Hydroponic sweet potatoes become a trendy budget alternative to houseplants, netizens say they are simple and easy to grow
Lately I've come across lots of netizens showing off their low-cost houseplants, and when I clicked in I was stunned - they were actually hydroponic sweet potatoes! I used to think of sweet potatoes only as an ingredient to steam or roast, but I never expected that soaking one in water could turn it into a potted plant. The best part is that its looks even beat the hydroponic pothos and peace lilies I spent dozens of yuan on, and the steps are so simple that even beginners can manage.
Why can it serve as a "houseplant alternative"? First of all, because the cost is absurdly low. Buy a sweet potato at the market and it costs at most 3 or 5 yuan, unlike trendy hydroponic plants that cost twenty or thirty yuan for just one pot. If you kill it, you feel the loss, and it is far more interesting than those cookie-cutter hydroponic flower pots.
The process is so simple you do not even need to memorize the steps. Find a transparent glass bottle - cutting a mineral water bottle in half works too - pour in some clean water, and do not let the water level cover the sweet potato; just soak 1/3 of it. The key is not to soak too much, otherwise the sweet potato easily rots. Then put the sweet potato in, as long as the bottom can touch the water. No fertilizer, no root trimming, just leave it there, and in a week green sprouts appear, with no effort required at all.
The most amazing part is its appearance - it really is more pleasing to look at than ordinary hydroponic plants. Ordinary hydroponic plants either have monotonous leaves or roots you cannot see clearly, but a hydroponic sweet potato has "roots, sprouts, and leaves" all worth looking at. In a transparent bottle, the white roots are perfectly clear, some winding along the bottle wall and some hanging in the water, giving a wonderful sense of layering. The green sprouts at the top slowly grow into serrated leaves, one layered over another, in a bright tender green that even lets light through in the sun, unlike pothos leaves which yellow easily. By two weeks, the stems gradually trail down and form a natural "waterfall shape." Placed on a balcony or desk, the leaves sway gently in the wind, far more lively than a rigid potted plant.
I used to grow hydroponic pothos and always worried that too much water would rot the roots. I also had to add nutrient solution regularly, and with one wrong move it would decline. Hydroponic sweet potatoes need none of that - just add water occasionally. Even if you forget to water it and the bottom roots dry out a little, it revives the next day after you add water. The hydroponic peace lily my colleague grew developed yellow leaves and root rot in less than two months, while my sweet potato has been growing for almost a month and the leaves are still lush green with no root rot. It is much tougher than those "pampered" trendy houseplants.
If you also want to grow houseplants but fear the hassle, or worry about killing them and wasting money, you really can try a hydroponic sweet potato - no skill needed, no cost, and you still get a natural potted plant that is both beautiful and tough to kill. Maybe you too will fall in love with this "moonlighting" sweet potato, just like I did!