Ipomoea purple: varieties, planting and care

With the help of this beautiful plant, you can decorate not only personal plots, but also balconies or loggias in apartments. Ipomoea practically does not require special care, but it grows quite quickly. Throughout the season, she is able to delight her owners with bright colors.

Ipomoea purple belongs to the bindweed family, which has more than 430 species. In nature, you can find a variety of plants, which can be shrubby, and herbaceous, and in the form of vines. Among them, it is worth noting more than 20 species that are used by gardeners at home.

At home, that is, in South or Central America, morning glory grows almost everywhere. This is a perennial vine with rather long shoots that can grow up to seven meters in the summer. However, in our country this beautiful plant is considered an annual.

Many call this flower the morning glow or early bird. This name was given as a result of the fact that Ipomoea flowers bloom only in the morning, with the first rays of the sun, and after noon they gradually fade.

In addition to long stems, morning glory has rather beautiful leaves, which in their shape are a bit like hearts with arrows. They have an edge on their surface. In the leaf axils on large legs, you can see beautiful funnel-shaped flowers, which are often compared to a gramophone. In diameter, they reach seven centimeters. It depends a lot on the type of plant.

The color of the morning glory is quite varied - from pale pink to dark purple. Inside, the flower has a white blotch anyway. Flowering begins in early summer and ends only when frost occurs. In place of the flower, a small box is formed with several large seeds. If they are not collected, then they can be sown on their own, and the next year with the onset of spring - germinate.

Today, among the many species of this plant, it is worth noting the most popular, for example, "Knowlian's Black" or a mixture of colors "Paradise Stars".

• Knowlian's Black. This variety is distinguished by an abundance of flowers. Shoots can grow up to two and a half meters. Each of them has deep purple flowers with a pink center. From a distance, they appear black.

• "Star Waltz". The height of the shoots of this variety of morning glory reaches three meters. A large number of large flowers with different colors are placed on them. It can be grown both outdoors and on balconies or verandas.

• "Paradise Stars". This plant is distinguished by long shoots that are more than three meters in length. On them there are single large flowers of different colors and different in doubleness. The diameter of the flower reaches 8 centimeters. This morning glory blooms from the beginning of summer until the first frost.

This plant has a habit of opening when the sun comes up and closing at night. Therefore, it must be planted in places where there is a lot of light, so that it can delight with its flowering as long as possible.

In addition, having planted a plant in partial shade, its flowers will immediately lose their brightness, and their number may also decrease slightly.It is best to plant Ipomoea on the south side, where there is a lot of light.

Such a plant loves warmth more than cold. For example, with the slightest frost, the morning glory will die immediately. Therefore, with the onset of cold weather, it must be removed, or it can be transplanted into a room where the temperature will be above five degrees. And with the onset of spring, Ipomoea can be used for cuttings.

Ipomoea can be propagated in different ways - with the help of seeds and cuttings. The second option is used extremely rarely. In order to carry out reproduction in this way, it is necessary to cut cuttings up to 18 centimeters long. They must have two internodes. After that, you need to remove all the leaves from the bottom, and then put it in a container with water. In literally three or four days, the roots will appear. Immediately after that, they can be transplanted directly into the ground. After two weeks, the young seedlings will fully root.

However, propagation with seeds is considered the easiest option. They are harvested in the fall and then dried. They can be stored for three years. Before planting, the seeds must be soaked for 24 hours. After that, they can be sown in separate pots, several pieces at a time. The depth should not exceed three centimeters. The ground must be slightly moistened. From above, the container with the plant can be covered with foil or glass, and then it must be placed in a warm place.

The first shoots should appear in just two weeks. When three or four leaves appear, you can dive young seedlings either into open ground, or into slightly larger flowerpots. In the first case, morning glory is planted no thicker than 25 centimeters. In addition, when it grows to 18 centimeters, you can install supports.

There is another option for the reproduction of morning glory, and it consists in planting seeds directly in open ground. As in the previous version, they must be soaked in water. It is necessary to sow them when the earth is well warmed up. When the growth of the shoots is equal to 15 centimeters, it is imperative to pinch their top. So morning glory can give many side shoots.

Morning glory care includes several stages. Each of them has its own importance.

If the plant is grown in flowerpots, then the soil can be bought at any flower shop. When morning glory is planted directly into the ground, then the earth must be nutritious and rich in nitrogen, and also have a slight acidity.

Besides, it is imperative to apply a certain amount of fertilizer. They must be brought in immediately before disembarking in open ground. To begin with, it should be nitrogen feeding, but in very small quantities. Then potassium and phosphorus, they must be scattered directly under the bush.

Morning glory will feel much better in a humid environment than in a dry one.

Watering this plant must be moderate so that its roots do not fester. However, in too hot a season, the plant can also die. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the earth is always sufficiently moist. Therefore, when the plant does not receive proper moisture, especially in summer, it can be sprayed with a conventional spray bottle. This must be done quite carefully so that moisture does not get on the buds or flowers.

In addition, during the growth period, when the morning glory begins to build up its green mass, watering should be a little more often and more. And when the plant begins to bloom, watering should be gradually reduced. In order for the earth not to dry out, you can mulch it.

Diseases of morning glory are quite common, since the flower is rather weak. Therefore, it is especially necessary to ensure that all the rules of care are observed. However, in some cases, the plant can get sick.

• Soft rot. In this case, the stalk of the morning glory is affected. The only way out of this situation is to completely remove the plant from the flower bed. In addition, it must be pulled out along with the roots, and then be sure to burn.

• White rust. The plant immediately becomes covered with round spots, which, among other things, have a bloom. In this case, it is imperative to treat the plant with Fitosporin.

• Anthracnose. This disease, as a rule, appears due to improper watering or too long rains. In this case, the fungus develops rather quickly. It's not that hard to see him. Small specks appear on the plant, which are brown in color. After a certain period, they increase significantly in size. For this reason, the leaves die completely. In this case, you must first get rid of them, and then treat not only the plant, but also the soil near it with a fungicide.

• Stem or root rot. If morning glory becomes infected with such a disease, then the plant must be completely removed and then burned so that the infection cannot spread.

• Black rot. On a plant with such a disease, black spots appear. At the same time, a pink slurry is released from them. To get rid of it, it is necessary to treat the entire plant with special preparations.

But the pests for this plant are completely not scary, since it is poisonous. The only thing to be wary of is the appearance of aphids or spider mites. You can get rid of them with the help of special chemicals, or you can try using some folk remedies. However, their use is possible only in the early stages.

Summing up, we can say that this unusual plant can be grown even by an inexperienced person. The main thing is to follow all the rules for caring for it, and also learn how to decorate your home or summer cottage with this curly flower.

See below for the features of growing morning glory.