Purple Sweet Potato PLANT – Untreated & Heirloom – Molokai Purple – Ipomea costata
Purple Sweet Potato – Ipomea costata is an easy-to-grow and very tasty perennial vegetable with lots of health benefits. ‘Sweet potato is considered an excellent source of dietary carotenoids, and polysaccharides, whose health benefits include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activity, cardiovascular protection, anticancer properties and improvement in neurological and memory capacity, metabolic disorders, and intestinal barrier function. Moreover, the purple sweet potato, due to its high anthocyanin content, represents a unique food option for consumers, as well as a potential source of functional ingredients for healthy food products. (Emily P. Laveriano-Santos et.al., 2022)’. The leaves are also edible and we mostly use them in stir-fries or as a spinach substitute, braised for a couple of minutes in a little butter and garlic. Yumm!
Planting and growing tips:
- Give it a good drink and place it in a half-shade position out of the wind.
- Leave it in the original pot for a few days until it recovers from the journey.
- Re-pot or plant into the ground at the latest when the roots start to come out of the bottom holes.
- Watering straight after planting is essential! From then on as required.
- It doesn’t like to sit in water so a well-drained position is best. All our edibles grow happily and quickly in slightly raised garden beds.
- It grows best in full sun and partial shade and in many types of soil, however, the better the soil, the quicker and better the plant will grow.
- Regular fertilising, while the plant grows, will increase the yield. We use our homemade compost tea or the GROW liquid fertiliser when we run out of homemade ones.
Additional notes:
- The price is for one young plant in a small pot, coming from the mother plant, naturally grown with lots of love in my permaculture food forest in Pacific Haven QLD Australia. Sending within Australia only, not to NORFOLK ISLAND, NT, SA, TAS, or WA. Pick up by appointment only.
- Most of our nursery plants grow in a half-shade. Introducing them to the sun slowly before replanting them to their permanent position will promote healthy growth.
- Do your research before trying any new foods. Please also note our disclaimer in the footer of this page.
Eating tips: Great for boiling, baking, and grilling. This vegetable has to be cooked/boiled before eating
Do your research before trying any new foods. Please also note our disclaimer in the footer of this page.
References: Laveriano-Santos, E. P., López-Yerena, A., Jaime-RodrÃguez, C., González-Coria, J., Lamuela-Raventós, R. M., Vallverdú-Queralt, A., Romanyà , J., & Pérez, M. (2022). Sweet Potato Is Not Simply an Abundant Food Crop: A Comprehensive Review of Its Phytochemical Constituents, Biological Activities, and the Effects of Processing. Antioxidants, 11(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox11091648
