Tina Forrester Sweet Potato Vine Amaze the kids by sprouting a lush vine from this grocery-cart staple by Tina Forrester Growing a lovely houseplant from a common sweet potato straight from the grocery cart is just as much fun for kids today as it was in Grandma's time. If you help your children sprout one, you can share in their delight as purplish-green leaves emerge from the top of a vegetable you usually boil and mash, or candy in butter and brown sugar. And, if you're lucky, your child's plant may produce some lilac-coloured blossoms. The stubby vegetable is actually the storage root of Ipomea batatas - the botanical name for the white or yellow sweet potato and the orange yam.
Sweet potatoes are tropical American members of the morning glory family.
Outside, they grow best where summers are fairly long and warm. Inside, they were once common houseplants grown on kitchen windowsills, the beautiful vines trained up and around window frames. To help your kids grow their own vine, choose a firm sweet potato. Some are treated with heat to keep them from sprouting on grocery-store shelves, but most grow roots in a matter of days after being placed in water. Using four toothpicks, have your child suspend the vegetable on the rim of a jar or mug filled with water.