How to grow Cleome hassleriana? Master these care essentials
Cleome hassleriana, also known as Cleome spinosa, spider flower and purple dragon's whiskers, gets its name because when the flowers are in full bloom, the raceme forms a full flower ball, with each small flower resembling a dancing butterfly. Cleome hassleriana has no wild varieties in China and is often cultivated in major cities, so how should the charming Cleome hassleriana be cared for?
Cleome hassleriana
Cleome hassleriana originates from the tropical regions of South America. It likes warmth and sunshine, tolerates drought and heat, and is suitable for growing in ventilated, sunny spots. It requires fertile, well-drained sandy loam soil, is not cold-tolerant, and its seeds are self-sowing.
Cleome hassleriana is propagated by seeds. For spring sowing, sow in an open-air seedbed from late March to mid-April. If earlier flowering is desired, sow in pots in a greenhouse between February and March. The seeds germinate rather slowly, sprouting in about 15 days at 15-20°C. After sowing, cover with soil and water; the seeds have a high germination rate and the seedlings emerge fairly uniformly. During the seedling stage it is susceptible to aphid damage, so control it promptly with pirimicarb. Once the seedlings are about 15 cm tall, they can be planted out. By gradually thinning the seedlings, the spacing of the plants used for planting out should reach 30 cm.
Cleome hassleriana is a taproot plant, so the cultivation site should be deeply plowed and given organic base fertilizer. The plant spacing for transplanted seedlings is about 30 cm. Because it has few root hairs, it is rather difficult for it to recover after transplanting, so after dividing and transplanting, careful management is needed, with timely watering and protection from wind and sun. After the transplants have recovered, keep the soil moisture moderate and cultivate and hoe in time to conserve moisture. In addition to applying base fertilizer at transplanting, apply diluted decomposed cake fertilizer 1-2 times during the flowering period to encourage fuller blooming. The capsules split open on their own when mature, so they should be harvested in batches once the fruit skin turns yellow. It has a strong ability to self-sow and spread, so self-sown seedlings can be transplanted and cultivated.
The flowers of Cleome hassleriana look like dancing butterflies, graceful and distinctive, making it suitable for large flower beds, flower borders and background plantings. Potted plants can be enjoyed indoors and can also be used as cut flowers. It is also an excellent nectar plant and can be used medicinally.
Care essentials for Cleome hassleriana
Potting Cleome hassleriana
Potting Cleome hassleriana is not very difficult. First, choose suitable soil; well-drained sandy soil rich in humus will do, and of course some leaf mold can also be added. There are several potting soil options to choose from, for example vegetable garden soil: cinder at a ratio of 3:1; garden soil: medium-coarse river sand: sawdust at a ratio of 4:1:2; peat + perlite + ceramsite at a ratio of 2:2:1; vegetable garden soil + cinder = 3:1, and so on.
Because Cleome hassleriana has a fairly developed root system, a larger and deeper flower pot is generally chosen, with a pot diameter of 20 cm-30 cm being better. When potting small Cleome hassleriana seedlings, you can first place a layer of ceramsite at the bottom of the pot as a drainage layer, sprinkle on some decomposed organic fertilizer, and finally add the growing medium. After adding the medium, the seedlings can be potted, spreading the roots out and not placing them far from the fertilizer to avoid burning the roots. After covering with soil, water once and place in a shaded environment to let the roots recover.
Pinching Cleome hassleriana
Pinching is also a very important part of care. Before flowering, it generally needs to be done twice to encourage more flowering branches to sprout. When the small Cleome hassleriana seedlings grow to 10 cm, if they have more than 6 leaves they can be pinched, removing the top shoot while keeping 3-4 leaves so that they can branch more.
After pinching, Cleome hassleriana will continue to grow. At around one month, a second pinching can be done, cutting off the tips of the side branches while keeping about 4 leaves, which can again sprout new branches and make it branch more.
After pinching, the plant shape of Cleome hassleriana becomes more graceful and the number of flowers can be increased. After flowering, the spent flowers also need to be cut off in time.
Planting and care essentials for the garden flower Cleome hassleriana
Morphological characteristics: The petals of Cleome hassleriana are light and graceful, and the raceme forms a lush flower ball, with red and white setting each other off and a pleasing balance of deep and light tones. In particular, its long-clawed petals and long stamens extending beyond the corolla make it look like a spider, or like dragon's whiskers, which is quite interesting.Uses: It can be used to arrange flower beds and flower borders in summer and autumn, and can also be grown as a dwarfed potted plant for ornamental display. It can be planted under trees or on the shady side of buildings for viewing. (It also has good resistance to sulfur dioxide and chlorine gas, making it an excellent pollution-resistant flower that can grow well even in heavily polluted factories and mines.) Potted plants can be placed on windowsills and desks, and the plant shape should be controlled.
Habits: Cleome hassleriana likes a sunny, dry and warm environment, and also tolerates partial shade.
Temperature: The suitable growing temperature is 20-32°C, and it is not cold-tolerant.
Soil: Apart from growing poorly in alkaline soil, it can grow in sandy soil and clay soil, and grows best in slightly acidic sandy loam. An equal mix of leaf mold and vegetable garden soil can be used as the growing medium, and the soil should be loose and well-drained.
When planting in flower beds, spent flowers should be removed in time so that they do not set seed, thereby extending the flowering period.
Fertilizing potted Cleome hassleriana during the flowering period: Apply diluted compound liquid fertilizer 2-3 times during the bud stage, and it can bloom during the Spring Festival.
Humidity: It likes relatively high air humidity; if the air humidity is too low, individual flowers will fade faster. It also fears rain, and the leaves need to be kept dry at night. The optimal relative air humidity is 65-75%.
Temperature: Heat-tolerant, not tolerant of frost and cold.
Light: Likes full sunshine, slightly tolerant of partial shade.
Fertilizer: Follow the fertilizing principle of "light fertilizer applied frequently, small amounts more often, complete nutrition", and after fertilizing, keep the leaves and flowers dry at night.
Diseases: It is often harmed by leaf spot and rust. For leaf spot, spray with 500 times dilution of 50% thiophanate wettable powder; for rust, spray with 3000 times dilution of 50% carboxin wettable powder for control.