Hey, has anybody with this plant ever mysteriously gotten "poison ivy" without touching any? This plant has white, sticky, milky LATEX sap in it. That stuff is not confined to Euphorbias and Ficus, and apparently I'm allergic to it no matter what plant it's coming out of. Please save yourself from any unintentional experimentation and wash well after coming in contact with the sap of this plant. Harmless unless you break open a stem or leaf, but if you do, don't touch your face in any way, and wash well, especially if the latex has dried, but I would really try to not wait that long. After almost 3 years of trying to figure out what in the yard is giving me poison ivy periodically even though I know I have NOT touched any, I am 99.9% sure this is the plant giving me this rash. And I thought I'd washed well, and often, since I keep getting this, I've been washing like I have OCD because I didn't know what plant was doing it. In retrospect, I can remember taking cuttings of this a few days before getting this rash many of the times, and thinking that this was one plant I was pretty sure was NOT the culprit. Wrong! It's certainly possible to make sure I don't come in contact with the sap anymore, and will scrub like a surgeon after handling this plant at all, 'cuz I'm miserably scratching my hand again, and this is the last time, unless/until I discover a new allergy. This sucks. Luckily I've got nothing that would make somebody say "ewww" on a google search of "latex dermatitis" images, but even these tiny spots that don't show up well enough to share a pic are making me crazy! Bottom line, at least for me, if I ever see white sap in a plant, I need to go wash thoroughly, no matter what its' name is, or how cozy of friends I think I am with this plant. I would suggest the same to anybody who isn't sure they are NOT allergic to latex sap. Don't let the box of disposable rubber gloves be your guide. I can wear those with no problem.

I have enjoyed all the postings re this remarkable and dazzling plant - but no one has touched on the issue of pests. I am inundated with "holes" on my spv leaves......need to know of a successful treatment for this problem.....Also - I have been very successful "rooting" spv - directly - into small pots of a good potting soil..keep moist...From now on - I will no longer buy a dozen pots for my window boxes....a few to root will do!

Last year I planted about 6 ornamental 'Marguerite' sweet potato vines that I acquired from a local nursery. Reading that ornamental sweet potato vines could potentially produce edible tubers piqued my interest. I planted the vines in a large Rubbermaid container and gradually mounded more soil as the vines grew. At the end of the season, I had completely forgotten about the ornamental sweet potatoes. The vines had all withered up and I was more concerned with harvesting the fruits and veggies in the main garden. Just before Thanksgiving, we were poking around the garden and upended the sweet potato bin. Inside were 5 or 6 very large, red-skinned tubers (about 1 per plant), in addition to several rather skinny, long ones. The flesh was a pale yellow. We washed the tubers and my step-father cooked them up like a regular sweet potato with butter and brown sugar, and to my palette was the best sweet potato I've ever tasted. I was so surprised! The flesh was somewhat firmer than regular sweet potatoes, and the flavor was definitely different. I will be planting more of these this season. It may be helpful to note that I checked the bin earlier in the season to see if there were any tubers starting, and I saw none. I dug up one complete vine and was disappointed. I replanted the vine and sometime after that the tubers must have begun growing. I do not remember what month I did this preliminary tuber check, but it was quite hot outside.

You need a soil test to be certain what's going on with the ground itself. No amount of guessing will help. Tell them what you're trying to grow and they can offer corrections tailor made for specific crops, usually. Generally, you need softer soil so the tubers will be able to expand. Incorporate all the organic matter you can find. Compost is supreme, but chipped leaves are great, manures are good, and if you absolutely have to, try peat moss. Someone suggested sand to me, but I believe that red clay plus sand = concrete and I don't want it to be worse than it is already. I plant about 300 slips per year. I do the same thing every year. I get varying results and still don't know why. Last year, I had a decent crop, but not any huge tubers like in the past. So this March, I hauled in fresh horse manure and dumped it and tilled it in. When I was ready to plant in May when the slips arrived, that had mostly rotted. I use a turn plow to make hilled rows. It digs deep. I go both ways to make one row so it's uniform on both sides. Works for me. Then I'll go back and hand plant 18 to 24 inches apart and firm the soil around them on top of the ridge. I make a depression around them to help catch water. Otherwise, it runs off, not in. Red clay forms a crust in a heart beat. I'll water a few times as is, then I'll go back and poke holes in the hill 6 or 8 inches deep and water again into the holes so water gets into the hill. Usually I have to water 4 to 6 times, once every other day, before it rains enough and the plants look like they will survive on their own. I may go 3 days between if it's overcast and not so hot. Watering is done by hand. I'm not near a spigot. Used to be 2 gallon cans filled from a rubbermaid container and spritz each plant. Now I have a 300 gallon tank on a trailer and a hose. I still walk the rows, but I can give each plant more water at a time without fear of running out so soon. 300 plants means about 500 row feet. last year, I dumped a quart of fish emulsion, a bottle of NOG, and a small bottle of chelated iron (needed magnesium or manganese, I forget) and just for good measure, a handful of 20 mule team borax for boron. They need boron. I added 200 gallons of water. Nice fragrant cocktail. I watered both the sweets and the tomatoes and pepper transplants with it. I had the best pepper production I've ever had. Sweets, not so much. This year, I added fresh manure in March and watered again with the cocktail. I dug sample sweets early last week that were the size of gallon milk jugs. Literally. I'm waiting to dig the rest another week or two. I usually dig them right at the September/October change. I've had rabbit issues this year from what I can tell looking at the patch. But the vines are thick and heavy, the leaves are huge. I'm looking forward to the big dig in another week or two. Next year, I should be using rain water. That's the plan anyway. See if this works. If not, click the link below. This is from two random plants near the end of the rows. Smaller regular size tubers are in the bucket... Here is a link that might be useful: