The vinca plant is easy to grow while being beautiful with its colourful array of flowers. In my column two weeks ago, I explained how the seeds of the vinca flowering plant are sown, its prerequisites and soil requirements, and what needs to be done while sowing the seeds to grow a vinca plant.

The vinca plant, also known as sadabahar, can be sown anytime when the temperature is between 22 to 28 degrees Celsius. For those residing in tropical regions, the period from February to September is recommended.

During favourable conditions, the seeds germinate within a fortnight. These should be segregated and transplanted at a permanent location once the plant

has sprouted three to four true leaves and has reached the height of at least two to three inches.

In this column, I will explain the transplanting process and its prerequisites, along with a few steps which should be taken afterwards, to ensure optimum growth of the plant.

Vinca plants undergo ‘transplantation shock’ when being moved, and need care to bounce back from it

When visiting a nursery, the colourful flowers of the vinca tempt buyers into purchasing the small pots of the flowering plants. However, within a few days or a week, as the plant starts to show unwanted changes, panic sets in.

In such a situation, most gardening enthusiasts try different types of fertilisers, apply pesticides, install coverings, change the watering quantity and schedule, or shift the plant to a different location. But this is likely to be in vain, with the plant usually succumbing due to undiagnosed reasons. As a last-ditch attempt to save the plant, gardeners often opt to shift the plant to a bigger-sized pot.

Also known as periwinkle, the vinca is a relatively small-sized plant and, thus, it doesn’t require much space to grow. However, the vinca plant simply hates repotting! It can be shifted to bigger-sized pots or grown in clusters in raised beds.

But before we move on to the measures that need to be taken while transferring the plant, it’s equally important to note that, when being transplanted, all vinca plants generally undergo a phenomenon known as transplantation shock.

While different varieties of plants being transplanted showcase different intensities of shock, transplantation shock in the case of the vinca is almost always there and is usually a pronounced one. In general, during transplantation shock, the plant generally loses its ability to bear the changed environment. The leaves and flowers wilt and fall off, and the plant’s growth speed is also inhibited in the early phase. It takes time and, sometimes, requires the gardener’s intervention for the plant to bounce back from the shock stage.

Many crops and harvests are lost to the ill-managed transplantation shock. However, once the shock stage is over, the plant’s growth continues at a normal pace. With respect to the vinca plant, the key here is to ensure that the roots of the plant being shifted are not disturbed at all.

Many gardeners opt for growing the vinca plant by pruning the stems. The lower leaves and flowers of these pruned branches are removed, while shifting them into the water in an upright position. The branches are dipped to the depth of at least one to two nodes into the water.

Another method, albeit a more difficult one, is to grow the vinca plant via its seeds, which are available at seed stores or they can be extracted from the vinca plant’s seed pods.

The requirements of the potting mix for the seeds, seedlings or cuttings of the vinca would, more or less, remain the same. The potting mix should be nursery soil, mixed with vermicompost or any of the organic decomposed nitrogen-based fertilisers, to ensure increased foliage. It should be ensured that the soil is well-drained and that it does not retain any water, as that may result in severe repercussions for the plant.

Later, as the plant starts to grow, the NPK [nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium] fertiliser, with all its components in equal quantity, is highly recommended.

The relatively smaller-sized plant of the vinca has smaller roots, which don’t go deep into the pot. It is, therefore, better to grow the vinca plants in low or shallow pots, with raised beds. Smaller roots mean that the plant doesn’t require an open space or large-sized pots to grow.

Smaller-sized pots also become a blessing-in-disguise for the vinca plant as well as the gardener. The smaller pots mean less soil area availability and lesser water retention in the pot, which ultimately results in avoidance of fungal infections.

The vinca plant is highly prone to fungal infections and many gardeners mix fungicide with their potting mix as well. In my next column, I will explain how gardeners can deal with diseases and infections in the vinca plants, along with other tips and tricks to make the plant bloom fully.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardening

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 1st, 2024