About
A twining perennial climber to around 3m high, with heart-shaped green leaves and purple flowers in summer. Usually grown as an annual for its edible roots, which have pale tan-coloured skin lightly flushed with pink, and pale creamy flesh with a dainty nutty flavour.
About the genus
Ipomoea can be annuals or perennials, often twining, or evergreen shrubs, with simple, lobed or dissected leaves and tubular or funnel-shaped flowers which may be solitary or borne in racemes or panicles
Growing conditions
SunlightFull sun
Soil typeLoam, Sand
Soil pHAcid, Neutral
Soil moistureMoist but well-drained, Well-drained
AspectSouth-facing, West-facing
ExposureSheltered
UK hardinessH1C
Plant details
Plant typeClimber Wall Shrub
HabitClimbing
FoliageDeciduous
Height2.5-4 metres
Spread1.5-2.5 metres
Time to full height1 year
Suggested usesMixed borders, hedging, foundation planting.
Care notes
CultivationGrow in well-drained, sandy loam in full sun, provide support for climbing stems. May be grown outdoors in warmer regions, but best grown under glass in colder areas. Optimum growing temperature is between 22-28°C. Ready to harvest after 90-110 days depending on conditions. See sweet-potato cultivation
PruningMinimal pruning required, see pruning group 11
PropagationPropagate from slips (rooted shoots from a tuber); these can be potted and grown indoors in spring and planted out after frosts
Pest resistanceMay be susceptible to glasshoouse red spider mite and glasshouse whitefly
Disease resistanceMay be susceptible to fusarium wilt, powdery mildews and virus diseases