Its flowers start flourishing in the mid of summer and remain until the autumn. These white flowers can expand around 6 inches long and 3 to 6 inches wide. In the evening and cloudy days, flowers unroll from cone-shaped buds.
They remain open all night, releasing their pleasant smell into the air until they close their shoots the next following day again. Spring is the best time for moonflowers. It is a quick-growing vine and can expand around 10 feet long in just one season under favorable conditions.
Protection of Moonflower
Moonflowers need basic care with frequent watering and catering to grow, and they are hardly affected by harmful insects or any strange diseases.
Because they have a climbing growth characteristic, it's ideal to supply them with different structures that they can climb around. Moreover, you can plant moonflowers near a bedeck window to smell their pleasant scent at night.
If you do not wish this kind of plant to regrow in your garden, you should cut spent flowers, preventing them from dropping their seeds. It is hard for the vines to stay indoors. If the gardeners want to grow them as perennial, they will prune the vines back.
Light
Usually, the exposure of the Moonflower to sunlight for at least six hours on most days increases the expansion of the flowers. If you want to have the biggest flowers, you should plant them somewhere in your garden that they can get the maximum amount of sunlight.
Loam
These vines can develop well in various soil conditions. Moreover, a moist environment will help the plant grow more vigorously.
Water
Moonflower requires a mild quantity of damp soil. To retain the earth's moisture, it is pretty good to water plants daily but does not make the ground mushy because too moist soil can create the roots to decay.
However, when the soil becomes too dry, then the water rejuvenates plants. The vines can only fight against a limited period of drought, a long-term drought can destroy them.
Temperature & Humidity
These vines bloom in the heat and moisture of their expanding areas. If you live in a cooler climate, wait to sow them outside until the temperature is suitable, about 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure their soil remains damp if your zone is undergoing heat or arid circumstances.
Compost or use of Fertilizer
When flowers are in bloom, you should provide the plant with more phosphorous fertilizer. Do not use nitrogenous fertilizer because it can increase promote the growth of foliage instead of the flowers.
Kinds of Moonflower
In general, Ipomoea alba is sold without a variety designation. Some similar plants that also use the common name moonflower include:
- Ipomoea leptopphylla:
This kind of erect plant sometimes goes by the name bush moonflower or bush morning glory.
- Ipomoeaviolacea:
This plant is usually called the beach moonflower or sea Moonflower, and its white flowers also open at night.
- Daturainnoxia;
This species offers white trumpet-shaped flowers that blossom at night, and it is called with common names such as Moonflower and pricklyblur.
How to Grow Moonflower from Seed?
If you are cultivating seeds from an existing vine, make sure that they are completely dry before you collect them. Keep seed indoors for approximately four to six weeks and soak the seeds overnight in warm water.
Next, plant them about 14 inches deep in a seed-starting mix; you also can use environmentally-friendly pots that can be buried in the garden. Keep the seeds in a warm area that allows them to absorb enough sunlight.
Common Pests and Plant Disease
Moonflower has more possibilities of becoming prey to black decay, a bacterial infection that flourishes in moist circumstances; it can be solved by segregating thick vines to enhance air circulation and keeping the surrounding environment drier.
How to increase Moonflower growth
You will love it when flowers start blooming at night and give you a pleasant, lovely scent. To increase moonflower growth, you need to provide them enough sunlight, water, moisture, and necessary fertilizers.
Common flower with Moonflower
The moonflower growth cycle is very smooth; it does not need any special care. Few problems can happen, but do not worry because most of them are simple for the gardeners to solve.
- Yellow lesion on the sides of the leaves:
It occurs when your Moonflower has a black spot, a bacterial infection that makes your plant drop its leaves. But you can prevent this by reducing the humidity level. Remember to make space among its vines and do not water in the evening.
- Sprouts Die for no Reason:
You should not water the plant too much as well as overcrowd them in your yard. Trim your plant regularly so they may get enough air to avoid disease and facilitate smooth growth.
