What are the common propagation methods for Ixora?
The Ixora plant is low-growing, is the national flower of Myanmar, and is also a very important potted woody flowering plant. Its flower colors are rich and it is deeply loved by people. Ixora can be propagated by sowing, layering, and cuttings, among which cutting propagation is the main method.
Ixora
I. Propagation by Sowing
Collect seeds in winter and sow in the following spring. The suitable germination temperature is 22-24°C. Sow in indoor seedling trays, and germination takes about 20-25 days. When 3-4 pairs of true leaves have grown, the seedlings can be moved to 8 cm pots. The seedlings should be potted promptly in acidic humus soil mixed with sand. The drainage holes at the bottom of the pot should be enlarged, and a drainage layer should be made. During the rainy season, pay attention to tipping the pot to drain water. During cultivation, it must not be too wet; excessive moisture is unfavorable for flowering and may even cause leaf drop and root rot. In the early stage of growth, pinching can be done to make the plant shape round and full, with more branches and more flowers. It can also be tied to trellises and various supports for the branches and vines to climb. To ensure relatively high air humidity, water can be sprayed on the leaves regularly. In addition, the air in the cultivation environment should be fresh.
II. Propagation by Cuttings
Cutting propagation can be carried out from March to October after the weather warms up each spring. Select robust one-year-old branches (too tender ones are not easy to survive, and old branches with black skin and spots are not easy to root). Cut them into sections of 10-15 cm, remove the basal leaves, and insert them into a sand bed. After insertion, water to keep the soil moist. Roots will appear in about 50 days, and about ten days after rooting they can be transplanted or potted, placed in a semi-shaded place for care. After they have taken root and survived, move them to a place with sufficient sunlight for care. If, before cutting, the base of the cuttings is soaked in 0.5% indolebutyric acid solution for 3-5 seconds, the rooting period can be shortened and the root system will be especially well developed.
III. Propagation by Layering
Carry this out in early spring. When there are many and dense branches, at 20 cm from the tip, perform ring barking, bind with peat and plastic film, and healing and rooting will occur in about 2 months or more. For newly propagated young seedlings, after potting they should be placed in a semi-shaded place for care. After they survive and send out new shoots, apply a light fertilizer once every 10-15 days. In dry weather, pay attention to spraying water to increase humidity. When the young seedlings grow to about 15 cm, pinch them to promote side branches and make the plant shape full.
Ixora Potted Cultivation Methods Ixora Introduction
Ixora Potted Cultivation Methods
Ixora (scientific name: C. kaempferi), also known by aliases such as Red Ixora, Crazy Woman Flower, Xiao Chabou, May Flower, Scholar Red, Cheng Flower, and Drum Flower, has the English name Scarlet Glorybower. The leaves are broad, 5-18 cm long and 4.5-16 cm wide, with acute or short acuminate tips, deeply cordate bases, and entire or coarsely 3-5 toothed margins. It is an evergreen shrub and is often confused with Ixora chinensis (scientific name: Ixora chinensis). Ixora is also a kind of traditional Chinese medicinal material, and its flower colors include red and white.
Ixora is also called Yingdan, Ixora, Hundred-Day Red, Shandan, Yingdan Flower, Water Hydrangea, and Hundred-Day Red. Its plant shape is attractive, its flowering is dense, and its flower colors are rich. It has flowers to admire all year round and is an important potted woody flowering plant. It is the national flower of Myanmar. The plant is low-growing, the flowers and leaves are beautiful, and the flower colors are rich, including red, orange, yellow, white, and bicolor. Ixora has a relatively long flowering period and can bloom from March to December every year.
Ixora prefers a warm, humid environment with sufficient sunlight. It is not cold-tolerant, tolerates semi-shade, and does not tolerate waterlogging or strong light. The suitable growth temperature for Ixora is 15-25°C, from March to September it is 24-30°C, and from September to the following March it is 13-18°C. In winter the temperature should not be lower than 0°C; if too low, it is prone to frost damage. On the contrary, Ixora is heat-tolerant and still grows normally above 32°C.
Overall, Ixora has relatively strong adaptability to temperature. Ixora likes moisture and fears dryness. During the growth period of stems and leaves, sufficient water is needed. Keeping the potting soil moist is beneficial for shoot sprouting and leaf growth. However, being too wet for a long time can easily cause part of the root system to rot, affecting growth and flowering. If the soil is too dry or alternately dry and wet, and water is not supplied in time, leaf drop will occur.
Ixora needs sufficient sunlight, especially during the growth period of stems and leaves. Under sufficient sunlight, the leaves are emerald green and glossy, which is beneficial for flower cluster formation, neat flowering, and vivid flower color. It can also grow in a semi-shaded environment, but the leaves are light green, lacking luster, with fewer flowers and lighter flower color. However, appropriate shading during strong summer sunlight can prolong the ornamental flowering period.
For Ixora cultivation, fertile, loose, and well-drained acidic sandy loam is best. For potted plants, use a mixed soil of culture soil, peat soil, and coarse sand, with a pH of 5-5.5 being suitable.
Ixora has an attractive plant shape, dense flowering, and rich flower colors. It has flowers to admire all year round and is an important potted woody flowering plant. It is the national flower of Myanmar. The plant is low-growing, the flowers and leaves are beautiful, and the flower colors are rich, including red, orange, yellow, white, and bicolor. Ixora has a relatively long flowering period and can bloom from March to December every year.
Ixora prefers a warm, humid environment with sufficient sunlight. It is not cold-tolerant, tolerates semi-shade, and does not tolerate waterlogging or strong light. The suitable growth temperature for Ixora is 15-25°C, from March to September it is 24-30°C, and from September to the following March it is 13-18°C. In winter the temperature should not be lower than 0°C; if too low, it is prone to frost damage. On the contrary, Ixora is heat-tolerant and still grows normally above 32°C.
Overall, Ixora has relatively strong adaptability to temperature. Ixora likes moisture and fears dryness. During the growth period of stems and leaves, sufficient water is needed. Keeping the potting soil moist is beneficial for shoot sprouting and leaf growth. However, being too wet for a long time can easily cause part of the root system to rot, affecting growth and flowering. If the soil is too dry or alternately dry and wet, and water is not supplied in time, leaf drop will occur.
Ixora needs sufficient sunlight, especially during the growth period of stems and leaves. Under sufficient sunlight, the leaves are emerald green and glossy, which is beneficial for flower cluster formation, neat flowering, and vivid flower color. It can also grow in a semi-shaded environment, but the leaves are light green, lacking luster, with fewer flowers and lighter flower color. However, appropriate shading during strong summer sunlight can prolong the ornamental flowering period.
For Ixora cultivation, fertile, loose, and well-drained acidic sandy loam is best. For potted plants, use a mixed soil of culture soil, peat soil, and coarse sand, with a pH of 5-5.5 being suitable.
Propagation Methods
Ixora can be propagated by sowing, layering, or cuttings, but the cutting method is generally used most often.
Collapsible: Cuttings
It is best to carry this out in June to July. Select semi-mature branches, 10-15 cm long, and insert them into a sand bed. The suitable temperature is 24-30°C, and rooting occurs 40-50 days after insertion. Soaking the cuttings in 0.5% indolebutyric acid solution for 3-5 seconds can shorten the rooting period.
1. Environmental factors affecting rooting
The suitable bed temperature for rooting of cuttings is 25-35°C, and the air temperature is slightly lower than the bed temperature, about 23-35°C. The best cutting time is late spring and summer. Under normal circumstances, natural light can basically meet the rooting needs of cuttings, but during the high-temperature tropical summer period, because cuttings are prone to wilting, it is best to use mist propagation. Within the first few days after cutting, shading treatment should be adopted, starting with a shading rate of 50%-60% and gradually reducing it to 40%-50%. After rooting, the shading material should be removed.
2. Cutting of cuttings
The quality of the cuttings not only affects the quality of the seedlings but also affects their subsequent growth vigor. For high-quality cuttings, softwood cuttings are taken in spring and summer. At this time the plant sends out many young shoots. Wait until they grow to 8-12 cm and have not yet flowered, then cut them. The best time is the evening of a clear day. Choose branches that are robust, disease-free, and uniform in cutting size. Cuttings are generally 3-5 grams in fresh weight, 10-14 cm in length, and more than 3 mm in diameter. The cutting site should be semi-hardened branches. Generally, side branches are taken, or main branches cut during heavy pruning are used.
3. Treatment of cuttings
Ixora varieties differ in the ease or difficulty of rooting. Generally, dwarf varieties with small leaves are easy to root, and the cuttings can root well and quickly without treatment. For tall varieties with large leaves, which generally are more difficult to root, treatment with growth hormone substances such as indolebutyric acid (IBA) or naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) before cutting can significantly promote rooting. During treatment, either a low-concentration rooting promoter can be used for prolonged soaking or a high concentration can be used for instantaneous soaking.
4. Soil for cuttings
Correct selection of soil for cuttings has a great relationship with the rooting rate and nursery-out rate of cuttings. The standards for cutting soil are water retention, strong permeability, and cleanliness. At present, the substrates used for Ixora cuttings include perlite, vermiculite, river sand, and others. The above materials can be used alone or mixed. River sand has good permeability but poor water retention, so it is generally mixed with perlite. If used alone, it is suitable for intermittent mist propagation. Perlite alone is suitable in dry summers with strong sunlight. In the Hainan region, it is best to use a mixture of river sand and perlite in a ratio of 1:1, or use river sand as the bottom layer and spread a 2-3 cm thick layer of perlite on the sand surface.
Collapsible: Sowing
Collect seeds in winter and sow in spring. The suitable germination temperature is 22-24°C. Germination occurs 20-25 days after sowing. When 3-4 pairs of true leaves have grown, the seedlings can be moved to 8 cm pots.
Collapsible: Layering
For plants with many and dense branches, perform ring barking at 20 cm from the tip, wrap with peat and plastic film, and healing and rooting can occur in more than 2 months.
Cultivation Techniques
Collapsible: Soil
For Ixora cultivation, well-drained, slightly acidic, organic-rich sandy loam or humus loam is best. Before transplanting, deeply plow the soil layer, break up large clods of soil, and according to the soil structure, mix in river sand and organic fertilizer soil and mix thoroughly to achieve soil conditions suitable for Ixora growth. For the nutrient soil of potted plants or bagged seedlings, fully mix 1 part garden soil, 1 part river sand, and 1 part organic fertilizer soil, or prepare it with pond mud, river sand, and coconut coir in a ratio of 1:1:0.5.
Collapsible: Transplanting
After the cuttings have rooted, they should be transplanted. Generally, when the roots are within 2 cm long, they should be moved away from the cutting bed. If the root system is longer than 2 cm, roots are easily broken when taking out the seedlings, affecting the seedling's recovery and early growth. For Ixora potting, pots with a diameter of 10-20 cm are commonly used, depending on the size of the seedlings and the number of plants to be potted. Potted plants must be neat and uniform in flower color. Potted plants should be repotted once every 1-2 years, and shaping and pruning should be done to cut off diseased and weak branches. Whether potted or field planted, a place with sufficient sunlight should be chosen. For field planting of Ixora, in order to form blocks quickly and take effect quickly, 1-3 year old potted seedlings or bagged seedlings are generally chosen. It can be done in all four seasons and planted in deep soil layers. When Ixora is potted indoors in winter, the temperature must be kept above 15°C so it can continue to grow. If the temperature is too low, leaf drop will occur.
Collapsible: Water and Fertilizer
Ixora likes moisture and fears dryness. During the growth period of stems and leaves, sufficient water is needed. Keeping the potting soil moist is beneficial for shoot sprouting and leaf growth. However, being too wet for a long time can easily cause part of the root system to rot, affecting growth and flowering. If the soil is too dry or alternately dry and wet, and water is not supplied in time, leaf drop will occur.
Spring, summer, and autumn are the growth and flowering periods of Ixora, so water and fertilizer management should be strengthened, with fertilization about once every 30-40 days. Various organic fertilizers or inorganic compound fertilizers are all ideal. When growing in northern regions, apply "Huiyou" 21-7-7 acid fertilizer once every half month. If the leaves are found to be light green, thinner, and lacking luster, with few flowers and lighter flower color, then it is insufficient light, not a lack of fertilizer or water.
Pest and Disease Control
Collapsible: Leaf Spot Disease
This disease is caused by Fusarium. The pathogen overwinters on diseased flowers or falls into the soil with diseased leaves, and spreads by wind and rain or watering the following year.
Control methods:
(1) Horticultural control: Satisfy Ixora's growth conditions of loving light, a warm and humid climate, and loose, fertile acidic soil.
(2) Chemical control: Start spraying at the early stage of the disease. The agents can be 50% thiophanate-methyl + sulfur suspension concentrate at 800 times dilution; or 50% carbendazim wettable powder at 500 times dilution; or 10% antibacterial agent 401 acetic acid at 1000 times dilution for spraying.
Collapsible: Anthracnose
This disease mainly damages leaves. The pathogen overwinters on diseased parts or diseased leaf residues. When conditions are suitable, it spreads by wind and rain, invades through wounds, and causes primary infection.
Control methods:
(1) Horticultural control: Remove diseased leaves to reduce infection sources. The spacing between flower pots or plants should be appropriate to ensure good ventilation and light transmission.
(2) Chemical control: Spray before the disease occurs. The agents can be 1:1:200 Bordeaux mixture; or 50% carbendazim wettable powder plus 75% chlorothalonil wettable powder at 800 times dilution; or 25% carbon special wettable powder at 500 times dilution. The above agents should be sprayed once every 10 days or so, with continuous control 3-4 times.
Collapsible: Scale Insects
Once scale insects occur, the damage is very great, so prevention should mainly be relied upon. Once scale insects are found, they should be controlled promptly without delay. Scale insects not only hinder plant growth and trigger other diseases but also affect ornamental value.
Control methods:
(1) Horticultural control: Prohibit bringing in or taking out seedlings carrying insects. Apply organic fertilizer and compound fertilizer in a timely manner to strengthen seedling vigor and improve insect resistance.
(2) Chemical control: Apply systemic granular agents to the roots, such as 3% carbofuran granules. The dosage is 0.5-1 gram buried in flower pots with a diameter within 20 cm, increased as appropriate for large pots, and the effective period can reach 40-60 days. Spray promptly at the peak hatching period of eggs. The agents can be 40% omethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1500 times dilution plus 50% menazon emulsifiable concentrate at 1000-1500 times dilution.
Collapsible: Aphids
When aphids harm young tender stems and leaves, spray with 2.5% derris extract emulsifiable concentrate at 1200 times dilution to kill them.
How to grow Ixora? Ixora cultivation methods and precautions
Image: Ixora
[Common Questions] How to grow Ixora? Ixora cultivation methods and precautions
[Expert Answer]
1. Temperature and light: Ixora is more suited to high temperatures and an environment with sufficient sunlight. It likes a humid and hot climate and is not tolerant of low temperatures. The suitable growth temperature is 23-32°C. When the temperature is below 20°C, its growth vigor weakens and flowering decreases significantly, but if sunlight is sufficient, there will still be a certain number of flower buds. When the temperature is below 10°C, its physiological activity decreases and growth is slow. When the temperature is below 0°C, frost damage will occur.
2. Soil: Ixora likes acidic soil, and the most suitable soil pH is 5-5.5. Soil with good drainage and good fertilizer retention can allow it to grow well. The best cultivation soil is organic-rich sandy loam or humus loam. If the soil is alkaline, Ixora growth is hindered and development is poor. Before transplanting, deeply plow the soil layer, break up large clods of soil, and according to the soil structure, mix in river sand and organic fertilizer soil and mix thoroughly to achieve soil conditions suitable for Ixora growth. For the nutrient soil of potted plants or bagged seedlings, fully mix 1 part garden soil, 1 part river sand, and 1 part organic fertilizer soil, or prepare it with pond mud, river sand, and coconut coir in a ratio of 1:1:0.5.
3. Propagation methods: Ixora can be propagated by sowing, layering, or cuttings, but the cutting method is generally used most often.
4. Transplanting: After the cuttings have rooted, they should be transplanted. Generally, when the roots are within 2 cm long, they should be moved away from the cutting bed. If the root system is longer than 2 cm, roots are easily broken when taking out the seedlings, affecting the seedling's recovery and early growth. For Ixora potting, pots with a diameter of 10-20 cm are commonly used, depending on the size of the seedlings and the number of plants to be potted. Potted plants must be neat and uniform in flower color. Potted plants should be repotted once every 1-2 years, and shaping and pruning should be done to cut off diseased and weak branches. Whether potted or field planted, a place with sufficient sunlight should be chosen. For field planting of Ixora, in order to form blocks quickly and take effect quickly, 1-3 year old potted seedlings or bagged seedlings are generally chosen. It can be done in all four seasons and planted in deep soil layers. When Ixora is potted indoors in winter, the temperature must be kept above 15°C so it can continue to grow. If the temperature is too low, leaf drop will occur.
5. Water and fertilizer: Ixora likes moisture and fears dryness. During the growth period of stems and leaves, sufficient water is needed. Keeping the potting soil moist is beneficial for shoot sprouting and leaf growth. However, being too wet for a long time can easily cause part of the root system to rot, affecting growth and flowering. If the soil is too dry or alternately dry and wet, and water is not supplied in time, leaf drop will occur. Spring, summer, and autumn are the growth and flowering periods of Ixora, so water and fertilizer management should be strengthened, with fertilization about once every 30-40 days. Various organic fertilizers or inorganic compound fertilizers are all ideal. When growing in northern regions, apply “Huiyou” 21-7-7 acid fertilizer once every half month. If the leaves are found to be light green, thinner, and lacking luster, with few flowers and lighter flower color, then it is insufficient light, not a lack of fertilizer or water.
Precautions for growing Ixora:
After Ixora is moved outdoors in spring, it should be pruned appropriately to facilitate ventilation and light. Pinching at the flowering stage can help it produce more buds and flowers. In summer, do not water on cloudy and rainy days. If it is exposed to rain, promptly pour out the water in the pot to prevent root rot from excessive water. In winter, move it indoors to a sunny place, and the temperature should not be lower than 0°C. Water about once a week, just enough to keep the soil slightly moist. During high summer temperatures and strong sunlight, shading should be carried out, blocking 40%-50% of the light.
[Editor's Comments] In addition to the above 5 points, leaf spot disease, anthracnose, scale insects, and aphids are the four major pests and diseases of Ixora, and attention should be paid to their control. The above is the article "Ixora Cultivation Methods and Precautions" compiled for you by the editor of First Agricultural Economics. We hope it is helpful to you.