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Purplish-Brown Discoloration of Sweet Potato Leaves

7 years ago

Hi guys. I have a sweet potato plant that's barely a month old and it's growing okay(not as vigorously as expected) but it's leaves are turning purplish brown. This is a picture of the plant. The growing medium is a sawdust and soil mixture and i feed it with homemade fish emulsion at least once every 2 weeks. Any idea what's going on? Thanks

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
where are you .... whats the weather been ... etc ... most of us are
moving into winter.. and things start slowing down ... when the days get
shorter.. and cooler.. if not downright cold ...

sawdust and dirt could be very problematic .... but it wont matter if its getting too cold ...

is this a food or decorative sweet potato???

there is also a veg forum ... as well as a container forum ...

why do you imagine it needs to be fed so often .... and what is this mysterious homemade formula ???

ken
User
Original Author
7 years ago
I'm in Ghana. Temperatures are going as high as 35 degrees Celcius and only as low as 22. De formula is just fish scales, innards and grass clippings. It's been rotting for more than a month. It's a food sweet potato plant and the sawdust is partially rotten. It's black but soft wood particles can be felt. I thought sweet potatoes can be grown in low-nitrogen media. And why should it be fed often? I read somewhere that the plant should be fed enough nitrogen to make more leaves to create a lot of energy to make potatoes
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some leaves? or just a few? Or all of the leaves? For some leaves (meaning it only affected that particular vine - follow it back to the tuber itself. If it was damaged, rotted out, then it affects only that part of the plant. Remove it. One thing that causes sudden die offs is fungus. So check for this. If there is an overall die back - check the entire tuber for sponginess. It may have rotted out. Usually with with sweet potatoes (and many other plants that are started off in water) you need to remove them from the water and slowly get it used to soiless mixes. They shouldn't have any prolonged stay in the water. (unless you use a hydrophonic system with specialized nutrients fed to the roots) The roots they develop in water do not easily adjust to soil which is why they need to be transplanted shortly after they develop those roots. As a matter of practise, I prefer to start any plants in March or late Feb. because in my area (ontario) it's a long way off til May to transplant out. Earlier and things get too leggy or weak. Also all indoor plants do require good light.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
7 years ago
The Vegetable Forum may be more helpful.

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