Sliced Sweet Potato Stacks | Self Proclaimed Foodie (2024)

FAQs

What bug is eating my sweet potatoes? ›

The sweet potato root can be injured by several soil insects including: the sweet potato weevil, rootworms, wireworms, white grubs, whitefringed beetles and flea beetles. The sweet potato weevil larva is the only insect that tunnels throughout the root. Other soil insects feed on the surface of the developing root.

The roots of ornamental sweet potatoes can be eaten. However, the ornamental varieties were selected for their attractive foliage, not their culinary qualities. The culinary qualities of the ornamental sweet potato roots may not measure up to their vegetable counterparts.

Tubers of the ornamental varieties are edible, but are not as tasty as those of the varieties specifically bred for food production.

Tiny but mighty, spider mites wreak havoc on sweet potato vines, leaving behind telltale webbing and yellow, stippled leaves. To combat these pests, go for insecticidal soap or neem oil, which suffocate and break down their defenses. Regular leaf inspections are non-negotiable.

Insecticidal soap and horticulture oils like Summit Year Round Spray Oil can be used if needed.

If you need to use an insecticide to control potato bugs, use a spinosad-based product or an insect growth regulator such as pyriproxyfen. These are considered among the safest insecticides to use in your garden and have fewer effects on beneficial insects.

Not only do these sprouts not taste good, but if ingested in large quantities, they can be toxic. If a sweet potato is growing some minor appendages but is still firm to the touch and otherwise free of blemishes, it's A-OK to eat.

In the United States, most gardeners grow sweet potatoes for the big, sweet tubers. However, the leafy green tops are edible too. If you've never tried eating potato vine leaves, you're missing out on a tasty, highly nutritious veggie.

The ornamental sweet potato is a bold tropical plant that grows as a perennial in Florida. The foliage is much more colorful than that of edible sweet potatoes. This unique plant is popular for containers and borders. In a container, the vines will quickly flow over the edges.

Air potatoes are best suited for cooked applications such as frying, sautéing, and roasting and should be treated and prepared like a yam. They carry a bitter flavor and slimy texture when raw, so it is recommended to boil them to reduce the bitterness.

Is purple sweet potato vine toxic? ›

Ornamental sweet potato vines rarely produce flowers in most annual growing climates. The seeds are toxic to children. Symptoms of poisoning include visual and tactile hallucinations. Additional symptoms may include a flushed face, dilated pupils, diarrhea, vomiting, numb hands or feet, and sleepiness.

As a trained horticulturist and landscape architect, she values the relational nature of gardens that prioritizes thoughtful cultivation over time. Sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas) are ornamental versions of the sweet potato, grown for their eye-popping foliage instead of tasty tubers.

Treatment. Sweet potato bugs are rather resilient and most insecticides are ineffective on them. The best method for removal is to simply pluck the bugs off the plants and dunk them into a container filled with soapy water. Their clustering habit makes them easy to collect in large numbers.

Pheromone-baited traps (such as Pherocon Unitraps) are found to be effective in reducing the weevil numbers and the damage due to sweet potato weevil. Pheromone lures are effective for 8 weeks and are most effective in a 50 meter radius. A density of 100 traps per acre eliminates damage on root tubers.

Dipping planting material in a solution of an insecticide (such as carbofuran or diazinon) for 10-15 minutes prior to planting can control sweetpotato weevils for the first few months of the growing season. Dipping longer than necessary can burn and kill the planting materials.

Potato bugs are about two inches long as fully-grown adults. They have black and orange stripes and a large head with small eyes. Their main method for attracting mates is hissing and drumming on their abdomen. Potato bugs also have translucent legs in direct light, which is a disturbing feature.