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As a plant that combines ornamental value with medicinal value, the morning glory has always been especially popular among gardening enthusiasts, particularly in summer, as the plant with the most abundant blooms throughout the whole season, it has even become one of the flowers that many people must grow. Many enthusiasts just starting out with gardening also hope to cultivate beautiful morning glories with their own hands, but in practice things often turn out contrary to their wishes. So what exactly needs attention when growing morning glories? If you in front of the screen are not yet very familiar with this, then today's article is quite practically valuable.
Growing morning glories requires careful attention, one could say that from the very beginning with choosing pots and soil, to the final fertilizing and pest and disease control, we need to carefully observe the situation and respond quickly. First, in choosing pots and soil, for morning glories it is best to use clay pots, ceramic pots and other pots with a certain degree of breathability; as for size, you can choose according to the shape you want to create in the future. In the early stage the pot should not be too large, as too large a pot may cause waterlogging; you can start with a smaller pot and repot it later.
As for choosing soil, generally humus soil that balances breathability and fertility is best, but considering drainage later on, you can consider adding a certain amount of coarse sand to the soil and placing two broken pieces of tile at the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot. Once the choice of pot and soil is done as well as possible, the work that follows is actually much easier.
The morning glory's water requirements come down to "moderation"; too much or too little water is bad for the plant's growth. If there is too much, it may very likely cause waterlogging, with mild cases showing yellowed and wilted leaves and severe cases leading directly to death; while too little watering is not good for the morning glory's growth, especially in summer, and may shorten the morning glory's blooming period, with a certain effect on the number of blooms as well.
The morning glory is a long-day plant and requires strong light conditions for photosynthesis to proceed smoothly, so whether grown in pots or in the ground, it needs to be given ample light. With ample sunlight it grows vigorously, with lush leaves and abundant flowers; if light is insufficient, the branches and leaves tend to grow leggy, with few flowers or poor flower quality. If it can be given more than 12 hours of light per day, and the nighttime temperature is above 10°C, then it can bloom in all four seasons. So if you want it to grow well, then you must ensure "bright sunshine"!
The morning glory has a long blooming period and needs constant nutrient replenishment to keep blooming. In the early stage of seedling growth, apply thin fertilizer frequently; choose fertilizer with high nitrogen and potassium content and appropriately lower phosphorus. For nitrogen fertilizer you can choose urea. If the plant needs to overwinter, you can appropriately consider reducing fertilization in autumn and winter, and wait until March when the temperature is warmer to replenish fertilizer.
The main diseases of morning glories are damping-off at the seedling stage and stem rot during the growth period. The main pests include diamondback moths, aphids, leaf roller moths and so on. For damping-off, you can use chlorothalonil or thiophanate-methyl at 800~1000 times dilution for control. When aphids appear, generally you cannot spray with fenvalerate, as it easily causes phytotoxicity and affects growth. You can look up formulas online and make some organic insecticides yourself at home, which may work even better.