How to grow a sweet potato as a potted plant? A simple growing method anyone can learn at a glance

If you can't finish the sweet potatoes you bought, they will sprout after a while, and throwing them away is a waste. Actually, you can grow them as potted plants, so how do you grow sweet potatoes as potted plants?

1. The growing habits of sweet potatoes

The scientific name of the sweet potato is fan shu (sweet potato); besides di gua, sweet potato has many other alternative names, such as gan shu, zhu shu, jin shu, fan ru, hong shan yao, yu zhen shu, and so on.

Sweet potatoes like warmth, fear cold, and cannot tolerate frost; the suitable growing temperature is 22-30°C, and growth stops when the temperature is below 15°C.

Sweet potatoes like light and are short-day crops. The plant has high light energy requirements during growth and is a crop that does not tolerate shade. From the stem and leaf stage onward, the longer the light energy time, the longer the growth period and the higher the photosynthetic efficiency; otherwise, photosynthetic efficiency decreases and plant growth is affected.

Sweet potatoes are drought-tolerant and highly adaptable; soil water-holding capacity should be controlled at 60-70%, and suitable moisture conditions can meet the needs of different growth stages.

Sweet potatoes tolerate acidity and alkalinity well and are highly adaptable to soil environments. Their root system is well developed and their fertilizer uptake capacity is strong, so it is best to choose a plot with deep soil layers, loose soil, good soil texture, strong irrigation and drainage capacity, and a pH value between 4.2-8.3.

2. How do you grow sweet potatoes as potted plants?

Growing sweet potatoes as potted plants generally has two methods: water culture and soil culture:

1. Water culture

First wash the sweet potato clean, then place it in a vase filled with more than half a bottle of water for water culture, with half of the sweet potato submerged in water and half exposed to the air. After a few days, it will sprout and form a potted plant.

Generally, the sweet potato will sprout in 4-5 days. Later, when growth is better, pay attention to pruning, and generally change the water once every 1-2 weeks.

2. Soil culture

Place the sweet potato horizontally in the soil and cover it with a thin layer of soil. After it sprouts, remove the seedlings and transplant them into other growing containers.

It should be noted that after the sweet potato sprouts, it cannot be transplanted immediately. Generally, you must wait until the seedlings have grown to a certain extent and have grown white roots before transplanting.

After successful transplanting, water the flower pot with a sufficient amount of water and place it in a cool place with sunlight. After a few days, carry out normal care. Water the soil often to keep the soil moist, and regularly let the sweet potato get some sun.