How to Grow and Care for Michelia alba (Huangjuelan) and Daily Maintenance Tips

      The huangjuelan tree (Michelia alba) is a relatively easy flowering plant to grow well; in its care, you only need to pay attention to water and fertilizer management and temperature, and everything else is quite simple. A plant with very similar habits is the white magnolia (Michelia alba); it prefers a sunny, warm, humid, and well-ventilated environment, is not tolerant of shade, and is not tolerant of intense heat or scorching sun. It is not cold-hardy, and the winter temperature must not fall below 5°C. It prefers slightly acidic sandy soil rich in humus, loose and fertile, and well-drained, and especially fears waterlogging. The tree is 17-20 m tall, with gray bark and a broad ovoid crown. The leaves are simple, alternate, thinly leathery, oblong or lanceolate-elliptic, with entire margins. The flowers are axillary, white, 3-4 cm long, extremely fragrant, with a flowering period from May to September, and mostly do not set fruit.

      Propagation mostly uses air layering and grafting. For air layering, select one-year-old branches, and roots can develop after 2-3 months. Approach grafting is carried out from May to August, using one-year-old Michelia champaca or 1-2 year old Magnolia liliiflora as the rootstock. In areas north of the Yangtze River basin, it is mostly grown in pots, moved into a greenhouse in October-November, and brought out at Guyu (Grain Rain). Common pests include the white magnolia Taiwan aphid, peach aphid, brown-edged green nettle caterpillar, flat nettle caterpillar, large bagworm, and small bagworm. Diseases include leaf spot and anthracnose. The white magnolia is a famous ornamental tree species and one of the traditional fragrant flowers. In the south it is an excellent street tree and garden landscaping tree species. In the north it can be grown in pots and used to decorate halls, meeting rooms, and so on. Its flowers can be used as corsages and hair ornaments.