Dipladendia, or Mandeville, has recently become popular with flower growers. Its multi-colored, bright buds make culture a real decoration of a site or apartment. This exotic representative of the tropics requires increased attention and special care, but the result of the efforts expended will undoubtedly please.
Mandeville (diplomacy) - a description of which family belongs
The evergreen climbing vine belongs to the Kutrov family. In its natural habitat, it grows in the countries of South and Central America. Almost 200 plant varieties belong to the genus Mandevilla. Street and indoor diplomacy is sometimes called Brazilian or Chilean jasmine. Mandeville was named after the English diplomat and flower lover Henry Mandeville, who popularized the flower during his service in Argentina.
Mandeville Flower
Interesting information. From Greek, the word "diplomacy" is translated as "having double pieces of iron."
The most common flower varieties grown at home:
- Petunia Crazytunia Mandeville (petunia x hybrid Crazytunia Mandeville);
- Mandeville Sundeville (mandeville Sundeville);
- Mandeville Outstanding (mandeville Illustris);
- Mandeville Diamantine;
- Pink Perfect.
In the wild, diplomatism grows by 2-4 m per year. At home, it is planted as an ampelous plant, on supports or in a cache-pot. By pruning, beautiful bushes are formed from mandeville. Blooming buds almost completely cover the curly stems. A flower consists of 5 petals of a white or pink hue and reaches a diameter of 10 cm. On average, one bud lives 10 days, then a new one grows in its place. The leaf plates are fleshy and egg-shaped. Inside them is milk.
Caring for mandeville in the open ground or at home requires attention, but the result will not be long in coming.
Note! Juice, which is in the leaves of diplladation, is poisonous. It is necessary to work with the plant in protective gloves and to keep children away.
Mandeville - Home Care
When growing diplomacy, it is important to remember her moodiness. However, proper planting and care will allow you to grow an exotic plant at home.
Temperature and lighting
Mandeville is a plant native to the tropics, so the conditions for it must be created accordingly. The optimum growing temperature is 21-25 ° C. The bush also feels good in hotter weather, if sufficient humidity is maintained. With the onset of winter, the liana has a dormant period, so the temperature in the room must be reduced to +15 ° C.
A resident of the tropics loves to be in a well-lit place, but she feels quite normal in the shade. It is best to put a flower pot on the windows facing the south or southeast side of the house.
Important! If during the flowering period there is cloudy weather, then the plant needs to provide additional lighting.
Windowsill landing
Watering, spraying and humidity
In the summer, the plant needs constant, but not plentiful watering. To do this, use soft rain or distilled water. In winter, during a dormant state, watering a flower should be very rare. Even with complete drying of the soil, the plant will feel comfortable.
On hot days, it is recommended to spray the vine at least once a day. This should be done carefully so as not to fall on the buds.
If the room where the mandeville grows is too dry, it must be humidified. A container filled with water can be placed next to the pot.
Soil and top dressing
For proper planting, a nutrient soil with a high level of acidity is needed. You can purchase a substrate or make it yourself. This will require:
- garden soil;
- sheet earth;
- peat;
- pebbles.
Since mandeville spends too much energy on flowering, it needs regular top dressing. In spring, this is done at least twice a month. In summer, you need to fertilize the flower more often - once every 10 days. As top dressings, complex preparations for decorative flowering plants are used.
Important! During dormancy, it is not necessary to fertilize the vine.
Support
Diplomacy refers to vines; it has very brittle shoots that need additional support. The plant should be placed next to the wall or attached to special stands and ladders.
Flower support
Winter care
Wintering of the plant begins in late autumn and ends in early spring. In doing so, the following conditions must be observed:
- At the end of summer, the number of irrigations is reduced to 1 time in 10-14 days.
- At the end of autumn, old shoots are pruned, leaving 1/3 of their length.
- Liana is placed in a cool room until spring.
Outdoor Care
When choosing a liana landing site, it is important to consider the amount of lighting. The hole for the bush must be filled with a special composition consisting of sandy, drained soil with the addition of humus. If the flower is planted in a container, then you need moss, sand, garden soil.
The tropical plant does not tolerate drafts, heavy rains and does not like soil with poor drainage. Under such conditions, it will grow poorly and may even die.
A fast-growing liana needs support under long stems. It can be frames, racks or trellises.
In order for the young bush to please with lush foliage and flowering, it must be nipped regularly. It is also necessary to remove damaged or dried up areas and make sure that pests do not start on the flower.
Diplladies can withstand temperatures of at least + 10 ° C, so in regions with cold winters it must be brought into the room.
When and how it blooms
The flowering of dipladeniya begins in early March and ends with the onset of the first frosts. The buds are quite large, have a different color and strong aroma.
If the plant is properly looked after, then flowering can occur the very next year. On one bush, 40 to 80 buds can bloom simultaneously.
With proper care of the mandeville, you can achieve that it bloomed throughout the year. For this, it is necessary from September to April to provide liana with constant artificial lighting, the right temperature and humidity.
Additional Information. The higher the ambient temperature, the richer the color of the leaves of dipladation.
Pruning
Pruning diplladation is a very important stage in plant care. Without this procedure, the liana grows very much. Trimming the plant is best at the same time as spring transplanting or preparing for wintering. For a positive result, you must adhere to such requirements:
- Remove the antennae that could have formed during the time the flower was in the shaded area.
- Do not touch the young shoots, since it is from them that new buds will appear.
- Do not trim during flowering.
Propagation of Mandeville
Liana is bred at home by cuttings or seeds.
Cuttings
This is the easiest and most common method of reproduction. From the cuttings, a new bush can be obtained in two ways:
- planting it in the ground;
- rooting in the water.
Before this, the seedling is necessarily treated with a growth stimulator. Further, the procedure is performed as follows:
- The cutlery is placed in water or soil and covered with a glass jar.
- The seedling is regularly watered and aerated.
- After rooting the cuttings, the shelter is removed.
- The seedling is moved to a permanent place.
Note! From start to finish, the process takes about 3 months.
Seeds
This method of reproduction is rarely used, since there is no diplocate in the sale of seeds, and it is rather difficult to obtain them yourself. Even if it was possible to achieve seedlings, then subsequently it will take a lot of time to grow and care for them. To do this, you will need 3-4 months to maintain the following conditions for seedlings:
- apply slightly acid loose substrate;
- keep the temperature at the level of 22-28 ° С;
- monitor the level of humidity and prevent stagnation of water.
Seed propagation
Transfer
It is necessary to transplant the plant every year. This is done by the method of transshipment at the end of winter, when it is clear that diplomacy leaves the state of rest.
To make the flower feel comfortable, the new soil must be disinfected. For this, a fresh drainage layer is laid out at the bottom of the pot. The flower comes with a clod of earth from the old container and is neatly placed in a new one. They add the substrate there and watered the seedling.
Possible problems in growing
An exotic plant can be attacked by pests and various diseases, so it must be carefully looked after. Most often, Mandeville suffers from powdery mildew and the attack of the mealybug.
Powdery mildew
Problems arise due to improper care: poor water or soil, low temperature and insufficient lighting. To combat diseases, the bush is recommended to be treated with fungicides and insecticides. Immediately corrects the principles of flower care. Pests are detected by the following signs:
- leaves turn yellow and fade;
- the buds are deformed;
- white spots appear on the ground.
Spider mites and whiteflies are dangerous for the plant. If they are found, the foliage should be wiped with a soapy solution and treated with insecticides.
Spider mite
Why does not Mandeville bloom
Violation of flowering may be due to lack of lighting, improper watering or fertilizer, lack of space in the pot or low temperature. In order for the buds to start blooming, you need to fix these problems.
Novice gardeners are unlikely to be able to grow this exotic plant at home. If the experiment succeeds, then Mandeville will become a real decoration of the apartment. The main thing is to provide her with proper care and constantly monitor the condition of the flower.
