How to grow Duranta repens? Cultivation methods and precautions
1. Soil:
For raising Forsythia seedlings from seed, choose a sandy loam or loam that is sheltered from wind and sunny, well-drained, with deep soil, loose and fertile. Per 667 sq m, apply 1000kg of decomposed chicken and sheep manure, 50kg of superphosphate, and 30kg of diammonium phosphate, then plow deep and harrow fine, and make raised beds 100-120cm wide, 20-30cm high, and 5-10m long; for cutting propagation, choose sandy land that is easy to irrigate and has good permeability; for planting, choose a gently sloping, wind-sheltered and sunny site.
2. Potting:
Duranta repens generally germinates about 10 days after sowing, with a germination rate of about 50%. Seedlings generally need to be grown for 2 years before they are ready for potting or leaving the nursery. Cuttings are taken in late spring and early summer, using 1-2 year old young branches, cut into sections 15 cm long, inserted into a wet sand bed; roots develop after about 1 month, and after about 1.5 months they can be moved into the nursery for cultivation, and can leave the nursery the following year or the third year. For those used for bending branches into shapes, this should begin when the seedlings are in their second year.
3. Temperature:
Duranta repens likes a warm and humid environment. Its optimal growing temperature is 22-30°C. It is a plant with low cold resistance. If it encounters long-term low temperatures or sudden frost, the plant is very susceptible to cold damage. Its minimum safe overwintering temperature is 5°C, so be careful about cold protection.
4. Light:
It likes sunlight and tolerates slight shade. Even in the hot summer season, it should be given sufficient light so it can grow and fruit well. During the growing period, it should receive as much sunlight as possible. Especially for golden duranta and variegated duranta, the stronger the light, the brighter and more vivid the golden color of the branches and leaves and the markings on the leaf surface; when light is insufficient, the color often fades and turns green, making the leaf color less attractive.
5. Watering:
It likes a moist soil environment and is not tolerant of drought. During the growing period, especially in summer during the peak growth and flowering period, it should be watered thoroughly to keep the potting soil moist, so as to meet the plant's needs for growth and flowering. It is tolerant of waterlogging, and watering should follow the principle of alternating wet and dry. However, it should not be too wet or waterlogged. After rain during the plum rain season, check promptly and pour out accumulated water in the pot. In winter, watering should be restricted, keeping the potting soil in a relatively dry state.
6. Fertilizing:
Because of its large growth volume, when conditions are suitable it can continue flowering and fruiting from summer to winter, consuming a large amount of nutrients, so during the growing season nutrients should be continuously replenished and fertilizer and water management strengthened. In spring, apply a nitrogen-based fertilizer once every half month to promote robust and vigorous growth of branches and leaves. In summer and autumn after bud formation, apply a phosphorus- and potassium-based fertilizer once every half month to promote continuous flowering and fruiting, and to make flowering abundant, colors vivid, and fruiting good. Even when the plant is moved indoors in autumn, appropriate phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should still be applied to increase the color and glossiness of the fruit and extend the fruit-viewing period. For types with markings on the leaves, attention should be paid to the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer throughout the growing period to keep the leaf color bright.
7. Pruning:
It is extremely tolerant of pruning. In spring, prune the plant once when repotting. Thin out overly dense weak branches, crossing branches, parallel branches, and diseased and pest-infected branches, and shorten the remaining branches to maintain good internal ventilation and light penetration and a rounded plant shape. During the growing period, when branch growth is uneven, pinching and pruning can be used to adjust it. After flowering, if fruit is not needed, the spent flower clusters can be cut off to promote branching and reblooming. If fruit viewing is desired, do not prune before or after flowering, otherwise there will be no fruit to enjoy. When the plant ages after several years of planting, pruning in spring should be increased to stimulate vigorous growth of branches and leaves. The plant can also be pruned into spherical and other shapes as needed.
Duranta repens Duranta repens illustrated guide: how to grow Duranta repens / how to propagate Duranta repens
Duranta repens profileDuranta repens
Cultivation methods and precautions for Duranta repens Introduction to Duranta repens
Duranta repens belongs to the Verbenaceae family, genus Duranta. It is native to Mexico, Brazil, and the Indian Ocean islands. It is an evergreen shrub. The branches are long, drooping or prostrate, with opposite leaves, ovate-elliptic or obovate, with a short pointed or rounded apex, wedge-shaped base, and serrated margins above the middle. Racemes are axillary, arranged into a terminal panicle, usually borne on one side of the axis, with a blue-purple or white corolla. The drupe is fleshy, ovate, borne in strings enclosed within the calyx, yellow, and glossy. Duranta repens is a flower- and fruit-viewing plant. It blooms blue-purple or white small flowers all year round, and after autumn the fruit changes color, borne on drooping long branches, very charming. It can be potted for hall decoration, or planted in the ground as a garden hedge or clump, or planted as a shrub group.
Ornamental classification: foliage plants.
Morphological characteristics: evergreen trailing shrub, flowers blue-purple, flowering in summer, autumn, and winter, flowering while fruiting, drupe yellow and glossy when mature.
Growth habits: sun-loving, tolerant of partial shade, likes a warm and humid climate, tolerant of pruning.
Landscape uses: hedges, ornamental.
Resource distribution: native to tropical America.
Morphological characteristics of Duranta repens
Duranta repens is an evergreen shrub, with plants 1.5-3m tall. Branches often droop, with or without thorns, and young branches have hairs. Leaves are opposite, rarely whorled; petiole about 1cm long, with soft hairs; leaf blade papery, ovate-elliptic, obovate, or ovate-lanceolate, 2-6.5cm long and 1.5-3.5cm wide, base wedge-shaped, margin serrated above the middle, apex short pointed or blunt, with soft hairs. Racemes terminal or axillary, often arranged in panicles; calyx tubular, hairy, about 5mm long, with 5 ridges, apex 5-lobed, twisted at the apex when fruiting; corolla blue or pale blue-purple, about 8 mm long, apex 5-lobed, lobes spreading, hairy inside and out; style shorter than the corolla tube, ovary hairless, drupe spherical, about 5mm in diameter, red-yellow when ripe, glossy, completely enclosed in the enlarged persistent calyx. Flowering and fruiting period May-October.
Evergreen shrub. Stems can reach 6 meters long, generally 2-3 meters long. Much branched, not upright, semi-climbing, branches with or without thorns. Leaves opposite, margins serrated. Flowering period is long, from mid-April to mid-December, blooming successively, with May-September as the main flowering period. Flowers small, salverform, blue-purple, quiet and delicate, deeply loved. Fruit round or nearly ovate, with a pointed beak at the tip, fruiting all year, with June-November as the peak ripening period.
Ecological habits of Duranta repens
It likes a warm and humid climate and has low cold resistance. When encountering long-term low temperatures of 5-6°C or short-term frost, the plant suffers cold damage. In the vast areas from northern South China to Central China and North China, it is only suitable for pot cultivation, overwintering in a greenhouse or indoors with cold protection, with room temperature not lower than 8°C.
It likes light and also tolerates semi-shade. It has strong adaptability to soil; sandy soil, heavy clay soil, acidic soil, or calcareous soil are all suitable. It prefers fertilizer, and grows poorly in barren land. It is tolerant of waterlogging but not drought.
Whether potted or ground-planted, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied, and thereafter during the peak growing period each year, apply compound fertilizer 1-2 times. It has strong sprouting ability, and according to ornamental requirements, the branches can be bent, or each spring severe pruning can be carried out to facilitate the emergence of new branches that year and avoid a loose and messy crown shape. Old stems can also be cut off to cultivate stump bonsai.
It likes a warm, sunny, cool, and ventilated environment. It tolerates slight shade and has poor cold resistance, and the overwintering temperature must be above 5°C. It can grow well in general soil. It has strong sprouting ability, tolerates pruning, grows fast, and the optimal growth temperature is 18-28°C. In warm weather it can bloom all year round.
Cultivation techniques of Duranta repens Site selection and land preparation
For raising Forsythia seedlings from seed, choose a sandy loam or loam that is sheltered from wind and sunny, well-drained, with deep soil, loose and fertile. Per 667 sq m, apply 1000kg of decomposed chicken and sheep manure, 50kg of superphosphate, and 30kg of diammonium phosphate, then plow deep and harrow fine, and make raised beds 100-120cm wide, 20-30cm high, and 5-10m long; for cutting propagation, choose sandy land that is easy to irrigate and has good permeability; for planting, choose a gently sloping, wind-sheltered and sunny site.
Cultivation
Mainly by seed sowing, but also by cutting propagation.
Seeds can be collected throughout the year. After collection, soak them in water and compost for about 1 week. When the fruit skin turns black and rotting, put them in a basket, rub them in water, and rinse out the seeds. The seed extraction rate from fruit is about 16%, and the thousand-seed weight is about 7.5 grams. After slight drying, they can be sown. Avoid water loss; do not sun-dry or store exposed for a long time. Seeds have no dormancy period and are best sown as soon as collected. The temperature during germination needs to be above 20°C. Generally, germination occurs about 10 days after sowing, with a germination rate of about 50%. Seedlings generally need to be grown for 2 years before they are ready for potting or leaving the nursery.
Cuttings are taken in late spring and early summer, using 1-2 year old young branches, cut into sections 15 cm long, inserted into a wet sand bed; roots develop after about 1 month, and after about 1.5 months they can be moved into the nursery for cultivation, and can leave the nursery the following year or the third year.
For those used for bending branches into shapes, this should begin when the seedlings are in their second year.
Propagation methods of Duranta repens
Mainly by seed sowing, but also by cutting propagation.
Seeds can be collected throughout the year. After collection, soak them in water and compost for about 1 week. When the fruit skin turns black and rotting, put them in a basket, rub them in water, and rinse out the seeds. The seed extraction rate from fruit is about 16%, and the thousand-seed weight is about 7.5 grams. After slight drying, they can be sown. Avoid water loss; do not sun-dry or store exposed for a long time. Seeds have no dormancy period and are best sown as soon as collected. The temperature during germination needs to be above 20°C. Generally, germination occurs about 10 days after sowing, with a germination rate of about 50%. Seedlings generally need to be grown for 2 years before they are ready for potting or leaving the nursery.
Cuttings are taken in late spring and early summer, using 1-2 year old young branches, cut into sections 15 cm long, inserted into a wet sand bed; roots develop after about 1 month, and after about 1.5 months they can be moved into the nursery for cultivation, and can leave the nursery the following year or the third year. For those used for bending branches into shapes, this should begin when the seedlings are in their second year.
Seed sowing
In winter after the fruit turns yellow, wash the seeds and dry them before sowing. They germinate after 2-3 weeks; when they have 2 pairs of true leaves, transplant them into flower pots for cultivation.
Select superior individual plants with robust growth, short and thick internodes, dense and plump flowers and fruits, and no pests or diseases as mother plants for seed collection; in September-October, pick mature fruits, dry them, thresh them, and store them in sand, that is, dig a storage pit 1.2m deep and 0.8m wide (length depends on the amount of seed), fully mix Forsythia seeds with wet sand at a ratio of 1:3, with sand moisture such that it forms a ball when squeezed in the hand and disperses when released, without dripping water.
Then bury 1 layer of sand and 1 layer of seeds into the pit, with covering soil slightly higher than the ground; sow in early to mid-March in the south, and in early April in the north; sowing rate about 150kg/hectare, open shallow furrows 4-5cm deep at a row spacing of 25cm when sowing, evenly scatter the seeds into the furrows, cover with 2cm of soil and press lightly, and seedlings emerge in about 20 days; after the seedlings emerge completely, loosen the soil, remove weeds, and fertilize in time.
When seedlings are 5-6cm tall, begin thinning; when 10-15cm tall, thin a second time. During the seedling stage, frequently loosen the soil and remove weeds, irrigate in time, and keep the soil moist, but Forsythia also fears waterlogging, so in the rainy season open ditches in time for drainage to avoid root rot from accumulated water. During the seedling stage, apply thin fertilizer frequently, each time topdressing 30-75kg/hectare of urea or 75-100kg/hectare of ammonium sulfate to promote stem, leaf, and plant growth. Generally cultivate for 2a, and when seedlings are over 60cm tall they can leave the nursery.
Cutting propagation
Both old and young branches can be used as cuttings; insert them in sandy soil and maintain humidity at about 80%; they root very easily and have a high survival rate. After rooting, they can be planted singly or 2-3 plants per flower pot. Young seedlings are maintained in the open air; if uneven growth or overly long branches are found, pinching or pruning can be done in time to adjust.
Choose a semi-shaded, ventilated, and cool environment. In summer, light should not be too strong, as it easily scorches the leaves. Prune overly dense branches in time and strengthen water and fertilizer management to encourage more flowering.
After autumn begins, increase light and maintain good plant vigor. When the weather turns cool, move them into a greenhouse for wintering. In April, repot and carry out shaping and pruning. During the growing period, sufficient water is required, and from spring to autumn apply liquid fertilizer once every 10-15 days.
In dry seasons, pay attention to watering to keep the air humid. After flowering, prune appropriately to facilitate new branching and reblooming.
In early summer, cut 1-2a old young branches from superior mother plants, cut into cuttings 20-25cm long (with 3 nodes). Soak the lower 1/3 of the cuttings in 500×10E-6 rooting powder (ABT) or indolebutyric acid (1BA) solution for 1min, remove and let dry slightly, then in a previously prepared bed use an iron rod or small wooden stick to make holes at a spacing of 5cm×20cm, insert 2/3 of the cuttings into the holes, firm the soil and water, roots and sprouts develop in about 1 month, and that year they can grow into plants 50cm tall, and are transplanted to the field the following spring.
Layering propagation
Forsythia has many drooping branches. In spring from March to April, bend the drooping branches of the mother plant into the soil, cut and wound the buried part with a knife and cover it with fine soil; the wounded part will root and form a seedling. From winter to early spring of the second year, cut it from the mother plant and dig up the seedling with roots to transplant to the field.
Division propagation
Forsythia has a well-developed root system and extremely strong sprouting ability. After leaf fall in autumn or before sprouting in early spring, dig up the root suckers around the plant's root zone and transplant and plant them separately.
Disease and pest control of Duranta repens
Common diseases and pests of Duranta repens mainly include aphids, caterpillars, and sunscald. For aphids and caterpillars, biological control is mainly used, combined with pruning in autumn to cut off diseased branches, so as to reduce the occurrence of aphids and caterpillars; a 1000-fold omethoate solution can also be sprayed on the leaves. Sunscald is mainly avoided in the hot summer by avoiding direct strong light, and appropriate water spraying and shading are needed.
Duranta repens should be protected against two pests.
(1) Borer
The larvae bore into the pith of the stem's xylem and cause damage. In severe cases, affected branches cannot flower or fruit, and even the whole plant dies. Control methods: in winter, clear dead branches, fallen leaves, and weeds to eliminate overwintering eggs; promptly cut off and burn affected branches; use 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate 500-fold solution or 80% dichlorvos original solution to dip cotton and plug the bore holes to poison and kill them.
(2) Snails
They mainly damage flowers and young fruit. Control method: in the early morning, spread lime powder around the plant for control, or manually capture and kill them.
Distribution area of Duranta repens
It is native to tropical Central and South America, from the West Indies and Mexico to Brazil, and has been introduced in many tropical regions of the world. In China, it is widely cultivated in vast areas from northern South China to Central China and North China.
Ecological environment: commonly cultivated or naturalized in southern China.
Resource distribution: native to tropical America. Produced from Mexico to Brazil and the West Indies; widely cultivated in southern China, mostly potted in the north.
Medicinal or edible therapeutic value of Duranta repens
The medical information and healthy dietary therapy information on Huahua Network is for reference only and cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis or medical treatment. Any health problem should be consulted with professional medical staff, and treatment of any disease should follow a doctor's advice.
Ultimate flower-protecting task: To love yourself, start from reality and strictly follow a doctor's advice. For illness, do not be careless, do not delay, do not give up hope, face it bravely, use love to warm the silent world, and use your heart to care for the flower field within.
Medicinal value
Duranta repens is a commonly used bulk medicinal material in China. When the fruit is first ripe and still green in autumn, it is harvested, impurities removed, steamed, and sun-dried, and is called "green qiao"; when the fruit is fully ripe, it is harvested, air-dried, and impurities removed, and is commonly called "old qiao"; Forsythia fruit contains forsythol, alcohol compounds, saponins (non-hemolytic) and flavonoid glycosides, lignins, triterpenes, coumarins, etc. Its taste is bitter and its nature is slightly cold. It can dissipate nodules and purge fire, reduce swelling and discharge pus, relieve pain and promote diuresis; modern pharmacology shows that Forsythia has antibacterial, antiviral, liver-protecting, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic effects, and mainly treats carbuncles, scrofula, breast abscess, erysipelas, wind-heat common cold, early stage of warm disease, warm heat entering the nutritive level, high fever and thirst, delirium and skin eruptions, heat strangury and anuria, etc. The fruit is used as medicine to treat malaria, and the leaves can be pounded and applied to treat painful swellings.
Duranta repens (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine) [Alternative names] Fanzi thorn, fence tree, foreign thorn, flower wall thorn (Fujian Chinese Herbal Medicine).
[Source] The fruit of the Verbenaceae plant Duranta repens.
[Collection] Can be collected throughout the year.
[Chemical composition] Contains alkaloids, steroids, glucose, and fructose.
[Nature and flavor] Sweet, slightly pungent, warm, slightly toxic.
[Functions and indications - effects of Duranta repens] Treats malaria, induces abortion.
[Cautions and contraindications] Contraindicated in pregnant women.
[Selected formulas]
① To treat malaria: 15 to 20 seeds of Duranta repens, taken with boiled water 2 hours before the attack.
② To treat chest pain from traumatic injury: 5 qian of fresh Duranta repens, pounded, taken with hot wine.
Uses and purposes of Duranta repens Ornamental and applications
Duranta repens has racemose fruit clusters hanging at the tips of branches, orange-red or golden yellow, glossy, like strings of golden grains, not falling for a long time, extremely gorgeous, and is an important fruit-viewing plant. It is suitable for planting as hedges, green walls, flower corridors, or climbing on flower trellises, or hanging over stone walls or masonry walls, all very beautiful. The branches are soft and tolerant of pruning, and can be bent into many forms for bonsai cultivation, or pruned and cultivated as stump bonsai, with especially good effect. The fruit is used as medicine to treat malaria, and the leaves can be pounded and applied to treat painful swellings.
Ornamental value
Duranta repens has a graceful tree posture and vigorous growth; it flowers before leaves in early spring, and has a long flowering period and abundant flowers. When in full bloom, the branches are golden and fragrant, pleasing to the eye, and it plays an important role in early spring phenological changes. It can be planted as flower hedges, flower clumps, flower borders, and flower beds beside houses, at pavilion steps, wall corners, under hedges, or along roadsides, streamsides, and pond edges. It is widely used in greening, beautifying, and fragrance-enhancing cities, and is a rare and excellent tree species for sightseeing agriculture and modern landscaping.
Racemose fruit clusters hang at the tips of branches, orange-red or golden yellow, glossy, like strings of golden grains, not falling for a long time, extremely gorgeous, and are an important fruit-viewing plant. Suitable for planting as hedges, green walls, flower corridors, or climbing on flower trellises, or hanging over stone walls or masonry walls, all very beautiful. The branches are soft and tolerant of pruning, and can be bent into many forms for bonsai cultivation, or pruned and cultivated as stump bonsai, with especially good effect.
Conservation role
Duranta repens has a well-developed root system. Its main roots, lateral roots, and fibrous roots can densely form a network in the soil layer, with strong absorption and water retention capacity; the lateral roots are thick and long, and the fibrous roots are numerous and dense, which can pull and fix the soil and prevent soil blocks from slipping; Forsythia has strong sprouting ability, and the canopy coverage increases quickly, which can effectively prevent raindrops from splashing the ground and reduce erosion. It has a good role in soil and water conservation, and is a nationally recommended excellent ecological tree species for returning farmland to forest and the best economic plant for preventing soil erosion on the Loess Plateau.
Development and utilization
In today's society that advocates green, environmental protection, and "returning to nature," the development and utilization prospects of Forsythia are broad. Forsythia leaf tea has free radical scavenging and antioxidant effects. As a pure natural medicine for preventing and treating various diseases caused by reactive oxygen species (such as aging cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, hyperlipidemia, senile dementia, and even cancer) and a new natural food antioxidant, it has wide application fields; Forsythia has a long flowering period and flower color that does not fade for a long time, making it a resource-rich source of yellow edible pigment; Forsythia is a very good nectar plant. Placing bees during the flowering period can both increase income and improve cross-pollination rate, which is beneficial for fruit setting; Forsythia seed oil is rich in nutrition and aromatic in taste. Under the current situation of rapid growth in China's vegetable oil consumption, developing Forsythia seed oil sources and making full use of China's rich wild oil resources has important practical significance for improving people's living standards and promoting economic development in mountainous areas.
Landscape uses of Duranta repens Indoor pot cultivation
Duranta repens has racemose fruit clusters hanging at the tips of branches, orange-red or golden yellow, glossy, like strings of golden grains, not falling for a long time, extremely gorgeous, and is an important fruit-viewing plant.
Hedges and topiary
Duranta repens has fine, soft, spreading branches, elegant blue-purple flowers, and blooms continuously all year. In autumn, the fruit is golden yellow, borne on drooping inflorescences, long like strings of golden beads, charming and lovely, and it is an excellent flower- and fruit-viewing plant. It is suitable for pot cultivation, decorating halls, meeting rooms, or as hanging pots for fruit viewing, and can also be used in parks and courtyards for clump planting, or as flower hedges, or planted in color blocks. Its flowers and fruits can both be used as cut flower materials. The fruit can be used medicinally.
Cultural background of Duranta repens Plant toxicity
The mature golden fruit of Duranta repens hangs on the branches like strings of jewelry, very gorgeous and charming, but this fruit has an abortifacient effect and can induce nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Landscape experts advise neighbors not to "keep" this good-looking but toxic plant.
No harm at the roadside, do not plant indoors
In fact, if Duranta repens is planted outdoors, as long as it is not touched, picked, or eaten by mistake, it is basically harmless to people. However, Hu Xiancong, director of the Municipal Landscape Research Institute and senior landscape engineer, also reminded citizens, "If such plants are grown in the home, long-term inhalation of pollen, dust particles, and other reasons may cause cancer." Citizens who love growing flowers and plants should not grow cancer-causing plants at home.
Flower language of Duranta repens
The flower language of Duranta repens is evil and witchcraft.
The fruit of Duranta repens is very beautiful, hanging on the branches. When the fruit is ripe, it is orange-red or golden yellow and glossy, just like strings of golden jewelry. The fruit period is long and the fruit does not fall off, very gorgeous and charming, and it is an important fruit-viewing plant in the Lingnan region.
It is especially suitable for planting as hedges, flower corridors, green walls, and other places, and can also hang over stone walls and masonry walls in courtyards, appearing very elegant and beautiful.
The branches are very soft and suitable for making various shapes, tolerant of pruning, and can be planted as bonsai plants. However, although the fruit of Duranta repens is very beautiful and charming, its fruit has an abortifacient effect.
It contains substances that can activate the EB virus. Long-term contact may induce nasopharyngeal carcinoma, so children must stay away.
Duranta repens pictures
How to grow Duranta repens? Cultivation methods and precautions for Duranta repens
[Common questions] How to grow Duranta repens? What are the cultivation methods and precautions for Duranta repens?
[Expert answer] Cultivation methods and precautions for Duranta repens:
1. Soil
For raising Forsythia seedlings from seed, choose a sandy loam or loam that is sheltered from wind and sunny, well-drained, with deep soil, loose and fertile. Per 667 sq m, apply 1000kg of decomposed chicken and sheep manure, 50kg of superphosphate, and 30kg of diammonium phosphate, then plow deep and harrow fine, and make raised beds 100-120cm wide, 20-30cm high, and 5-10m long; for cutting propagation, choose sandy land that is easy to irrigate and has good permeability; for planting, choose a gently sloping, wind-sheltered and sunny site.
Duranta repens flower
2. Potting
Duranta repens generally germinates about 10 days after sowing, with a germination rate of about 50%. Seedlings generally need to be grown for 2 years before they are ready for potting or leaving the nursery. Cuttings are taken in late spring and early summer, using 1-2 year old young branches, cut into sections 15 cm long, inserted into a wet sand bed; roots develop after about 1 month, and after about 1.5 months they can be moved into the nursery for cultivation, and can leave the nursery the following year or the third year. For those used for bending branches into shapes, this should begin when the seedlings are in their second year.
3. Temperature
Duranta repens likes a warm and humid environment. Its optimal growing temperature is 22-30°C. It is a plant with low cold resistance. If it encounters long-term low temperatures or sudden frost, the plant is very susceptible to cold damage. Its minimum safe overwintering temperature is 5°C, so be careful about cold protection.
4. Light
It likes sunlight and tolerates slight shade. Even in the high-temperature summer season, sufficient light should be given for good growth and fruiting. During the growing period, it should receive as much sunlight as possible. This is especially true for Duranta erecta 'Golden Dewdrop' with golden leaves and Duranta erecta with variegated leaves: the stronger the light, the brighter and more vivid the golden color of the branches and leaves and the markings on the leaf surface will be; when light is insufficient, the colors often fade and turn green, making the leaf color unattractive.
Potted Duranta erecta
5. Watering
It likes a moist soil environment and is not drought-tolerant. During the growing period, especially in summer during the peak period of growth and flowering, it should be watered thoroughly to keep the potting soil moist, so as to meet the needs of plant growth and flowering. It is tolerant of water and moisture, and watering should follow the principle of alternation between dry and wet. However, it should not be too wet or waterlogged. After rain during the plum rain season, check promptly and pour out any accumulated water in the pot. In winter, watering should be moderated to keep the potting soil relatively dry.
6. Fertilizing
Because of its large growth volume, when conditions are suitable it can bloom and fruit continuously from summer to winter, consuming a large amount of nutrients, so during the growing season nutrients should be continuously replenished and fertilizer and water management strengthened. In spring, apply a nitrogen-based fertilizer once every half month to promote robust and vigorous growth of branches and leaves. In summer and autumn after flower buds form, apply a phosphorus- and potassium-based fertilizer once every half month to promote continuous flowering and fruiting, and to make flowering abundant, colors vivid, and fruiting good. Even when the plant is moved indoors in early autumn, appropriate phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should still be applied to increase the color and glossiness of the fruit and prolong the fruit-viewing period. For varieties with markings on the leaf surface, attention should be paid to the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer throughout the growing period to keep the leaf color bright and beautiful.
7. Pruning
Duranta erecta is extremely tolerant of pruning. In spring, prune the plant once when repotting. Thin out overly dense weak branches, crossing branches, parallel branches, and diseased and pest-infested branches, and shorten the remaining branches to keep good ventilation and light penetration inside the plant and a rounded plant shape. During the growing period, when branches grow unevenly, pinching and pruning can be used to adjust them. After flowering, if fruit is not needed, the faded inflorescences can be cut off to promote branching and reblooming. If fruit viewing is desired, do not prune before and after flowering, otherwise there will be no fruit to enjoy. When the plant becomes old after several years of planting, the amount of pruning should be increased during spring pruning to stimulate vigorous growth of branches and leaves. The plant can also be pruned into a spherical shape or other shapes as needed.
[Editor's Conclusion] Duranta erecta is a common Chinese medicinal herb plant in southern China and can be enjoyed as a potted plant. The editor of First Agricultural Economics has introduced the cultivation methods and precautions for Duranta erecta above. If you want to learn more, you can follow the planting technology channel of our website. Thank you for your attention to and support of our website.