What are the propagation methods for the Milan flower? Even beginners can easily master them

Growing Techniques Jan 1, 1970 0 views

Propagation methods for the Milan flower. The Milan flower is mostly propagated by air layering and cuttings. For air layering, choose a vigorous 1- to 2-year-old branch between May and August, girdle it, wait until the cut dries slightly, then wrap it with moss or moist soil and vermiculite, secure plastic film tightly above and below, and after rooting in 50 to 100 days, cut it off to pot up or transplant

With air layering, some leaves will turn yellow. This is a sign that the girdled area has healed and begun to root. It shows that the layered part has gradually separated from the parent plant and entered the stage of developing new roots; because there is too little soil inside the plastic film, the nutrient supply is insufficient. This yellowing is temporary. After a while, you will see the tender roots inside the plastic film gradually extending, and at this point you can cut it off and plant it separately.

Propagating the Milan flower by cuttings is simple and easy, and yields many plants. Generally, cuttings from one-year-old branches are taken from April to September, and softwood cuttings from current-year growth are taken from June to August. Choose healthy, full, vigorous branches, 10 to 12 cm long, and cut below a node. Softwood cuttings should include a 2 cm section of one-year-old branch. Remove the lower leaves of the cutting, keeping only 2 to 5 leaves at the top, to reduce water evaporation. Trim the cut smooth, and use river sand, perlite, or well-drained loess as the cutting medium. Insert the cutting to a depth of 1/3 to 1/2 of its length.

When taking cuttings, first poke holes with a flat, pointed bamboo chopstick, then insert the cuttings, and press the soil firmly with your hands so the cuttings make close contact with the soil. After inserting, water with a fine-spout watering can, or place the pot in a shallow basin full of water until the potting soil is moist, then remove it. Cover with plastic film. If conditions allow, a full-sun automatic misting cutting bed can be used. Before cutting, soak in a 50 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid solution for 15 hours to encourage rooting. If 50 to 60 days after cutting the branches have not withered and yellowed and the leaf color has turned tender green, it means the cuttings have rooted and survived; once the new shoots grow 3 to 4 cm, they can be transplanted. The above is an introduction to the propagation methods of the Milan flower.

How to grow the Milan flower. Propagation methods for the Milan flower

The Milan flower is a small ornamental tree and a very special variety. What do you need to know to grow the Milan flower well? Below, let us look at the propagation methods for the Milan flower.

Propagation methods for the Milan flower

For propagating the Milan flower, it is generally better to do so during the plum rain season in summer, because the temperature is high and the humidity is great then, making propagation easy and likely to survive. The propagation methods of the Milan flower can generally be divided into three types: layering, air layering, and cuttings, with cuttings and air layering being the main methods.

Cutting method

Propagating the Milan flower by cuttings is simple and easy, and yields many plants. The cutting methods for the Milan flower can be divided into two types: one is old-branch cuttings from the previous year, which can be done from April to May; the other is softwood cuttings from current-year growth, which can be done from June to July.

For selecting cuttings, whether one-year-old branches or current-year softwood branches, choose healthy, full, vigorous branches as cuttings.

Softwood cutting propagation is generally carried out by collecting and inserting cuttings from June to July each year. Select vigorous branches of the current year, cut them to about 10 cm long, remove the lower leaves, and keep 2 to 3 small leaves at the top. Before inserting, it is best to soak them briefly in vitamin B12 injection to promote rooting.

Use a flower pot as the cutting bed, with vermiculite or river sand as the cutting medium, insert to a depth of 4 to 5 cm, press firm after inserting and water thoroughly, then cover with plastic film. Keep it warm and humid, at 28 to 30°C, and afterward spray water 2 to 3 times a day to keep the soil layer moist; roots will form in 40 to 50 days.

Air layering method

The air layering method is best carried out under conditions of higher temperature and greater humidity. The layering time is generally from May to August, with early June during the plum rain season being best, giving a high survival rate and fast rooting. This is because during this period, the environmental humidity is relatively high. Practice has shown that air layers started during this period begin rooting one after another after 40 days, and by October, if cared for properly, they can still bloom 1 to 2 times. Air layering started in July is also possible, but this is the peak of midsummer heat, with intense sun, fast water evaporation, and a dry environment, so the branches and leaves at the layered site tend to scorch, and healing and rooting are slower. Therefore, after air layering, place the potted parent Milan flower in a spot with half shade and half sun or half-day sunlight, otherwise it is prone to scorching.

For choosing the air-layering site, without affecting the overall shape of the parent plant, choose a one-year-old, woody, vigorous branch, remove the leaves at a point 15 to 25 cm along its length, and perform girdling.

For air layering, choose current-year semi-woody, vigorous branches free of pests and diseases, more than 0.5 cm thick, girdle 7 to 8 cm below the branching point, wrap the girdled area with a mud ball or moist vermiculite and moss, then bind tightly with plastic film, leaving an opening for watering, and keep it moist at all times. After 2 to 3 months it will root, and it can then be cut from the parent plant and potted up, blooming easily.

Air layering can be divided into the pot-in-pot style and the mud-wrap style.

① Pot-in-pot style:Choose a one-year-old, already woody, vigorous branch, and fit over it a flower pot with an enlarged drainage hole in the bottom, making sure the pot is securely fixed. On the Milan branch inside the pot, make a girdle 1 cm wide, then fill around it with soil and press firm, water thoroughly, and afterward water every day, always keeping the wrapped soil moist. Generally it will root in two months; then cut it from the parent plant and grow it separately.

② Mud-wrap style:Choose a one-year-old woody, vigorous branch, and at about 10 cm from the base of the branch, make a girdle, keep 4 to 5 small branches above it, cut off all the lower side branches, and wrap the girdled area with pre-prepared mud (made by mixing fertile soil and moss, drying it over a fire, then kneading it with boiling water and letting it cool thoroughly), wrap the outside with plastic film, tie it tightly with string, keep the lower part from leaking water and the upper part slightly loose for adding water. The wrapped part should be 10 cm long and 5 cm in diameter. Afterward, add water to the wrapped area every day to keep it moist. It will root in two months; then cut it from the parent plant and plant it separately.

How to grow the Milan flower

The Milan flower is an evergreen shrub or small tree belonging to the genus Aglaia in the Meliaceae family, also known as zhulan, mizailan, shulan, yuzailan, and so on. The Milan flower originates from China's Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other provinces, and is also distributed in Southeast Asia. It is a common fragrant ornamental plant. Now the editors of Qiannong Network will take a look with everyone at how to grow the Milan flower!

Growth habits of the Milan flower

The Milan flower likes a warm, humid environment with ample sunlight. It is not cold-tolerant and is slightly shade-tolerant. Loose, fertile, slightly acidic soil is best, and the winter temperature should not be lower than 10°C.

1. The Milan flower likes warmth, sun, and fertilizer. The suitable growth temperature is 20°C to 25°C. Under ordinary conditions, with ample sunlight and relatively high temperature (about 30°C), the flowers it produces have a strong fragrance. If it is placed in a shaded spot in summer while also being given a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer, this is one of the main reasons the Milan flower fails to bloom or blooms little and has a weak scent. Therefore, during the growth and development period, the Milan flower needs to be kept outdoors in a sunny place, and care should be taken to apply somewhat more liquid fertilizer containing more phosphorus. It is best to apply fully rotted alum fertilizer water made by soaking crushed bone meal, fish bones, chicken bones, and the like. Regularly supplementing with chemical fertilizer containing more phosphorus or fermented rice-washing water also helps bud formation, and results in more blooms, golden-yellow color, and a fresh fragrance.

2. The Milan flower likes moisture, and watering during the growth period should be moderate. If watered too much, it easily causes root rot, and leaves turn yellow, dry, and fall off; if watered too much during the flowering period, it easily causes flowers and buds to drop; if watered too little, it causes the leaf edges to dry and buds to wither. Therefore, when summer temperatures are high, in addition to watering 1 to 2 times a day, frequently spray and wash the branches and leaves with clean water and sprinkle water on the ground where it is placed to raise air humidity. At the same time, fertilizing should also be moderate. Because the Milan flower blooms many times within a year, after each bloom it should promptly be given 2 to 3 rounds of fully rotted, dilute liquid fertilizer, so that it can bloom continuously with a rich fragrance. The Milan flower likes acidic soil, and for potting, a growing medium based mainly on leaf mold is suitable. During the vigorous growth period, spray once a week with a 0.2% ferrous sulfate solution, and the leaves will be green and the flowers abundant.

Propagation techniques for the Milan flower

The Milan flower is commonly propagated by cuttings and air layering.

1. Cuttings include old-branch cuttings and softwood cuttings. The former uses old branches from the previous year as cuttings, carried out from April to May; the latter uses current-year semi-woody branches, carried out from June to August. The standard for collecting softwood shoots as cuttings is that the leaves at the branch tips are thick in texture, green in color, and the axillary buds are full. The cuttings are about 10 cm long; keep 2 to 3 leaves at the top, remove all other leaves to reduce water evaporation and nutrient consumption, and trim the cut smooth. The cutting medium can be river sand, expanded perlite, peat, vermiculite, and so on. When cutting, first poke holes in the medium with a bamboo chopstick, about 5 cm apart, then insert the cuttings into the holes to a depth of about 1/3 of the cutting length. After inserting, press the soil firm with your fingers so the soil and cuttings are in close contact, and water thoroughly. Set up a shade shed to maintain a ventilated, moist environment. The speed of rooting of cuttings is greatly related to the medium temperature: with a high bottom temperature, rooting is fast. At a bottom temperature of 30°C to 32°C, roots form 40 days after cutting; at 25°C to 28°C, it takes 50 to 60 days to root. But with a high bottom temperature, leaf evaporation is fast and the metabolism of the cuttings is in an active state; if humidity is low at this time, it easily causes the cuttings to drop leaves, and once the cuttings drop leaves, there is no hope of survival. So high temperature must also be accompanied by high humidity, generally maintaining a relative humidity above 85%. Before cutting, soak the base of the cuttings in 20 ppm to 25 ppm indolebutyric acid for 12 to 24 hours, or in 50 ppm indoleacetic acid for 15 hours, to promote rooting.

2. Air layering can be done from May to September, but the best time is the plum rain weather in June, when the survival rate of air layering is high and rooting is fast. Generally, Milan flowers air-layered in early June will begin rooting one after another after 40 days. The specific method is: choose a one-year-old woody, vigorous branch with a stem thickness of 0.5 mm. At 20 cm from the branching point, make a girdle about 0.5 cm wide, with the depth reaching the xylem, then apply moss or moist soil to the girdled area, wrap it with plastic film, and keep the moss and so on moist at all times. After rooting, cut it from the parent plant, first let it recover in a shaded place, and then pot it up for planting. This method gives a high survival rate, and the resulting plants bloom fairly quickly.

Cultivation and management of the Milan flower

Although the Milan flower has fairly strong shade tolerance, it does not tolerate long periods of shade, especially potted Milan flowers at peak bloom, which cannot be kept indoors for a long time. When flowering, it can be moved outdoors after 4 p.m. and moved back indoors before 9 a.m., so it receives sunlight and accumulates nutrients for producing new branches and new flower spikes. When moved indoors in winter, it should also receive as much light as possible.

Although the Milan flower is not strict about soil, a humus-rich, fertile, slightly acidic sandy loam is suitable. When preparing potting soil, use 2 parts peat soil plus 1 part sand, or choose 2 parts fertile garden soil and 2 parts compost soil plus 1 part sand, mixed together.

After the seedlings are potted up, once they grow to 20 cm to 25 cm tall, they can be pinched back to encourage side branches and form a crown sooner, while also controlling plant height and increasing flower quantity.

When potting the Milan flower, ensure good drainage, and water according to whether the climate is dry or wet, keeping the potting soil moist but not overly wet for long periods. Maintaining relatively high air humidity is beneficial to the growth of the Milan flower; during droughts and the vigorous growth period, it is best to spray water on the leaves 1 to 2 times a day.

The Milan flower has luxuriant branches and leaves, and during the growth period it continuously produces new branches and forms flower spikes, so it needs sufficient fertilizer. If fertility is insufficient, flower quantity will drop noticeably. For this reason, after growth begins in spring, fertilizer should be applied promptly. Fully rotted cake fertilizer or sesame paste residue water is good for topdressing. The Milan flower cannot tolerate concentrated fertilizer, so fertilizing should follow the principle of applying thin fertilizer frequently, especially when topdressing begins in spring, when concentrated fertilizer should be avoided. Topdressing should be applied once every 7 to 10 days, and an appropriate amount of superphosphate should also be added to the fertilizer water.

When summer is hot, place the Milan flower in a shaded spot, such as at the edge of a shade shed, so it is neither exposed to strong light nor able to get more sunlight. This is because overly strong direct light inhibits the growth and development of the Milan flower, while too much shade also easily causes the Milan flower to grow leggy, become weak, and produce fewer flowers.

According to the temperature requirements of the Milan flower, potted Milan flowers generally cannot be moved outdoors until after Grain Rain, and in autumn they must be moved indoors before Frost's Descent to overwinter. During overwintering, the room temperature should preferably be kept at 10°C to 12°C; too high a room temperature easily causes continued growth, which is unfavorable for growth and development the following year. But if the temperature is too low and drops below 5°C, it easily causes cold damage. When the Milan flower overwinters indoors, its leaves easily collect dust, affecting normal photosynthesis, so it needs to be rinsed once every so often.

Shaping should begin from the seedling stage, keeping a main trunk section 15 cm to 20 cm high, and not allowing the main branches to grow in a cluster from the ground. Because the Milan flower produces flower spikes in the axils of new leaves, it is generally not pruned. If you want to control the tree shape and increase new branches, you can pinch back before new branches grow, or prune in combination with taking cuttings.