A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Ipomoea "Sidekick, Black"

I was getting some roundup and couldn't resist looking through the garden center. I found this cool vine and just had to have it. Now the problem is that I don't know anything about it. Specifically, since it is an annual how to propagate it next year? Or will it just die and that's the end of it. Could I maybe plant it in the pot and then bring the pot inside in the fall? I would appreciate your help with this.

Was it 'Ipomoea 'Sidekick Black Heart?' Do you know the species of Ipomoea? It's a big genus, but it's mostly morning glory or sweet potato vine that is commercially available from the genus. The pictures I found online seem to look like a sweet potato vine. If it is a sweet potato vine, I've heard of people storing the tuber it grows from to overwinter (like a small sweet potato - but VERY bitter if you taste it), or you may take cutting.

Thanks Kenny. I'll look into the directions for taking a cutting. Your right it has the coloring of a sweet potato vine. At first that's what I though it was but it has leaves that look like maple leaves so I got confused. Easy for me to do. Thanks again.

I over wintered mine last year in the house, I have some of the heart shaped vine and the other. I plant them in pots at the end of my drive, they are very easy to root from a vine piece. Just stick in water and they root quick too

ipomoea is likely to be ornamental sweet potato vine. I have read that it does not produce tubers as do the typical sweet potatoes. I should think that taken inside befor a frost, it could survive the winter, and it might be a good idea to start taking cuttings to root in a couple of months, just in case the mother plant has a defined lifespan. The vines can really get huge with light, water and fert....some of the prettiest plantings I've see were a pale, yellowish green ornamental sweet potato sharing a planter with a "black" vine. Outstanding.

yes, it does make sweet potatoes, mine will usually prduce 3-5 in each pot, I guess depending on hot much I water them. But I love thewm, they are so different and they hang really pretty in a pot.

I'm going to have to find a way to hang the pot. I do love the vine. It's so cool. I'd but it in with my begonia's but there is no room. That plant took over the entire pot.

An alternate to a hanging pot inside would be to place a pot on a shelf and let the vines hanging themselves/sprawl from the pot down your shelf. I've seen it done with ivy and it does look quite nice.

Just from my experience - cuttings root really fast. The ones that I took were sending out roots overnight in a jar of water, but I never saw them produce shoots before they rotted (I changed the water a few times a day - maybe won't use tap water next time). On the other hand, the cuttings that I placed in a pot of soil took about a week longer to root, but produced shoots. Just though you'd be interested to know :)

they are pretty anyway you use them I have big pots sitting on the ground and they casscade over the side of the pots really pretty