How to Grow Excoecaria cochinchinensis? A Complete Guide to Care Precautions

Growing Techniques Jan 1, 1970 0 views

For pest and disease control, anthracnose, leaf blight and root-knot nematode disease are common problems. The first two diseases can be treated by spraying 65% zineb wettable powder at 500 times dilution, while for nematode disease, 3% carbofuran granules can be applied. Excoecaria cochinchinensis is prone to scale insect damage, so pay attention to prevention and control

The soil used for cultivation must be an acidic mix, and according to its growth, it should generally be repotted every two years. In hot seasons, it is best kept under a shade canopy, and an acidic liquid fertilizer should be applied every 2-3 weeks, which can make the branches and leaves lush and keep the leaf color bright.

In winter, the room temperature must not be lower than 12°C, otherwise it will cause massive leaf drop and the plant will enter dormancy, and the young branches will also wither. If this happens, heavy pruning should be carried out immediately to encourage new branches. When moving it outdoors in spring, be careful to protect it from wind, otherwise the leaves are prone to curling and even the leaf edges may dry up.

How to Grow Excoecaria cochinchinensis

Temperature

Excoecaria cochinchinensis is a subtropical plant and is not cold-tolerant. The suitable growing temperature is between 15-25°C, and the overwintering temperature must not be lower than 5°C.

Light

It tolerates partial shade and prefers scattered light. Never expose it to strong direct sunlight. In summer, it needs to be placed in a shaded and ventilated spot, which helps keep the leaves of Excoecaria cochinchinensis a deep green.

Watering

Excoecaria cochinchinensis likes a moist growing environment but dislikes waterlogging. During the growing season, water thoroughly to keep the potting soil and surrounding environment moist, but be careful to avoid standing water. In winter, control watering, generally once every 7-10 days is enough, and the potting soil can be slightly moist to fairly dry.

Fertilizing

When planting or repotting and changing the soil, an appropriate amount of compound fertilizer can be applied as a base fertilizer. During the growing season, apply a compound fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium about once every half month, and during the flowering period, two additional sprays of 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution can be applied. No fertilizing is needed in midsummer and winter.

Soil

It prefers fertile, loose sandy loam with good drainage.

Propagation Methods

Two propagation methods can be used: root division and cuttings. The root division method is generally carried out in March and April each year, selecting 2-3 year old seedlings for division. The most common is cutting propagation, selecting healthy one-year-old branches as cuttings, cutting them into sections of three nodes each and inserting them into plain soil to a depth of about 23 cm, then shading and keeping them moist for about two months until they root.

How to Grow and Care for Excoecaria cochinchinensis

Chinese scientific name: Hongbei Guihua

Latin scientific name: Excoecaria cochinchinensis Lour

Also known as: Hongzi Mu, Zibei Gui

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Angiospermae

Class: Dicotyledoneae

Order: Euphorbiales

Suborder: Euphorbiineae

Family: Euphorbiaceae

Genus: Excoecaria

Species: Excoecaria cochinchinensis

Distribution area: Widely cultivated in Taiwan, China, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other places in China. Also found in various countries in Southeast Asia.

Family catalog number 174

Hongbei Gui, namely Excoecaria cochinchinensis, is an evergreen small shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family, named for its red leaf undersides. It is a foliage and flowering plant with relatively high practical value. In the Yangtze River basin and areas to the south in China, it is commonly used as a potted plant, placed on windowsills, balconies or in courtyards, and can also be used medicinally.

1. Morphological Characteristics

Evergreen shrub, up to about 1 m tall; branches hairless, with many lenticels. Leaves opposite, rarely also alternate or nearly 3-whorled, papery, leaf blades narrowly elliptic or oblong, 6-14 cm long, 1.2-4 cm wide, apex long acuminate, base gradually narrowed, margin with sparse fine teeth, tooth spacing 3-10 mm, both surfaces hairless, upper surface green, lower surface purplish red or blood red; midrib raised on both surfaces, lateral veins 8-12 pairs, arcuately ascending, curved and connected away from the margin, reticulate veins inconspicuous; petiole 3-10 mm long, without glands; stipules ovate, apex pointed, about 1 mm long. Flowers unisexual, dioecious, gathered into axillary or rarely also terminal racemes, male inflorescences 1-2 cm long, female inflorescences composed of 3-5 flowers, slightly shorter than male inflorescences. Male flowers: pedicel about 1.5 mm long; bracts broadly ovate, length and width nearly equal, about 1.7 mm, apex apiculate and finely toothed, base with 1 gland on each side of the upper surface, each bract with only 1 flower; bracteoles 2, linear, about 1.5 mm long, apex pointed, upper part with lacerate fine teeth, base also with 1 gland on each side; sepals 3, lanceolate, about 1.2 mm long, apex finely toothed; stamens long exserted beyond the sepals, anthers round, slightly shorter than the filaments. Female flowers: pedicel stout, 1.5-2 mm long, bracts and bracteoles the same as in male flowers; sepals 3, slightly united at the base, ovate, 1.8 mm long, nearly 1.2 mm wide; ovary globose, hairless, styles 3, free or more or less united at the base, about 2.2 mm long. Capsule globose, about 8 mm in diameter, base truncate, apex concave; seeds nearly globose, about 2.5 mm in diameter. Flowering period almost year-round.

2. Growing Environment

It is not drought-tolerant and not very cold-tolerant. The suitable growing temperature is 15-25°C, and the winter temperature should not be lower than 5°C. It tolerates partial shade and avoids direct sunlight. Placed in a shaded spot in summer, it can keep its leaves deep green. It requires fertile, well-drained sandy loam.

3. Distribution

Distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other areas of southern China.

4. Propagation Methods

Because the demand for Excoecaria cochinchinensis seedlings is large, the rapid cutting propagation method is widely used.

Cutting Time

The best time is before the spring buds begin to sprout, as branches during this period are rich in hormones and have accumulated many nutrients, and after cutting, as the temperature rises, the cuttings quickly produce callus tissue. If this timing is missed, cuttings can be taken from late July to mid-August after the spring shoots stop growing and before the flower buds and autumn shoots begin to sprout, but young branches that grew in the current spring must be selected as cuttings to achieve an ideal survival rate.

Cutting Bed Preparation

When taking cuttings, choose a sunny spot and dig a flat-bottomed rectangular pit 12 m long, 1.2 m wide and 0.7 m deep. Fill the bottom with a 40 cm thick layer of manure or other heat-generating material, then spread a 15-20 cm layer of vermiculite or perlite on top as the cutting substrate for the seedbed. After cutting, set up a plastic low tunnel 50 cm high and a shade frame 1 m high. After the seedbed is ready, use a 0.5% potassium permanganate aqueous solution to strictly disinfect the soil to prevent seedling damping-off and rot.

Cutting Operation

When taking cuttings, select healthy, pest-free autumn shoots from the previous year as cuttings, cut them into 8-10 cm lengths, keep 2-3 leaves at the top, then soak the base 2 cm of the cuttings in a 0.05%-0.1% naphthaleneacetic acid aqueous solution for about 5 seconds, cutting, soaking and inserting as you go. When inserting, use a spacing of 10 x 10 cm, first make a small hole with a wooden (bamboo) stick, insert the cutting, cover with substrate and press lightly, water thoroughly with a fine-rose watering can, then cover with film and a straw curtain shade frame. The autumn cutting method is the same as in spring, but temperature must be especially well controlled to avoid excessively high temperatures affecting survival.

Post-Cutting Management

【Temperature]: Strictly control the temperature of the seedbed substrate at 26°C-28°C and the air temperature at 23°C-25°C. Note that the air temperature must not be higher than the soil temperature, otherwise the cuttings will sprout before rooting, or even fail to root, causing a false-alive phenomenon and eventually withering and dying.

【Light]: 7-10 days after cutting, the shade frame should have about 30% light transmittance, so that the cuttings can receive thin scattered light, which helps the leaves carry out photosynthesis and promotes callus formation at the base of the cuttings to begin rooting. When about 80% of the cuttings have rooted and the roots are 2-3 cm long, remove the film, and remove the straw curtain before 11 a.m. and after 5 p.m. to promote healthy growth of the seedlings.
【Water and Fertilizer]: After cutting, spray at least two or three times a day, ventilate every two or three days, keep the substrate moist, and control the relative air humidity at about 90%. At the same time, after the cuttings root, apply a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate aqueous solution as foliar fertilizer once a week to promote seedling growth.