Distinctive features of asarinas, tips for growing vines in open ground or indoors, recommendations for breeding maurandia, possible diseases and pests, curious notes, species. Azarina belongs to the Plantaginaceae family. Plants of this family differ in two shares in their embryos, such representatives of the flora are ranked among the order Lamiales. Their native lands are considered to be the territories of both Americas, as well as the southwestern regions of Europe. There are up to 10 varieties in the genus, but the most popular is the Asarina scandens.
The plant is popularly called "Maurandia" and is a tropical vine. All these inaccuracies are due to the fact that some time ago a systematization was made, and some retail chains, due to conservatism, do not change their names. Previously, this genus, which includes a large number of species, was divided by botanists into these two.
| Family name | Plantains |
| Life cycle | Perennial or annual |
| Growth features | Evergreen, creeping |
| Reproduction | Seed and vegetative (cuttings) |
| Landing period in open ground | Seedlings are planted in the second half of May |
| Disembarkation scheme | At a distance of 60 cm from each other |
| Substrate | Prefers neutral acidic garden soils |
| Illumination | Photophilous |
| Moisture indicators | Moisture-loving, prefers moderate hydration |
| Special Requirements | Unpretentious |
| Plant height | In nature up to 7 m, indoors 3-5 m |
| Color of flowers | Purple, blue, pinkish or bright yellow, snow-white |
| Type of flowers, inflorescences | Racemose, in the form of clusters |
| Flowering time | Summer (July-August), late summer-autumn (August-October) |
| Decorative time | Spring-summer |
| Place of application | Arches, pergolas, gazebos and walls |
| Wintering | Does not winter in the middle lane |
| USDA zone | 3, 4, 5, 6 |
In areas of natural growth, asarina has a high growth rate, it is an evergreen perennial or annual plant. She prefers most of all places with good lighting and is quite thermophilic. The form of maurandia is liana-like, with abundant branching of shoots. In height, the plant can reach indicators from 3 to 5 meters, but in the conditions of nature, the branches grow up to 7 meters in length. Differs in the ability to quickly weave any obstacle, be it an arch, pergola, pillars of a gazebo or even whole walls.
Asarina leaf plates are medium-sized, painted in a bright green color scheme. The shape of the leaf is cordate-ivy; there is a serration at the edge. Vine stems are recommended to be tied to a support, although in nature the plant itself clings to any ledge with leaf petioles. The surface of young leaves and shoots is covered with a pubescence of thin whitish short hairs, but some species are devoid of it.
When flowering from the leaf sinuses, whole clusters of buds are formed, the opening of which is wave-like and therefore the flowering time seems to be very long. Flowers cover the entire shoot to the very top. The buds are combined into racemose inflorescences. The handicap of the corolla of the flower is tubular-funnel-shaped. Its size is large, reaching 3–6 cm in diameter. Its shape resembles Snapdragon flowers. But the flower petals are so delicate and are often damaged in very windy weather. This is taken into account by flower growers when planting maurandia in the open field.
The corolla of the asarin flower reaches 5–7 cm in length, its shape is similar to a gramophone, at the top it is divided into five rounded petals. In this case, a couple of them are placed on top, and the rest are at the bottom. The color of the flower can be of two shades, the white or yellow tint of the pharynx flows smoothly to the basic tone of the corolla and petals. But all the colors that flowers take include shades of purple, blue, pink, red, or bright yellow. And naturally the most luxurious is the bush, covered with snow-white bell-shaped flowers. Flowering occurs from the end of the first summer month to September. After pollination, the fruits begin to ripen, which are a box made up of a pair of cells. They are filled with a large number of small pointed seeds.
In our latitudes, azorina is used as an annual, but when grown at home, it is used as an ampelous culture, which has a long life cycle.
Tips for growing asarinas: planting and caring in the country or at home
- Rules for planting asarin on a flower bed. Since maurandia tends to grow, almost 60 cm2 of area is allocated for the bush. When planting in open ground, it is recommended to place seedling holes at a distance of 60 cm from each other. A support is immediately installed in the hole, with which a vertically stretched metal wire can protrude. You can use a medium mesh from the same material. When the seedlings adapt and grow a little, they are attached to the support. The best time for planting grown seedlings is the end of May days.
- Place for disembarkation and maintenance in the house. Since asarina prefers good lighting, it is best to choose a place in the garden on the east, west or south side. Also, it must be protected from the wind, otherwise the flowers will lose their decorative effect. When growing at home, it is better to put a pot with a vine on the windowsill of the east and west direction of the windows. In the south, you will have to arrange shading at noon in the summer, otherwise a sunburn of the foliage is possible or you can put a flowerpot at a distance of 2 m from the window.
- Watering the asarin. Since the plant is distinguished by its love of water, it is moistened twice a day - in the morning and evening hours. But they try to avoid waterlogging of the soil so that a black leg or rot does not occur. Only boiled warm water is used.
- Content moisture. In the mornings and evenings, it is recommended to spray the foliage of maurandia, so that the drops of water have time to dry out by noon. The water should also be soft with low hardness.
- General care for asarin in the garden. It is recommended to constantly loosen the soil next to the bush and remove weeds. In order for the soil to remain moist for a longer time and not dry out quickly, and the weeds do not develop too much, the substrate must be mulched with peat, sawdust or dry grass. When flowers wither, then they should be cut off.
- Maurandia fertilizers carried out when grown in the open field and when cultivated at home, regularly - from spring to autumn. Preparations are used for decorative flowering plants. This will be the key to subsequent long-term flowering. Top dressing is applied after the first flowers begin to appear and until the end of flowering at intervals of 7-10 days. Complete mineral complexes with a high content of potassium and phosphorus are recommended. Chicken droppings are good.
- Transfer. When grown at home, asarin is a perennial. The pot must be chosen stable, since even in the rooms the height of the plant is impressive. Just one vine will require a container with a diameter of about 40-50 cm and a total depth of about 30 cm. When transplanting, drainage is laid on the bottom and support is provided. The soil is a nutritious universal composition or fertile loam.
Recommendations for propagating maurandia from seed or cuttings
This vine can be grown as an annual or a perennial plant by sowing seeds or grafting.
It is possible to sow seeds in the southern regions at a chosen place in the open ground already at the end of winter, in the central regions it is better 14 days later, and if the regions are more northern, then sowing is performed there from 10 to 20 March. Before sowing, the seeds are not processed, but the material is laid out on the surface of the peat-sandy substrate and slightly deepened. You may not need to sprinkle it with soil, but the container is covered with a piece of glass or wrapped in plastic wrap. The place where the pot of crops is placed should be warm with diffused lighting. After 10-14 days in room conditions, sprouts are already visible. When they are formed, the shelter is removed daily for 1–2 hours.
When a week has passed, then such a shelter is removed altogether. The indicators are reduced to 16-17 degrees and are illuminated in the morning and in the evening, when there is still little light, as well as in the absence of the sun during the day. Seedlings are watered moderately so that the soil does not dry out, but does not become waterlogged, otherwise it threatens the appearance of a black leg. If the sprouts are not visible in a month, then it is recommended to stratify the crops - place a container with them on the lower shelf of the refrigerator for a month. But it should be remembered that then the flowering period will be shifted by more than 30 days.
When 2-3 leaves are formed on the seedlings, they are dived into separate pots of peat. This will then help to transplant the plants into the soil painlessly. After a week, the first fertilization is carried out. Heat indicators are raised to 20 degrees, and lighting should not be less than 12 hours. The pinching of the shoots is performed, so that later the bush is more luxuriant. When the seedlings grow a little, then a support is placed for them - a twig with a length of 10-15 cm. In order to harden, young asarinas are exposed to the open air for 3-4 hours, and then for the whole day. When the plants are outdoors, the potted soil will dry out faster, so watering should not be forgotten.
Young maurandias can be planted in open ground after 10-12 weeks have passed from sowing. If you want to grow it indoors, then the pot is changed annually as the bush grows.
Diseases and pests when growing asarin
When grown in open ground, the plant can be affected by fungal diseases (black leg) or decay of the root collar. If symptoms are detected, an urgent transplant into a sterile soil is carried out, watered with water with a fungicide dissolved in it. If the asarina is still severely affected, then she dies.
A pest that brings problems is aphid, spider mite. In this case, spraying with insecticides is performed.
If the foliage is pale, then this is how the maurandia reacts to the lack of nitrogen; when inhibition in growth, preparations with calcium and phosphorus are needed. The foliage began to dry out at the tips or brown spots formed - a sunburn occurred.
Curious notes and photos of asarina
The plant does not tolerate windy weather or places where there is a draft, since the decorativeness of flowers immediately decreases.
Types of asarin
Climbing Azarina (Asarina scandens). It can be found under the name Azarina ever flowering or Maurandia climbing (Maurandia semperflorens) or Usteria scandens. The native area of distribution is the territory of Mexico. In culture, the most common type. The stem is curly and highly branched, reaching 3–3.5 m in height. The leaf plates are small, somewhat reminiscent of ivy leaves. The color is dark green. Flower tubes, elongated up to 3 cm. Their color is white, pinkish, blue or purple. Corollas have a pinkish-purple or lovando-blue color scheme. A plant in cultivation since 1796. After sowing, after 4 months, the seedlings bloom, if the seeds are sown very early, but the plant will bloom at the end of July. It is customary to plant next to artificial supports so that the leaf stalks are wrapped around them.
Common varieties of asarin:
- Mystic Rose, has a bright pink color of flowers;
- Bridge’s white blooms large snow-white buds;
- Sky blue - medium flowers with blue corollas;
- Joan Loraine flowers bloom in deep purple color;
- Red dragon flaunts with flowers with corollas of scarlet or blood-red hue.
Azarina antirrhiniflora (Asarina antirrhiniflora) or Maurandia antirrhiniflora. It has shoots reaching 1, 2–1, 5 m in length. The stems are very branched, which are fixed on supports by means of twisting leaf petioles. The foliage is densely located on the branches, its color is emerald. The shape is triangular, heart-shaped and angular. The surface is smooth, devoid of pubescence. In the process of flowering, buds are formed with tubular-bell-shaped outlines, their diameter is almost 3 cm. The flowers take their origin from the leaf sinuses. Inflorescences have a racemose shape. The color of the flowers is scarlet, blue, pinkish or lilac. The flowering process lasts until mid-autumn.
Azarina Barclaiana can be found under the name Maurandia barclaiana. Native lands fall on the territory of Mexico. The growth rate is faster than other species. Shoots reach a height of 3-5 m. In this case, the width of growth is 2.5 m. The leaf plates are angular-heart-shaped, very much like ivy foliage. They have no pubescence. The flowers are tubular, the corolla is 6-7 cm long. Their color is bright pink, purple or light purple, but the throat is snow-white, which is very similar to the flowers of the foxglove. The flowering process stretches from July to frost in autumn days. Since the end of September, fruits have been formed in the form of rounded bolls. When fully ripe, the box opens and allows small seeds to spill out, which are carried by the wind. Grown since 1825.
Azarina procumbens is either found under the name Azarina stretching or Antirrhinum asarina. In nature, it is distributed in the lands of the southwestern regions of France and the northeastern Spanish regions. In culture, it is customary to grow the Sierra Nevada variety, which has fleecy shoots that mainly grow in a horizontal plane. The foliage has a triangular shape with a jagged edge, it can be close to 6 cm in length. The color of the foliage is light green. Leaf plates are attached to the branches with petioles with pubescence. When flowering, tubular flowers bloom, which do not exceed 4 cm in length. The color is bright, yellow. For a short time, the plant can withstand a temperature drop of up to 15 degrees below zero.
Azarina purpuza (Asarina purpusii). Distributed in Mexican lands. The root system is tuberous. Curly shoots, reaching a height of 60 cm. On the branches, leaves with a triangular-oval shape grow, they are covered with soft to the touch pile, along the edge there are hard teeth. The color is medium green. The length of the leaf is 4–8 cm. When blooming, purple-pink flowers open (as reflected in the name of the species). The outlines of the corolla are tubular.
Azarina wislizenii (Asarina wislizenii) is a perennial with a height of 30 cm with a diameter of up to 60 cm. The stems have strong branching. Heart-shaped leaf plates, large toothed edges, deep green color. The flowers that form in the leaf axils are collected in racemose inflorescences, tubular, painted in a pinkish-red color, but there are flowers of a blue or blue-violet tone. Flowers have a scent. The flowering process takes the period from June to October. The “Red Dragon” variety has a bright red corolla.
Azarina reddish (Asarina erubescens) or Azarinat reddish. This species has creeping shoots, the branches of which reach 3.5 m in height. But if a support is provided, then their length can be 1.2 m. From below, the shoots are woody. The leaves are velvety, heart-shaped, 8 cm long. The tubular flowers are pale pinkish, with a white or spotted pharynx. Corolla length - 7 cm. After self-pollination, seeds ripen with wings.
