When to Plant Morning Glories? A Detailed Guide to the Best Sowing Time
The morning glory is an annual twining herbaceous vine in the genus Ipomoea of the family Convolvulaceae. It is native to tropical America and is widely cultivated throughout China. It is a common twining herbaceous flower of summer and autumn, and can be used to provide shade in small courtyards and in front of windows, to beautify small trellises and hedges, and can also be planted as ground cover. Now let us take a look at when to plant morning glories!
When to Plant Morning Glories
Morning glories are generally planted in spring and summer. Propagation is usually done by sowing seeds, with no need for pre-sprouting, and there are no special soil requirements. Of course, nutrient soil or similar can be used, and ordinary flower soil works too. When sowing, the seeds should be soaked in warm water, and after 4 to 6 hours treated appropriately with sulfuric acid, then scattered on the soil and covered with a thick layer of soil, about 1 cm. After sowing, cover with about 2 cm of soil, then water thoroughly. They generally sprout in about 3 to 5 days and bloom in June to July. The most important thing is light; with sufficient light they bloom very easily.
When Morning Glories Bloom
The flowering period of morning glories is from June to October. They usually begin to bloom slowly at around 4 to 5 o'clock in the early morning, and by about noon the flowers have withered. This is because morning glory flowers are large and thin, and the flowers contain abundant water; when the sun shines on them, the water in the flowers evaporates in a relatively short time. In a cool, shaded place the flowers wilt more slowly, and sometimes they are still open even in the afternoon.
Morning Glory Planting and Care
1. Water and fertilizer: For growing morning glories, choose a well-drained potting soil and provide full sunlight and a well-ventilated environment. During the growing season, water when the surface of the potting soil is slightly dry, and apply dilute liquid fertilizer once every half month. Do not use too much nitrogen fertilizer, lest the stems and leaves grow too lushly. Potted plants need a support to hold them up.
2. Pinching: Once the potting soil has settled, insert a thin bamboo pole 1 meter long straight into the center of the pot, then take a piece of galvanized wire about 3 meters long, wind one end around the bamboo pole level with the soil surface, then coil it upward from the rim of the pot to form an evenly tapered tower-shaped spiral support that is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. Fix the upper end of the wire to the top of the bamboo pole. The morning glory is a left-twining plant, so the coiling direction of the galvanized wire must match the morning glory's habit of twining to the left. When the main vine climbs to the top of the pole along the wire, pinch off the growing tip, and pinch the tips of the side vines each time they grow to 6 to 7 leaves. This will make the flowers larger and keep the vines producing new growth and blooming.
3. Pests and diseases: Morning glories are mainly susceptible to white rust. The affected parts are mainly the leaves, leaf stalks and young stems. On affected leaves, small light green spots first appear on the leaf. When this happens, the diseased plants can be promptly pulled up and destroyed to reduce infection of the seeds. Select disease-free seeds as propagation seeds, disinfect the seeds before sowing, and avoid rotating with plants of the Convolvulaceae family. Spraying 1% Bordeaux mixture or 50% metalaxyl 500x solution at the early stage of the disease, once every 10 to 15 days, gives good control results.