Detailed Guide to Growing and Caring for Wintersweet

Growing Techniques Jan 1, 1970 0 views

1. Soil: For potted wintersweet, use loose, fertile sandy loam rich in humus. 2. Watering: Wintersweet is naturally drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging. If moisture is too high and the soil is too wet, the plant grows poorly and flower bud differentiation is affected. Therefore, potted wintersweet should be kept on the dry side; normally, do not water until the soil is dry

1. Soil: For potted wintersweet, use loose, fertile sandy loam rich in humus.

2. Watering: Wintersweet is naturally drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging. If moisture is too high and the soil is too wet, the plant grows poorly and flower bud differentiation is affected. Therefore, potted wintersweet should be kept on the dry side; normally, do not water until the soil is dry, and when you do water, water thoroughly. However, during the "dog days" of high summer heat, water more to keep the plant growing normally and allow flower buds to develop properly.

3. Temperature: Wintersweet likes sunlight and also tolerates partial shade. It is afraid of wind and fairly cold-hardy; it can overwinter safely when temperatures do not drop below -15°C. It can be grown outdoors in areas south of Beijing. If the flowering period encounters a low temperature of -10°C, the flowers suffer cold damage.

4. Pruning: Wintersweet has strong branching ability, hence the saying "wintersweet never lacks branches." Pruning at the right time encourages more strong flowering branches and more blooms. Generally, prune at the right time after the flowers fade but before leaves emerge. Remove dead branches, overly dense branches, crossing branches, and diseased or pest-infested branches. For one-year-old branches, leave 2 to 3 pairs of buds at the base and cut off the upper part of the branch to stimulate branching.

5. Fertilizing: Wintersweet is a flowering plant that likes fertilizer; timely fertilizing promotes flower bud differentiation and more blooms. For wintersweet, fertilizer should be mainly phosphorus and potassium, with less nitrogen. The approximate ratio of phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen is 2:1:0.5. Fertilizing this way makes wintersweet produce large, abundant, and strongly fragrant flowers.

6. Pests: Wintersweet has relatively few diseases but many pests. Common ones include aphids, scale insects, slug moths, and leaf-roller moths. Aphids suck sap on tender shoots, young leaves, and flower buds; scale insects suck sap on branches; slug moths and leaf-roller moths chew leaves, new buds, and flower buds. To reduce pollution of the growing environment, traditional methods can also be used to kill pests. For example, scale insects can be killed with a vinegar solution, aphids can be killed with laundry detergent water, and if there are only a few, they can be caught by hand.

How to Grow Wintersweet

Wintersweet can be grown by sowing, layering, grafting, and division. The sowing method is generally not used because it does not easily preserve the original excellent characteristics of the plant, and although its advantage is mass propagation, wintersweet usually only needs a few plants. The grafting method is used more often. Grafting includes two methods, cleft grafting and approach grafting, with cleft grafting being the most commonly used.

Cleft grafting is done around mid-March, preferably when the wintersweet leaf buds have just sprouted to the size of a grain of rice. If the timing is missed and the leaf buds have grown too large or leaves have already emerged, cleft grafting is unlikely to succeed. Cleft grafting usually uses seedlings of dog-tooth wintersweet as the rootstock, and precious varieties such as pure-hearted wintersweet or Qingshi wintersweet as the scion. The scion should be selected one month in advance from a robust, relatively long one-year-old branch, and its tip should be cut off so that nutrients concentrate in the buds on the middle section of the branch. The scion should be about 7-8 cm long, with 1-2 pairs of buds retained. When cutting the scion, do not cut too deep; it should just slightly expose the xylem. Cut the rootstock stump 5-6 cm above the ground, make a downward cut at 1/3 of the rootstock diameter, split it 4-5 cm, insert the wintersweet scion into the rootstock cut, align the cambium, bind it tightly with soft hemp rope, then seal the rootstock and scion together with loose soil until the top of the scion is covered. After that, keep the soil moist. One month later, remove the covering soil and check whether it has taken. If it has taken, wipe off other new buds on the rootstock to encourage the grafted bud to grow. Then cover it with loose soil again to prevent the newly grafted tender bud from dying from wind and sun. After another month, gradually remove the soil and let the bud seedling gradually receive sunlight. Wintersweet grown this way grows vigorously and can reach about 50 cm in the same year.
Some people also grow wintersweet by division. If only a few plants are needed, this method is suitable. Division is generally done in spring between February and March, before the leaf buds begin to sprout. When dividing, first dig away the soil on the side of the mother plant's roots next to the offset. Use a sterilized sharp knife to cut the offset away from the mother plant's roots to form a new plant. Then plant it, shade it after planting, and keep the soil moist. After the dog days have passed, apply liquid fertilizer once every half month. In the same year, it can grow vigorous branches and leaves, and it will bloom after 2-3 years. This method is simple and easy, has a high survival rate, short propagation time, and flowers quickly.

How to Grow Calycanthus chinensis

I. Light and Temperature

Calycanthus chinensis can tolerate a brief high temperature of 40°C and a low temperature of -15°C. It likes warm, humid environments, and a site with not-too-strong sunlight is more suitable for its growth. If it is exposed to full sunlight for a long time, its leaves turn yellow and growth becomes poor. Therefore, Calycanthus chinensis should avoid direct sunlight and being placed in the sun for long periods. It only needs appropriate light and temperature each day.

II. Watering

Calycanthus chinensis is drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging, so the soil needs to remain semi-moist. However, it must not lack water in summer, and in the rainy season it should be drained promptly to avoid affecting flower bud formation. During its flowering period, the amount of watering must be reasonable. Too little watering causes uneven blooming; too much watering easily causes flowers and buds to drop.

III. Soil

Calycanthus chinensis is suitable for growing in fertile, loose, well-drained sandy loam. The potting soil can be prepared by mixing sand slope soil and coniferous humus soil at a 1:1 ratio.

IV. Fertilizing

Calycanthus chinensis likes fertilizer; timely fertilizing promotes flower bud differentiation and more blooms. In spring, apply leaf-growing fertilizer twice. From the end of June until just before the dog days, fertilize Calycanthus chinensis once every half month or so to encourage flower bud formation. Apply fertilizer once more in autumn to plump up the flower buds. After flowering until leaf drop, apply topdressing two or three times. Before winter begins, apply one more diluted horseshoe water to provide the nutrients needed for flowering and help it through winter.

Now that we understand how to grow Calycanthus chinensis, let's look at what needs attention when growing it!