How to grow the rosy spiderwort? Notes on sensible watering and correct fertilizing
SummarySoil: choose fertile, loose, acidic sandy soil, and try to repot and replace the soil once every 2 years. Environment: choose a spot with plenty of sunlight, avoid direct midday sun in summer, and if the temperature difference between day and night is large, move it indoors at night. Watering: the rosy spiderwort likes moisture but fears waterlogging; increase watering frequency during the growing season, and try not to water when the temperature is below 10°C. Fertilizing: apply potassium fertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer once a month during the growing season. Pruning: branches can be pruned appropriately in winter.
1. Soil preparation
When planting the rosy spiderwort, it is best to choose a loose, fertile, moist, acidic sandy soil. For container growing, you can mix yellow sandy soil, cake fertilizer, garden soil and rotted manure at a ratio of 1:1; this kind of soil has strong air permeability, permeability and drainage, and is not prone to waterlogging.
If the rosy spiderwort has been grown for a long time, its soil easily becomes compacted; compacted soil cannot let it absorb nutrients and water better, and it also hinders the extension of the spiderwort's root system. So basically every 2 years the spiderwort needs to be repotted and the soil replaced.
2. Growing environment
The rosy spiderwort likes a spot with plenty of sunlight. If you want the rosy spiderwort to bloom abundantly and have a long flowering period, try to place it in a sunny spot, preferably somewhere that guarantees more than 6 hours of light per day. But in summer, try to avoid direct midday sun. In addition, if you are growing it in a northern region with a large temperature difference between day and night, it is best to move the spiderwort indoors at night when the temperature is low.
3. Watering principles
The rosy spiderwort likes moist soil very much and needs the potting soil to be kept moist often, especially during the growing season, that is, from March to September, when the watering frequency should be increased even more; you can water it or frequently sprinkle water on the leaves to increase humidity. After late autumn, that is, after September, you can reduce the watering frequency and amount as much as possible. In winter, after the temperature drops below 10°C, the watering amount should be controlled even more; when the soil is not particularly dry, there is no need to water.
4. Fertilizing method
During the peak growing season of the rosy spiderwort, in order to make its rhizomes firmer and stronger, it needs to be fertilized with potassium fertilizer and phosphorus fertilizer 1-2 times every month. Take special care not to apply nitrogen fertilizer; applying too much nitrogen fertilizer will cause it not to bloom. Only in this way can the leaves be kept clear, elegant and bright. In spring, apply a thin organic fertilizer solution once every week, which can meet its daily needs.
5. Appropriate pruning
The rosy spiderwort enters its dormant period in winter, and the winter weather is cold; at this time you can cut off its weak, diseased and pest-damaged branches, and also prune the overly lush branches as much as possible, so as to better promote the growth of new branches the following year.