Free Houseplant Alert: How to Grow a Sweet Potato Vine Plant in 3 Steps

If you loved turning your avocado pits and pineapple tops into cute lil' plants, then we've got your next obsession: the sweet potato vine plant.

Brad Canning, the plant aficionado behind Leafy Lane, shared his quick trick for growing a sweet potato vine plant. Which, BTW, is even easier than growing an avocado plant. "This is a fun thing to try if you're bored or have children, or if you just love plants like I do," he said in a YouTube video.

All you'll need to get started is a cup or vase, toothpicks, water, and a sweet potato. If you have any left over from holiday recipes, it's a perfect opportunity to put them to use. Here's exactly how to turn a sweet potato into a thriving new sweet potato vine plant.

How to Grow a Sweet Potato Vine Plant

When you're ready to grow your own sweet potato vine plant, Canning says to simply take a sweet potato and place it in water. Honestly, that's pretty much it.

You can use a cup or a vase of any size, just as long as the bottom of the sweet potato is able to sit in the water. If needed, you can use toothpicks to prop the sweet potato on the rim of the container so that the roots have room to grow below.

@bradcanning

follow for more tips! 🍠🌱🌿 ##diy ##plants ##indoorplants ##houseplants ##SharkWeek ##Bookworm ##foryou ##viral ##fyp

♬ Buttercup - Jack Stauber

While setting up your sweet potato vine plant is easy, waiting for it to sprout requires some patience. "The one thing I wish I knew before I started this was that absolutely nothing will happen for the first four weeks. Literally it's just going to be a potato in water," says Canning. "But then once it starts to grow roots, it'll start to vine real quick."

Because of how long it takes, Canning says it's a good idea to experiment with a few different sweet potatoes, as not all of them will end up sprouting stems. For those that fail to sprout after a couple months, retire them to the compost bin.

When a new plant does take off, caring for it is a breeze: Canning recommends changing the water at least once a week to prevent mold and odor. So sit back and relax as your sweet potato effortlessly flourishes.

Sweet Potato Vine Plant: Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Take a sweet potato and place it in a cup of water or a vase. The bottom of the sweet potato should be sitting in water. To keep it secure, use toothpicks to prop it up on the rim of the cup or vase.

2. Wait for the potato to sprout. This typically takes around four weeks.

3. Once the potato sprouts, the vines take off quickly. Enjoy your new plant! You can drape the vines around shelves, on hooks on the wall, or on a dresser.

If your potato doesn't sprout, no worries! Sometimes it takes a couple tries. Repeat these steps with another potato, and soon enough you'll have the sweet potato vine plant of your dreams.