How to Grow Boston Ivy? Detailed Planting Methods and Precautions

Boston ivy is surely familiar to everyone; it is a plant with strong vitality, and many people like to plant it in their own courtyards. When it grows well, you can see Boston ivy all over the wall, and in summer it also has the benefit of providing shade. However, when planting Boston ivy, there are also many techniques and points to note!

How to Grow Boston Ivy

In September, when the berries ripen and turn purple-blue, pick them immediately, clean them, dry them in the shade, disinfect the surface with a 0.05% carbendazim solution, drain them, and then store them in moist sand stratification. By early March of the following year, soak the seeds in 45 degrees C warm water for two days, changing the water twice a day, then mix them evenly with moist sand at a seed-to-sand ratio of 2:1, place them in a sunny, wind-sheltered spot, cover with straw bags, and frequently spray with fine water to keep them moist. After about 20 days, when 20% of the seeds have sprouted white, they can be sown.

Boston Ivy Planting Methods and Precautions

1. Planting methods:

1. Sowing method: Before sowing Boston ivy seeds, first break up and level the seedbed finely, water thoroughly, sow the seeds together with the sand on the bed surface at a sowing rate of 100 grams per sq m, cover with 1 cm of loose humus soil from under the forest, and set up a small arch shed covered with polyethylene plastic film.

2. Seedling management: After the Boston ivy cotyledons emerge, the film should be uncovered during the day and covered at night on sunny days, and kept covered all day on cloudy and rainy days, to raise the soil temperature, promote uniform emergence, and prevent damage from scarab beetles. In addition, water frequently to keep the soil moist.

3. Transplanting management: After three true leaves of Boston ivy have unfolded, choose a cloudy day or after 3 p.m. and transplant at a spacing of 1 x 1 chi. Immediately after planting, water once with diluted manure water (1:8). During the plum rain season, water must never be allowed to accumulate for too long. After two months, the vines generally grow to more than 60 cm; at this point, the first pinching can be done to prevent the vines from tangling with each other and blocking light, and to promote thicker seedlings. Pinch once a month, combined with supplementary feeding. With the above measures, by the leaf-fall period, the average thickness of seedling vines can reach more than 0.5 cm, and they can then be dug up and planted out.

2. Precautions:

Moist soil is relatively suitable for the vigorous growth of Boston ivy, so ensuring moisture in the soil and air is very important and can achieve the best results. In addition, the soil should remain fertile, loose, and well-drained.

How to Fertilize Boston Ivy

1. Before planting Boston ivy, organic fertilizer should be mixed into the potting soil as a base fertilizer, and excessively long stems and vines should be pruned; water thoroughly, and it will easily survive.

2. Although Boston ivy is highly adaptable, it has relatively high fertilizer requirements. Planted in a place with sufficient fertilizer and water, it grows rapidly, with dense branches and leaves, and the effects of vine coverage, shading, and ornamental value are much higher.

3. Boston ivy can also be watered with a foliage-type compound inorganic fertilizer in the potting soil. A compound fertilizer solution can also be sprayed on the leaves (both front and back). Fertilizing Boston ivy is usually done around evening, and the potting soil should be slightly dry before fertilizing. Fertilizer cannot be applied when the potting soil is too wet, on rainy days, or in sunlight.

Boston Ivy Diseases and Control

1. Powdery mildew. Control methods: first, plant disease-resistant varieties; second, cultivate reasonably and fertilize properly. First, treat seeds with chemicals, in the same way as for wheat loose smut; second, control it in spring and autumn.

2. Leaf spot. Control methods: if indoors in a greenhouse, soil replacement can be used for control. Boston ivy is not suitable for spray watering; do not treat it by spray watering. Begin spraying as soon as the disease appears to prevent it from spreading. Pay attention to alternating the chemicals to avoid the pathogen developing resistance.

When planting Boston ivy, the seed sowing method is generally the most common choice. During planting, the soil mixing work must be done well. In the later stage of planting, management needs to be strengthened, especially the amount of fertilizer, which must be controlled well; too much fertilizer may cause fertilizer burn in Boston ivy.