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Detailed Guide to Four O'Clock Flower Planting Methods and Care Tips

Growing Techniques By Emily Carter 0 views
Flowering Plants

Four o'clock flower (scientific name: Mirabilis jalapa  L.): herbaceous, up to 1 m tall. Root thick and fleshy, obconical, black or blackish brown. Stem erect, cylindrical, much branched, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, nodes slightly swollen. Leaves ovate or ovate-triangular, entire, glabrous on both surfaces, veins raised. Flowers often several clustered at the branch tips, involucre bell-shaped, about 1 cm long, 5-lobed, lobes triangular-ovate; perianth purple-red, yellow, white or variegated, salverform, tube 2-6 cm long, limb 2.5-3 cm in diameter, 5-lobed; flowers open in the afternoon, fragrant, fading before noon the next day.

Planting Methods


Collecting seeds: This is fairly simple. Just select those black seeds that do not feel soft when touched and harvest them. However, they cannot be used immediately after collection; they should first be stored in a shaded, ventilated place for a period of time. Around late April or early May of the following year, they can be taken out for sowing.

Choosing the growing medium: This step is very important, as it directly affects the seed survival rate. The principles for selection include being loose, rich in humus, and deep; some loam can be mixed with sandy soil.

Seed treatment: Before formal sowing, we need to mix and stir the seeds with New High Lipid Film to strengthen their respiration intensity, prevent viral infection, and increase their germination rate.

Formal sowing: We can sow by the drill method or the broadcast method. After sowing, we need to cover with a layer of soil mixed with plant ash and water thoroughly.

Later care: After sowing and watering, attention should also be paid to keeping the soil moist, and it is best to water thoroughly each time. Then wait for them to germinate. After they emerge, we should apply some dilute fertilizer water to speed up the growth and development of the seedlings, but be careful not to make the concentration too high. When the seedlings grow to 5-6 cun tall, you can select those that look relatively robust and transplant them into flower pots or flower beds.


Cultivation Techniques


This species is simple to cultivate and manage. Sow in early spring, and it flowers and sets seed in summer and autumn. It tolerates transplanting, grows fast, and is robust. South of the Yangtze River it is grown as a perennial. In North China it is mostly grown as an annual, or in late autumn the old roots are dug up, placed indoors at 5°C to overwinter, and planted in the open ground the following spring, where they can still bloom in the afternoon and fade by the next morning.
Four o'clock flower is vigorous by nature, highly adaptable, and requires only extensive care and management. In cultivation, note: four o'clock flower is commonly propagated by seed, and can be sown directly in the open ground in spring, with thinning noted after emergence; it can also be raised as seedlings first, and when the seedlings produce 3-4 true leaves, they are transplanted and set out at a plant spacing of about 1250px, with proper shading and watering after transplanting.
Four o'clock flower grows easily, and care and management are relatively extensive; appropriate fertilizing and watering during the growing period are sufficient.
Because four o'clock flower is wind-pollinated, varieties cross very easily, so to ensure that the harvested seeds can retain good characteristics, different varieties should be grown in isolation.
Four o'clock flower likes a warm climate, and the soil should be loose, fertile, deep, and rich in humus loam or sandy loam is better. Daily management of four o'clock flower is relatively simple: spray some water on clear evenings, and apply dilute fertilizer 1-2 times each week in the evening, which benefits normal growth. There are few pests and diseases; dry weather tends to bring aphids, and paying attention to moisture retention normally can prevent aphids. Grown in flower gardens and courtyards, no pests or diseases have been found for many years. Daily management is relatively simple: spray some water on clear evenings, and apply dilute fertilizer 1-2 times each week in the evening, which benefits normal growth. Grown in flower gardens and courtyards, no pests or diseases have been found for many years.


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