This picture collage shows the progress of evening glories and morning glories. This floral vine will soon have it's gigantic floral buds because it leafs are reaching maximum size (as big a hand). The floral blooming season for this plant is mid summer. To get to this process there was a lot of work that need to be done. To start, the evening glory is a very hard seed that must experience a lot of pressure before being planted. I had to nick the seed (7 times with a nail clipper), sand it with course sandpaper, and then soak it for 48 hours. This is the way I break down the hardness of the seed so that when I sow it, it can receive the moisture and oxygen it needs to grow. As you can see, I start my plants indoor so that I can watch them carefully. I monitor their growth by measuring them and charting their height by day.
Within the same week of planting them in their pods they reached a height of 7 inches and leaf width of 3cm. Soon after, they were planted in the large planter below. These plants, like most plants experienced transplant shock. Transplant shock in plants is almost unavoidable. Let’s face it, plants were not designed to be moved from place to place and when we do it, we have to be even more aware of them. They were planted in a potting mix (by Sta-Green) with a slow release fertilizer. I do not recommend this mix for this plant because it can do well without the fertilizer. In my case, this is the only potting mix I buy because of the other plant seeds I purchase throughout the year. The growth was shocked after planting and the leaves experienced browning. However the stems were getting strong. So regardless of what it looked like, the stems were showing signs that the roots were transitioning into their new home very well. Therefore I cut all the dead leaves off to send energy back to the roots.
By cutting the shoked areas off, this it gave the plant the energy it needed to grow faster and healthier. During this journey there has been signs of rust (a fungal disease) and intruding insects but my best friend (she has one growing morning glory vine in the planter also) took care of it right away by simply pruning back the infection before it spread.
This summer I anticipate the flowers to take over the tomato cage and be a stunning arrangement of colors and fragrance in the middle of our driveway, blooming in the night (evening glory) and in the morning (morning glory). Stay tuned for more progress pictures.
Within the same week of planting them in their pods they reached a height of 7 inches and leaf width of 3cm. Soon after, they were planted in the large planter below. These plants, like most plants experienced transplant shock. Transplant shock in plants is almost unavoidable. Let’s face it, plants were not designed to be moved from place to place and when we do it, we have to be even more aware of them. They were planted in a potting mix (by Sta-Green) with a slow release fertilizer. I do not recommend this mix for this plant because it can do well without the fertilizer. In my case, this is the only potting mix I buy because of the other plant seeds I purchase throughout the year. The growth was shocked after planting and the leaves experienced browning. However the stems were getting strong. So regardless of what it looked like, the stems were showing signs that the roots were transitioning into their new home very well. Therefore I cut all the dead leaves off to send energy back to the roots.
By cutting the shoked areas off, this it gave the plant the energy it needed to grow faster and healthier. During this journey there has been signs of rust (a fungal disease) and intruding insects but my best friend (she has one growing morning glory vine in the planter also) took care of it right away by simply pruning back the infection before it spread.
This summer I anticipate the flowers to take over the tomato cage and be a stunning arrangement of colors and fragrance in the middle of our driveway, blooming in the night (evening glory) and in the morning (morning glory). Stay tuned for more progress pictures.
