Detailed Guide to the Planting Methods and Cultivation Techniques of Cestrum
Cestrum (Cestrum spp.) is a plant of the Solanaceae family, genus Cestrum, an erect shrub. It is much branched, with soft, hairy stems bearing lenticels and conspicuous leaf scars. The leaves are simple, alternate, hairy, entire, long-oblong, with acuminate tips; the base is rounded or shortly pointed. The panicle is terminal; the calyx is bell-shaped with 5 lobes; the stem is green with a red tip and persists; the corolla is red, round, and contains several seeds. The flowering period is year-round. It is cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Shanghai and Sichuan in China.
Morphological characteristics: erect shrub. It is much branched, with soft, hairy stems bearing lenticels and conspicuous leaf scars. The leaves are simple, alternate, hairy, entire, long-oblong, with acuminate tips; the base is rounded or shortly pointed. The panicle is terminal; the calyx is bell-shaped with 5 lobes; the stem is green with a red tip and persists; the corolla is red, round, and contains several seeds. The flowering period is year-round.
How to care for Cestrum
Growth habits: it prefers light and warmth, and is suited to fertile, moist soil. It flowers all year round and is grown for ornamental purposes.
(1) Propagation is by sowing or cuttings. Usually in March to April, cut sturdy one-year-old branches into 10 cm lengths, insert them into sandy soil, keep them moist, and place them in a shady spot; they root in about 20 days, and are transplanted into pots in May to June. When the seedlings grow to 20 to 30 cm tall, they are cut back to encourage branching.
(2) For pot cultivation, choose a clay pot of more than 30 cm, and use a potting soil mix of seven parts sandy soil and three parts decomposed compost.
(3) Water after the potting soil dries, and apply dilute liquid fertilizer 1 to 2 times a month.
(4) In winter, grow it in a greenhouse; it suffers cold damage when the temperature drops to 0°C, and generally grows well at a room temperature above 5°C. In warm regions, no winter protection is needed; some winter twigs freeze to death, but after the warmth of spring it still sprouts and flowers. In summer, it is best placed in a semi-shaded spot. Keep the soil fertile and moist, and apply one extra round of decomposed liquid fertilizer during the growing season.