Planting Methods and Cultivation Management Tips for Rangoon Creeper

  Rangoon Creeper (Combretum indicum) is a very easy plant to identify, because its small flowers, made up of five petals, droop downward once fully open, giving them a very distinctive shape. They bloom in summer from June to September, and the flowering period is quite long. The flowers come in single-petal and double-petal forms, though the single-petal flower is by far the most common, while the double-petal flower is extremely rare. When the flowers first open they gradually turn from white to peach red, so at a glance the plant looks as if it is bearing flowers of two colors at once.

  Rangoon Creeper has extremely strong drought tolerance, sprouting ability and pollution resistance, making it very suitable as a climbing plant for flower corridors, arches, fences and shade trellises. Besides its graceful flower shape, it also gives off an elegant fragrance that often keeps people lingering among the flowers. If you have no garden and only a balcony but would still like to have such an elegant plant, it is actually not difficult: as long as the environment is bright, you can also plant two or three of them in a flower trough and let them climb on a trellis or window grille, and every year you can still use it to attract bees and butterflies!

  Rangoon Creeper can be propagated in quite a few ways, including sowing, cuttings, division or air layering. Both spring and autumn are suitable sowing periods. For the cutting method, you must choose two- to three-year-old branches as cuttings and insert them into well-drained sandy loam; they root very easily, which is why this is the most commonly used propagation method. The optimum growth temperature is 20-30°C, and full sun or partial sun are both fine. It is very easy to grow in an ordinary garden and has moderate fertilizer needs; just add a little slow-release fertilizer once a year in spring. From November to February in winter it is in its leaf-shedding period, at which time you can reduce the frequency of watering and stop fertilizing. If rapid growth in spring and summer makes the branches messy and disordered, you can also use winter to prune the branches and leaves so as not to affect the next year's flowering.

  [Planting Methods]

  Propagate by seeds, division, cuttings and layering.

  Seed sowing and transplanting of seedlings

  In autumn, collect mature, plump fruits and sow them immediately after collection, or store them mixed with damp sand for spring sowing. Once the seedlings reach about 30cm in height, they can be planted out.

  Division propagation: in March, take the suckers of robust mother plants and transplant them.

  Cutting propagation: there are the stem-cutting method and the root-cutting method. For the stem-cutting method, in February-March or September-October, cut 1-2 year old robust branches as cuttings, 20-25cm long, and insert them diagonally into the seedbed, then transplant the following year. For the root-cutting method, from December to January-February of the following year, cut and dig out the lateral roots beyond 30cm from the main root, select those with a diameter of more than 1cm and cut them into cuttings about 20cm long, insert them into the seedbed, and transplant after 1 year.

  Layering propagation: in February-March, first bend a robust long branch and bury it in the soil, or use serpentine layering, then cut it off and transplant once it has rooted. Seedlings propagated by the above methods are planted out in mid-to-late February or during the rainy season. Row spacing 3.3m × 2.3m; apply barnyard manure in the holes and mix it evenly with the soil, plant 1 seedling per hole, and water after planting to settle the roots.

  [Field Management]

  In the 1-2 years after planting out, cultivate and weed regularly, and apply topdressing 2-3 times a year. After entering the fruiting stage, apply topdressing once each at budding time and after fruit harvest every year. In winter, take care to earth up the base or cover it with weeds to protect against cold. Prune once every year in early spring or after fruit harvest so that the branches are evenly distributed. For large-scale planting, trellises should be set up for the plants to climb on.