Common features characteristic of a Mandeville, advice on the maintenance and reproduction of diploidia, difficulties in growing a flower, interesting facts, species. Dipladenia (Dipladenia), or as it is also called Mandeville, is part of the genus of plants that do not shed their leaves throughout the year. They are also included in the Kutrovy family (Apocynaceae), which mainly respect the lands of Central and South America for their native growing areas, where tropical and subtropical climatic conditions prevail.
The plant got its scientific name due to the combination of two Greek words: "diploos", which translates as "double" and "aden" - meaning "piece of iron", that is, literally it turns out - two pieces of iron. This gives an idea of the peculiarities in the structure of the flower, since it has two glands (nectaries) or scales. There is also a middle name for this representative of the flora - Mandeville, which was obtained due to the desire to perpetuate the name of the British Ambassador serving in Argentina in the 19th century - Sir Henry John Mandeville. Subsequently, it was decided to combine these two genera of plants, although a single name was not given to the flower and today both names are legitimate.
Since diplodesy looks quite decorative during flowering, among the people it has several more poetic and beautiful names: “Bolivian rose”, “Brazilian balsam”, as well as “Chilean jasmine” and even “Mexican tree of love”. So, Mandeville is a liana-like plant with rather long stems, which can reach a maximum of 5 meters in length. When the plant is young, some varieties have a slight pubescence and the stem itself casts a pinkish color. The rhizome in dipladenia has tuberous outlines and it, in fact, is a thicker base of the stem (trunk), this formation serves the plant in order for a supply of liquid and starch to occur.
The leaf plates are attached with petioles to the stems and are located opposite (opposite each other) on them. Their surface is shiny and leathery. Sometimes pubescence is present on the underside. The color of the foliage is green or grayish-green, the shape of the leaf is oval or ovoid, with a pointed tip at the top.
Flowers are the pride of the plant. Their colors have rich and bright shades, it can be snow-white, cream, bright yellow, pink and red in different tones. In diameter, the flower can reach 8-12 cm, with funnel-shaped outlines and petals that do not grow together at the top. Some varieties have a delicate aroma. The flowering process is quite long, it can take a six-month period, which begins in late spring and ends by November. Each of the buds can stay on the stem of the Mandeville for up to 3-4 weeks, and on an adult specimen, the number of flowers sometimes reaches 80 units. From the buds, inflorescences are collected, which originate in the leaf axils and they contain up to 6-9 flowers. The shape of the inflorescences is racemose.
Due to its drooping stem, diplodenia can be grown as an ampelous crop. However, in the open field, it will not be able to survive the winter temperature drops in our latitudes. It is possible to grow, thus, only in some areas of Western Europe, and in this case the plant sheds its foliage and requires shelter. The growth rate of Mandeville is high and it can be kept in large rooms, halls, or decorated with shoots of walls, decorating winter gardens or greenhouses. For indoor cultivation, it is recommended to cut the stems and then the size of the plant becomes more acceptable and compact (about 45 cm).
General requirements for the cultivation of diploma, care
- Lighting for this plant should be bright, but devoid of direct sunlight. Window sills facing the east or west sides of the world will do.
- Temperature content for a Mandeville in the spring-summer period should not go beyond 20-25 degrees, and with the arrival of autumn days, the thermometer indicators can be reduced to 12 (and not lower) degrees of heat. Drafts are harmful.
- Air humidity is not an important factor in the cultivation of this southern beauty, however, when the buds begin to swell or the diplodesia bloom, she will be grateful for spraying the foliage. You just need to make sure that drops of moisture do not fall on the petals of open flowers. In the autumn-winter period, it is better to place the plant pot away from heating appliances and batteries.
- Watering the diploma. Moistening the soil for the plant should be carried out regularly and abundantly so that the topsoil does not dry out. However, water stagnation should also not be allowed. With the arrival of the winter months, watering is carried out on the third day after the substrate in the pot is completely dry. Normal tap water is used for humidification, but it must first be boiled and then drained to prevent sediment from entering the liquid. You also need to acidify the water, for this, any mineral and organic acids (but not hydrochloric) are used. At home, acetic, citric or oxalic acids are suitable. You can add 2-3 drops per 1 liter of lemon juice to the water for irrigation, so that a slight sourness is felt. Of course, it is best to use rainwater or river water.
- Fertilizers applied as soon as the plant leaves the winter rest period. Their regularity is once every 2 weeks during the growing season, with the use of a full mineral complex of dressings, which should be added to the water for irrigation. When budding and subsequent flowering begins, it is necessary to apply nutritious fertilizers for flowering indoor plants once a week.
- Pruning and general care. When forming the Mandeville bush, regular pruning is carried out, since the buds will be formed only on young shoots growing from the sides. Before the plant retires in the fall, it is best to shorten its branches by about 2/3. If the stem is branched, then it is recommended to cut it after the fork in half or by a third of its length. This will contribute to a more persistent wintering and then the formation of young shoots. Since diplodesia is still a plant with a liana-like stem that grows to large sizes in length, then when transplanting, you should take care of the support that is installed in the pot. The size of the support should be one and a half times the expected height of the bush. With growth, the stems will braid the provided supports and for a more decorative molding, excess shoots should also be cut off.
- Transplantation and choice of substrate. Usually, in the spring, the pot is changed to young diplomas, as they begin to slow down in growth. A new container is selected of a larger size, at the bottom of which drainage material is poured, it can be a medium fraction of expanded clay or washed pebbles, some flower growers use broken ceramic shards or crushed bricks. When the pot reaches a size of 20-30 ml, then in the future you only need to change the top 3-4 cm of soil. The soil for Mandeville is selected loose and fertile with moderate acidity. To do this, mix acidic peat soil, leaf and sod land, as well as river sand (all parts of the components must be equal). It is also recommended to replace 1/4 of the sand with perlite (agroperlite) or crushed and sieved brick chips - this gives more aeration for the root system.
Diplomatic breeding rules at home
To get a young flowering liana, propagation can be carried out through stem cuttings. This operation is recommended to be performed in the spring or in the month of July.
Choose healthy side-growing shoots and cut cuttings from them. If harvesting is carried out in the spring, then the stems should be green, and in the summer, semi-lignified. The shoot is cut under the knot of the leaf plate. It is recommended to treat the cut with a preparation that stimulates root formation (for example, Kornevin).
Then the cuttings are placed in a pot filled with a moistened mixture of peat soil and perlite (agroperlite), you can instead mix the peat with sand and add chopped sphagnum moss. Deepening is carried out to the very last leaf from the bottom. From above, the branches are covered either with a glass jar or wrapped in plastic wrap - this will create the conditions for a greenhouse. The cuttings are placed in a place with good diffused lighting and try to maintain the temperature at 25 degrees. It is only important not to forget to carry out regular ventilation and, if necessary, moisten the soil in the pot. Rooting takes place within a month. As soon as such signs appear, young vines can be transplanted in separate containers with a selected substrate. The diameter of such pots should not exceed 12-14 cm.
If you adhere to all the rules for growing a diploma, then after a year, you will be able to admire its flowers.
Diseases and pests of Mandeville
Dipladenia in rare cases is affected by parasites living on leaf plates, perhaps this is due to the toxicity of the juice contained in them. Occasionally, a spider mite can be seen, then the vines are treated with insecticidal preparations. However, mealybugs and nematodes, which attack the root system, cause significant harm to it. Therefore, it is recommended that the mixture is carefully sterilized during transplantation and reproduction.
If the temperature indicators exceed 25 degrees in the daytime, then the color of the petals in the flowers becomes brighter and more saturated. In the case of a strong decrease in heat indicators, the leaves of the Mandeville turn yellow and then fall off. When the color of the foliage turned pale and the buds are very few in number, then the reason for this was such factors as low humidity, poor watering, or lack of nutrients. Leaves dry out and curl if the pot with the plant is in direct sunlight for a long time or the humidity has dropped significantly. When the soil is flooded or its composition is of poor quality, the root system decays. Also, in the case of insufficient illumination, the duration of flowering is sharply reduced, the number of flowers decreases, and they themselves become smaller in size. Delay in the development of diploidia can also occur due to a lack of feeding.
Interesting facts about diplodion
It must be remembered that the juice from all parts of diplodion is highly toxic, due to the content of cardiac glycosides, therefore, gloves are used when caring for it. And it is required to ensure that the plant is out of reach of children and pets.
Types of Diplomacy
- Dipladenia brilliant (Dipladenia splendens) is a plant that is usually grown as an ampelous crop and does not shed its deciduous mass. When this vine is still young, its stems have pubescence, which eventually sells. Their length can be close to 3-4 meters. The leaf plates are large and often reach 20 cm in length. Their shape is oval with a sharpness at the apex, on the reverse side there is also pubescence and a pronounced pattern of a network of veins is clearly visible. The color of the petals is bright pink, when fully opened, the flower is measured in diameter 10 cm, has beautiful purple or dark crimson bracts. From such highly decorative flowers, racemose inflorescences are collected, containing 5-6 buds.
- Dipladenia sanderi just like the previous variety, it can be cultivated in rooms and has a liana-like appearance, with stems that reach a length of 3 meters. The leaves are arranged on the stem in an opposite order, the color is rich grassy green. The surface of the leaf plate is bare, pointed. Inflorescences originate in the leaf axils, they have the shape of brushes, they are formed by large flowers, whose diameter is close to 8 cm. The color of the petals is pink, the throat is yellowish. The flower itself has a funnel-shaped outline with beautifully opened petals. They also have pointed tops.
- Loose dipladenia (Dipladenia laxa). This plant has a very high growth rate, the stem is powerful, curly, the covering is warty. In conditions of natural growth, it can reach a height of 6-7 m. The shape of the leaves is ovoid, the color is grayish-green. On the upper side, the leaf is bare, and the back has pubescence, which is most pronounced on the veins. The length of the leaf is equal to 15 cm. When flowering, buds appear, the petals of which are distinguished by snow-white or cream tones. They have a delicate aroma, the diameter can reach 5 cm. When collected in 5-9 pieces, the flowers form cluster inflorescences. This type of bet growing is more hardy than the varieties described above and can continue to grow even at 9-10 degrees Celsius. It is deciduous and in the territory of Western Europe it perfectly survives the winter period without shelter in the open ground. When cultivated in indoor conditions, it does not discard its leaf mass.
- Bolivian Dipladenia (Dipladenia bolewiensis). Also a liana-like plant that has a smooth stem surface and oval-shaped leaf plates. Both sides of the sheet are glossy, the size is quite small. In their sinuses, racemose inflorescences, collected from 3-4 buds, originate. The flowers have snow-white petals, the diameter of the flower reaches 5 cm, there is a pleasant aroma.
- Dipladenia exima differs in graceful forms. The stem of this variety has a pale pink tint and slight pubescence. The leaves are small, barely up to 4 cm long, their surface is bare. Flowers, on the other hand, are the property of the plant - they are large in size and, when collected in 6-8 units, form a racemose inflorescence. The color of the petals is rich pink, and the bracts are distinguished by a bright red color.
Based on these popular varieties, many hybrid plants have already been bred for indoor floriculture, which are not inferior in beauty to their "progenitors", we will present some of them:
- "Allamand" and "Yellow" are distinguished by flower petals of a beautiful bright yellow hue;
- "Cosmos White" can "boast" of large buds of a snow-white color, and deep inside the throat has a yellowish tone;
- "Amoena" and "Cosmos Pink" have a pale pink color, which at the entrance to the corolla becomes more intense and changes to lemon yellow;
- at Cosmos Roses, the petals shine with a bright pink tint, and in the area of the throat the color becomes bright yellow;
- "Super Drooper" - has flowers with a huge diameter and a bright pink tint, and only in the very depths of the throat does the yellowish tint appear.
Among the red hybrid varieties, the most popular are:
- "Classic Red" completely red petals and pharynx;
- "Cosmos Crimson King" petals of alizarin (a mixture of red and scarlet) tint;
- Parasol Stars & Strings has red-bloody petals adorned with whitish stripes. The outside of the bud is also white and red.
More details about diplomatic possession in the following video:
