Sweet Potato, Black Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Vine
Ipomoea batatas
Family: Convolvulaceae
What it is like
Main Bloom Time: Late summer, Mid summer. Form: Spreading or horizontal.
Ipomoea batatas is a PERENNIAL CLIMBER growing to 3 m (9ft 10in) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9 and is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid and neutral soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 3
Where it is found
Derived in cultivation, probably from Ipomoea trifida, this species is not known in a truly wild situation.
Pantropical.
Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Andes, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Central Africa, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo DR, Congo R, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, East Timor, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guiana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico, Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Polynesia, Samoa, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, South Sudan
How it is used
Food
Rating: 5
Root - cooked. Sweet and fleshy, it is a delicious staple food and is also very nutritious providing a rich source of vitamins and minerals. There are cultivars with soft, moist flesh and also forms with a more dry flesh. There are also less sweet cultivars, bred for industrial production of starch. In order for the roots to store through the winter, they need to be cured in the sunshine at temperatures around 25°c fr about a week before being stored at around 14°c. Young shoot tips.
Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.
Medicine
Rating: 0
Other
Rating: 3
Landscape Uses: Alpine garden, Arbor, Container, Groundcover, Specimen. The root is a source of starch. Sweet potato tubers are being examined as a valuable raw material for producing alcohol bio-fuel.
Biomass: Provides a large quantity of plant material that can be converted into fuel etc.
Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
Ground Cover: Ground Cover
How it is grown
An easily grown plant. Sweet potato is a plant of the tropics, but can also be grown in the subtropics and, if there is a sufficient growing season of 110 - 170 days, as an annual crop in warmer parts of the temperate zone. It is grown in the tropics at elevations up to 2,800 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 28°c, but can tolerate 10 - 38°c. When dormant, the roots can survive temperatures down to about 1°c, but young growth can be killed by temperatures of 5°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 750 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 350 - 5,000mm. An easily grown plant, it prefers a well-drained, sandy loam soil and requires a sunny position. Ample potash in the soil is essential for a good crop. Prefers a pH in the range 5 - 7, tolerating 4 - 8.7. A low humidity as the plants reach maturity is beneficial. Plants grow very vigorously in the tropics. They have escaped from cultivation in some areas and become invasive. Unlike many root crops, the sweet potato begins to store starch at an early age, making early harvests possible. It is one of the most efficient plants to capture the energy of the sun as calories. The plant can mature a crop within 2 months in tropical areas, though at least three months are required in sub-tropical regions. Optimum yields vary from 17.5 - 27.5 tonnes per hectare depending on the cultivar and growing conditions, while average yields are 5 tonnes per hectare in Africa, 10 tonnes in South America and 16 tonnes in Asia. The world highest production yield at 80 tonnes has been obtained in Israel. A short-day plant, it requires less than 11 hours of sunlight per day to initiate flowering. However, day length variation appears to have little effect upon tuber production. Special Features: Attractive foliage, Edible.
Propagating it: Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water, or scarify the seed, and sow in individual pots in a greenhouse in early spring. The seed usually germinates in 1 - 3 weeks at 22°c. Plants are extremely resentful of root disturbance, even when they are quite small, and should be potted up almost as soon as they germinate. Grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter then plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Seedlings can be very variable and are likely to be less productive than vegetatively produced plants. Stem cuttings obtained from terminal shoots. Remove the lower leaves and insert the cuttings to half their depth in individual pots.
Best place to grow: Cultivated Beds; South Wall. By. West Wall. By.
Habit: Perennial Climber
Hardiness: 10-12
Growth: Fast
Soil: Light (sandy), medium
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
Its other names
Local names
Sweet Potato, Agietu, Anago-te, Anamo, Atomo anago, Bambaira, Bath-ala, Blofo atomo, Boniato, Buteta, Camote, Chakarakilangu, Chelagada, Chokeh, Damloong chhvie, Dankali, Dinkale, Dukuma, Ekomeko, E-muna, Faan shu, Fanshu, Genasu, Hila, Hongshu, Huwi boled, Huwi matang, Imbambaila, Ji-oyibo, Kalembula wa lungu, Kamote, Kanangi, Kanda, Kaukau, Kawai-ni-vulagi, Keladi, Keledek, Ketela, Khoai lang, Klawang, Kudaku, Kukunduku, Kumala, Kumara, Lal alu, Luzu vaka, Man-thet, Mitha alu, N jowo, Ntommo, Odunkum, Petete, Phan-karo, Pilau katelo, Pot-ecok, Ranga alu, Ratalu, Sakaria, Sakarkenda, Sakarkhand, Sakkareivelleikilangu, Satsuma inno, Setilo, Shakar-kandi, Shakarkand, apichu, batat, batata, batata-da-terra, batata-doce, batate, boniato, bíme mábi, goguma, kkumara, kuumara, papa dulce, patate douce, sweet-potato, süßkartoffel, tuktuka, wild potato vine, wild potato wit, yam, zoete aardappel.