well in temperatures colder than 60°F/15°C. If the weather near you is lower and falls around 60°F/15°C they will still grow but very slowly and maybe smaller, they could also go dormant. If it gets colder they will die. Bringing them indoor durning the winter helps to insure they will remind healthy and strong.

Harvest
Purple sweet potatoes vine should be ready to harvest in 4 to 5 month from planting. If you see the leaves starting to turn yellow it might be time to separate the tubers.