Ornamental potatoes: Food meets beauty

Most of us plant flowers that include roses and lilies to beautify our homes. While these flowers perform that task excellently, they do not contribute to feeding us.

But now you can have plenty of food and at the same time beautify your home by growing ornamental sweet potatoes in your flower beds.

The vines, according to agronomist John Wambugu from Wambugu Agricultural Training Centre in Nyeri, are grown and cared for like any other plants.
There are different types of the vines, which give a farmer a wide choice.

“These plants produce stems similar to the Philodendron flower and can be grown indoors. The drought tolerance of ornamental sweet potato vines makes them great choices for mixed containers and hanging baskets,” he says, adding that the vines can also be grown outdoors on flower beds.
Popular types of ornamental sweet potatoes include Sweet Carolina, which is purple in colour.
The other species is Blackie, which has almost black leaves while Marguerite has green foliage with heart-shaped leaves. Tricolour, on the other hand, has small pointy leaves that are multi-coloured.
Wambugu says majority of the ornamental sweet potato varieties take four to six months to mature.
“As they grow, they produce flowers with different shapes and colours thus making the compound more beautiful.”
The institution currently has two varieties that it is propagating so that it can sell the vines to willing farmers.
“The vines are propagated either from small root pieces from the eye buds of the tuber or by stem cuttings,” he explains.
Apart from planting the cuttings directly into the soil, stem cuttings can also be placed in water with rooting taking place a few weeks later before they are transplanted into the soil.
Sweet potato vines grow well in bright, sunny locations outdoor. But they also thrive indoors. For them to do even better, Wambugu says one should plant in well-draining soil whether they are grown in pots or on the ground.

The plants should be kept moist but not soggy. One may apply monthly general all-purpose, water soluble fertiliser.
Overgrown looking plants can be cut to encourage bushier growth and keep them under control.

“New plants can be started with these cuttings to keep an endless supply all-year round,” he says.

SIX TO EIGHT TONNES

The potatoes have a potential of yielding six to eight tonnes per acre and require a planting spacing of 30cm to 75cm.

One can harvest the plants for sale or for home consumption. At the same time the vines can be used as foliage for livestock.
Although many people prefer consuming sweet potato tubers, leaves have been found to be more nutritious than the tuber.

They contain more iron, Vitamin C, folate, Vitamin K and potassium, but less sodium than the tubers.

When passing through the digestive tract, they may be able to lower the potential health risk posed by heavy metals.
In Tanzania, many people prefer eating sweet potato leaves as vegetables due to their nutrition value.

The leaves require less heat when preparing and only take a short time.

Nutritionists note the crunchy, starch root is a rich source of flavonoid anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre that are essential for optimal health.