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Potato plants as house plants?

Happy DudeHappy Dude Posts: 10
in Plants
Maybe this is a daft question to someone who knows their stuff. Can potato plants be grown purely as house plants, not wanting to harvest the potatoes but just keep the flowering plant? 

Thanks all  :)

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Posts

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 9,395
    I've grown a few in the back of my veg cupboard over the years  :#

    Is there any particular reason you want to grow spuds indoors? Apparently sweet potatoes can do well indoors if you're open to alternatives.
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • Happy DudeHappy Dude Posts: 10
    I don't want the tubers themselves, I just like the plant :) I'm growing some for the first time, for tubers in the garden for a late harvest and I just like the actual plant.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 84,040
    Once they've flowered that's it ... they won't keep flowering.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    You can get 'potato leaved' tomato varieties which would look almost identical to a potato plant but with the added bonus of more flowers and, of course, the fruit. :)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Happy DudeHappy Dude Posts: 10
    Dovefromabove said:
    Once they've flowered that's it ... they won't keep flowering.  
    Good to know, thanks. But, will the plant just die at some point?
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 84,040
    Yes, once flowering is finished the plant dies off above the ground.  If you leave the tubers in the ground more plants will grow again next spring.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391
    Tomatoes are short-lived perennials in their native habitat so you could probably keep one going for 2-3 years indoors but I'd guess that some real tlc as well as regular pruning would be needed or it could grow to 5 or more metres tall in a couple of years.  Potatoes are closely related so the same may be true of them.  They will die though, and likely in the winter as lack of light will do for them (both native to central/south America, so require lots of light.)
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Happy DudeHappy Dude Posts: 10
    Dovefromabove said:
    Yes, once flowering is finished the plant dies off above the ground.  If you leave the tubers in the ground more plants will grow again next spring.  
    Good to know. Thanks for the info :)
  • Happy DudeHappy Dude Posts: 10
    BobTheGardener said:
    Tomatoes are short-lived perennials in their native habitat so you could probably keep one going for 2-3 years indoors but I'd guess that some real tlc as well as regular pruning would be needed or it could grow to 5 or more metres tall in a couple of years.  Potatoes are closely related so the same may be true of them.  They will die though, and likely in the winter as lack of light will do for them (both native to central/south America, so require lots of light.)
    Great to know. Thanks for the info :)
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    you might want to consider chili plants instead, continuous flowering and chilies can be quite attractive
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