A potato vine....?

I recently bought and planted one against a wall(the wall is in the north west area of the yard) Do I need to put of a trellis or chicken wire and train this vine, or will it be fine left to its own devices? Any suggestions for other vines that are fast growers, and do well in VERY hot conditions(I live in AZ, the walls in the south, west and east parts of the yard get upwards of 130 degrees in the summer) Thanks in advance!!

A potato vine....?
Hello Heather -





Being you asked about Potato Vine (Solanum sp) - let's answer that question ... this is a good choice for hot locations, as it is also seen here in Southern California. The other responder is also correct in that it is always seen "downward" and this helps to ultimately answer your question.





You can train it to "lean" or grow-into a trellis or some type of vertical support - but, it is not necessary. It is not a vine (such as a pea) which has tendrils which require it to grab onto something in order to grow. It also is not of a "vine" such as a Morning Glory which requires something to twirl itself around in order to give itself support.





If you wish to give it more support for upward growth, my advice would be to very loosely use vine ties (or raffia or small bits of natural rope) to train it upwards (for instance over a trellis). Its important not to tie it too strong if you do this method and to continue to tie it upwards until you achieve the height which you want it to be. At that point you can prune it to keep it under control - or, allow it to begin to spread back downwards again. If left to its own devices, it would just become a large sprawling bushy "vine" that does not require support of any other plant or matter to grab onto.
Reply:You will need something for it to climb over, they are very popular where I live (inland Australia) and are usually grown over open wire fences, trellises etc.





Other vines that grow well where I am are wisteria, virginia creeper (pathenocissus quinquefolia), ornamental grape vine, (vitis), star jasmine (trachelospermum jasminoides), jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum) . My temperature ranges from 20 deg F to 115 deg F. Hot and dry with winter rainfall.
Reply:Whenever I have seen them they are growing downwards. I think your best bet would be to start it on a trellis and then let it wander.
Reply:Look for Cardinal Climber. It's beautiful, hardy and does well in poor soil. It finds ANYTHING to hold onto and when it gets to the top of something it has climbed several vines will wrap around each other to climb higher. At the end of the season it's pretty easy to remove from whatever it grew on as it becomes dry and brittle and pulls off easily.

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