Flowering Sweet Potato: The Rare Occasion that You Can Encourage for Future Growth

If you have ever witnessed flowering sweet potato, you have experienced a rare occurrence that may not happen twice. It’s a one in a million event that may happen to everyone. Not everyone would be able to see the sweet potato vine produces flower, so consider yourself lucky if you have seen it.

The Importance of Sweet Potato Flower

We often miss the flowering cycle, especially from the bud to the flower. You should see a small bud that will open and unfurl to a flower, which is often similar to morning glory because of the purple-ish or pink-ish shade.

This occurrence happens quite fast. In most cases, you may see the buds but they fail to open up. Often times, you see the wilting buds without having the chance to see them unfurl.

Should I remove sweet potato flowers if you see one? Again, the flowering sweet potato is a rare occasion, so you shouldn’t do anything. Just enjoy the moment because it won’t last forever. The flowers and the leaves are quite different as the flowers don’t produce any smell.

But the flowers are usually very beautiful with unique shape and bright colors. The blooming typically happens in spring time or in summer, so make sure to stay put if you want to see such a view.

Facts about the Bloom

There are some interesting facts about the flowering moment of sweet potato.

• When the daylight is somewhat longer than eleven hours, the sweet potato rarely produces flowers. Unfortunately, it means that most areas outside tropics region would experience such a rare event.

• The plant has trumpet-like flower shape. As stated before, it looks like the morning glory. Don’t expect the flowers to have any smell because they are more popular for the colorful leaves, which can happen in bronze, green, and purple.

• You can expect your sweet potato to produce flowers, but you also need to make sure that the conditions are perfect. Make sure that the plant has enough water, sun, and also good balance for the nutrition. The plant should be moist but not wet or waterlogged.

• In the event you use the fertilizer, make sure to use the low nitrogen type with bloom enhancing trait. Do it with 7:9:5 ratio. You can also consider using a balanced type of fertilizer. Some gardeners advise plucking the (spent) flowers so you can encourage more growth. But you can only do this when your sweet potato produces flower.

Another fact to consider is the fact whether sweet potato flowers edible. Well, it’s quite debatable, really. Some people say that you can cook the leaves and the flowers in the same fashion as cooking the spinach. However, others say that you can’t cook the flowers and leaves because they contain toxins that can be dangerous for pets and humans.

In the event you are interested in cooking the flowers, make sure that they are completely safe. Even better, you should consult your doctor before consuming anything. With this knowledge, you should be prepared about flowering sweet potato and getting ready with the overall process.