Growing Sweet Potatoes as a Houseplant

So you can't have a site with the name 5 Orange Potatoes and not post about an actual orange potato!

What you need: pre-sprouting sweet potato (some food stores treat the potatoes with heat so they won't sprout; to see if you have a sprouter enclose a sweet potato in a paper bag and sprouts should appear in a short amount of time), glass jar, water, knife, and toothpicks (optional)



There are 2 methods of growing the vine: Method #1- We cut the bottom 1/3 off the potato so it would fit snugly in a little mason jar. Only about a 1/2 inch of the potato flesh is submerged into the water; this is all it takes to grow a beautiful vine. Method #2- don't cut the potato; poke 4 toothpicks into the sides of the potato, about 2 or 3 inches from the bottom. A lot more of the potato will be submerged into the water this way. Then balance the potato on top of the jar (which can be quite a balancing act). Either method works fine.



See how only a little bit of our potato is actually under water, only about 1/2 inch.



Keep the water clean by changing the water daily or the potato can cause quite a stink, especially if a lot of the potato is submerged!



After a few days the roots will start forming; then many roots will form daily! After a month take the potato out of the water and plant it in potting soil. This makes a beautiful houseplant. Tie the vines to string and let it grow around a windowpane for a really pretty look. I also have a post on how to grow potatoes indoors. Have a look at Pink and Green Mama's method of growing the sweet potato.

Just a little note about what I'm up to right now, I am working on 2 posts involving those lawn plants some people refer to as weeds (clover and plantain). I have some easy medicine making to share with you. I am also working on a PTOE post on nitrogen. I should have these posted in the next week.

Enjoy!

100 Species #2 Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is also known as spotted touch-me-not. This incredible plant is usually found near posion ivy and stinging nettle. This is very important to know because the juice from jewelweed's crushed leaves can stop posion ivy itch and stinging nettle burn. Also, it can be used as a preventitive to posion ivy; should you touch poision ivy, crush up a jewelweed leaf and apply it to the area.

Plant Type: This is a herbaceous plant, it is a annual which can reach 60 inches in height. The stem is somewhat translucent.
Leaves: The leaves are alternate. Leaves can reach 3.5 inches in length. Each leaf is toothed, thin, glaucous on the underside and may be partly ciliate.
Flowers: The flowers are irregular in shape and are about 1 inch long. They are orange and yellow with darker splotches. Blooms first appear in early summer and continue into late summer. The flowers have a wet, delicate appearance. The sack like back of the flower is actually the larger of three sepals which has a turned down spur to 0.4" long.
Fruit: A dehiscent capsule that pops open at maturity dispersing the seeds.
Habitat: Low or moist openings in woods and bottom lands.
Range: From the Rocky Mountains east and in the Pacific Northwest.
Medical Uses: Juice used to treat many types of skin eruptions and injuries and is especially touted as a cure and even a preventative for poison ivy. The Cherokees would rub "the juice of seven blossoms" on the rash. They also used the plant as an ingredient in an aid in childbirth and as a tea to treat measles.
-From 2bn The Wild.com


Fun Stuff: Children LOVE the seeds of jewelweed. Pick the seed capsule off the plant, rub it between your fingers and POP! The seeds should shoot out. Depending on the ripeness of the capsule, the seeds could shoot out with just a brush of your hand; hence the name "Touch-me-not." Also, if you are by a creek, pick off a leaf and put it under the water (bottom side up); the oils of the jewelweed produce a very pretty, silver shimmery color that glistens in the water.

Here is a sonnet by Sir Thomas Wyatt, about his beloved untouchable Anne Boleyn. The latin term "Noli me tangere" translates into "Touch-me-not."

'Whoso List to Hunt, I Know Where Is An Hind'
By Sir Thomas Wyatt

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,

But as for me, hélas, I may no more.

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that farthest cometh behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,

Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about:

Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

Growing Little Potatoes Indoors

Inspiration

Potato salad, potato pancakes, french fries.....where would we be without the potato? We are big potato eaters in my house and my youngest finds the word "potato" quite entertaining. She uses the word all the time and even has a song about potatoes. She is the reason for "5 Orange Potatoes," she just blurted it out one day and it stuck.

The girls found a spotted cucumber beetle sucking water from a potato slice. A (my youngest) was inspired to draw the little creature in her journal.

Indoor Potato Garden

Materials needed: sprouted potatoes, soil, pebbles, a large deep pot, little things to decorate your potato garden

I thought I would start the blog with a fun science experiment...growing potatoes indoors. If you don't have any sprouting potatoes just hanging out in the kitchen, you can sprout them by putting them in a paper bag and placing them in a dark place for a week or two.

When they begin sprouting you can cut a little bit off the ends, actually this probably isn't really necessary, but F likes to practice her cutting skills.

Find a large deep bowl. Place some pebbles on the bottom for drainage and then fill the bowl with soil. We used a commercial potting soil.

Place the potatoes, sprout side up, in the soil. Gently cover the potato with soil.

Water, place in a sunny spot and decorate with pretty glass if you feel the urge, as my girls did. In a few weeks long vines will be growing from the top and new potatoes will be forming in the soil. You will be surprised with how many potatoes you will dig up!