How many years does a coral bean plant generally live, how do you sow it, can it be placed in a bedroom, and how do you deal with yellow leaves?

Coral bean is also called coral cherry, winter coral, jade coral, coral seed, kanzao, and longevity fruit. It grows vigorously, has strong adaptability, and is relatively easy to propagate and cultivate, commonly by sowing. So how many years does a coral bean plant generally live? How do you sow the seeds? Can it be placed in a bedroom? What should you do if the leaves turn yellow? From grower Grandpa Gao, we learned that coral bean is a perennial plant and can be grown for many years.

How do you sow coral bean seeds?

1. Collect ripe berries in winter and spring, wash them clean in water, scoop them out, dry them, and store them for seed. In spring, sow the stored seeds in a shallow indoor pot. After sowing, they sprout quickly, evenly, and grow fast. After the seedlings grow 3-4 leaves, move them into 10 cm pots, or transplant them into an open-ground seedbed.

2. Coral bean likes warmth and sunshine, and prefers well-drained soil. For pot cultivation, one plant per pot; after planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots and place in semi-shade. After the seedlings recover, move them to a spot with plenty of sunlight. After 1-2 months, when the plants reach 25-30 cm tall and the roots have filled the pot, they can be repotted. For those transplanted into an open-ground seedbed, plant at a spacing of 10 cm; when the plants grow until their leaves touch and close the rows, transplant them at a spacing of 30 cm. In summer, pot cultivation is affected by high temperature and drought, and during hot, rainy weather it is prone to anthracnose. Ground planting can avoid these adverse effects. After August to the start of autumn, plant them with soil in 7-inch pots. During the growth period, pay attention to shaping so that the base of the plant forms a single trunk 15-20 cm tall, with a small crown at the top. When coral bean seedlings grow to 20 cm tall, remove the growing tip and pinch off the lower side branches to form a shorter trunk and encourage side buds to emerge from the middle of the main branch. When the side branches grow to 25 cm, also pinch them to encourage more side branches and increase the fruiting positions. If you want to grow it as a perennial old plant, after the fruit drops each winter, shorten all side branches, keeping them about 15 cm long. With good pruning, plants over three years old can bear dozens to hundreds of fruits per year, greatly enhancing the ornamental value of coral bean. In regions with warmer winter temperatures, coral bean can overwinter outdoors; in northern regions, it must be moved to a low-temperature greenhouse to overwinter. In the second spring, when the axillary buds begin to sprout, carry out shaping and pruning. Leave only three or four buds on the lower part of the main and side branches, cut off all the rest, and combine this with repotting for the new year's care. To ensure normal growth and flowering and fruiting, apply decomposed liquid fertilizer 2-3 times a month. If damping-off occurs at the seedling stage, promptly remove the affected plants and spray with a 600-fold mancozeb solution, or a copper sulfate[2] solution of 0.1%-0.2%.

3. For old plants, before they sprout in early spring, promptly carry out heavy pruning: keep 3-4 buds on thick side branches and only 1-2 buds on weak branches. At the same time, repot them, and while repotting, apply sufficient base fertilizer and prune away some of the weakened old roots. Afterward, the excess new shoots that sprout should also be thinned out appropriately.

In the hot summer season, if exposed to rain or if the potting soil is too wet, anthracnose is likely to occur. After early summer, spray fungicides regularly, such as alternating mancozeb and thiophanate-methyl.

Can coral bean be placed in a bedroom?

Coral bean cannot be grown indoors.

Coral bean is native to tropical regions of the Americas and Asia. It likes a warm, humid, sunny environment and grows best in fertile, loose, well-drained soil. Coral bean grows vigorously, has strong adaptability, and is relatively easy to propagate and cultivate, commonly by sowing.

Coral bean likes warmth and sunshine, and prefers well-drained soil. For pot cultivation, one plant per pot; after planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots and place in semi-shade. After the seedlings recover, move them to a spot with plenty of sunlight. After 1-2 months, when the plants reach 25-30 cm tall and the roots have filled the pot, they can be repotted. Grown indoors, coral bean cannot grow normally because of the lack of sunlight, showing symptoms such as leggy growth, thin branches, yellow leaves, and no fruit, so coral bean cannot be grown indoors.

What should you do if coral bean leaves turn yellow?

1. Coral bean's "hometown" is the tropical regions of Asia and the Americas. What these two places have in common is plenty of sunlight all year round and a very mild, humid climate. So when coral bean comes into a lower-temperature or even cold environment, symptoms such as leaves being damaged by cold, turning yellow, and dropping are unavoidable. To prevent it from freezing to death due to too-low temperatures, in winter this plant should be kept indoors in a warm, sunny place.

2. Besides environmental factors, this plant also has requirements for the soil it uses -- loose soil with good air circulation should be chosen. In winter, to maintain soil moisture we water frequently, but excessive watering will rot the roots of coral bean, which in turn causes the leaves to turn yellow and even drop. So friends growing coral bean should pay attention to the amount and frequency of each watering. Loosening the soil at irregular intervals helps the soil drain.

Also note:

1. Fertilize appropriately. Fertilizing helps the plant grow. Coral bean is best fertilized with liquid fertilizer once or twice a month.

2. Do not water frequently in winter. You can wait until the soil surface is completely dry before watering, and do not water too much; the roots of coral bean must not be soaked in water.

3. Try not to let dust accumulate on the leaves of coral bean.

4. You can repot once every three to four months, and when repotting, pay attention to the choice of soil.

5. Friends growing coral bean in the north can move the plant indoors to a warm, well-lit place before "Frost's Descent", which can effectively prevent fruit drop.

6. Coral bean's branches are relatively lush; when weather conditions are good, you can appropriately prune the messy branches.