In my recent columns, I described the process of growing and transplanting the hybrid vinca, a colourful flowering plant, more commonly known as hybrid periwinkle and locally known as sadabahar. In this column, I will share some of the tricks which, if followed correctly, will result in your vinca plant to bloom.

One simple trick when trying to fill your place with the same colour and variety of hybrid vinca flowers is to avoid transplanting the plant. Instead, the hybrid vinca should be placed at its permanent location — which has ample sunlight exposure — from day one.

The vinca plant simply abhors transplanting. I have never had a good experience in repotting it myself and I would not recommend it to any new gardeners. Expert hybrid vinca growers may do it, but they follow a number of precautions and have the necessary expertise.

If you want to increase the number of the same variety of flowers and plants, then it is better to go for propagation rather than transplanting the original. While propagating a specific colour of the hybrid vinca plant, it is better to use a branch or stem from the parent hybrid plant for propagation only. This is because there is high probability that the next generation of plants in this scenario will always carry the same variety and colour of flowers as the parent plant.

Excess water can result in fungal problems in the hybrid vinca, causing leaves to wilt

However, if you opt to harvest seeds from seed pods and then grow seedlings and plants from the same seeds, then there is an equal chance that the flowers and the other characteristics in the offspring plants do not resemble the ones that are there on the original plant.

Sometimes, the plants that are grown from seeds bear flowers having the colour of the native or desi vinca variety, instead of the original hybrid vinca flowers from which the seeds are extracted in the first place.

The best time for pruning and shaping your plant would be at least after one year of the plant’s growth. It is, sometimes, followed by a growth spurt for the plant as well. However, if you want a small-sized bushy plant, then you may even prune it earlier.

Early on, the vinca plant should be provided in equal proportions. Later, organic nitrogen-based fertilisers are the mainstay of the plant as it sprouts more greens and leaves. The foliage part can be boosted with vermicompost, with the more pocket-friendly decomposed chicken manure or cow dung manure also options. During the flowering stage, the nitrogen-based fertiliser is replaced with potassium-based fertiliser, which also enhances the plant’s capacity to bloom.

Other than the above-mentioned affordable fertilisers, the vinca plant hardly requires any other special care. It can thrive even without the addition of boosting material, such as bone meal, blood meal, fish meal, neem cake, mustard cake or any other expensive fertilisers used for other flowering plants. This also makes growing the vinca and decorating your home with it an economically viable option.

One of the plant’s key requirements, which happens to be a unique one for the hybrid vinca flowering plant, is the application of a fungicide. The hybrid vinca is extremely susceptible to fungal infections. The plant usually manifests it as wilting leaves, regardless of the fertiliser or meal fed to the plant.

Excess water, including that which isn’t drained or is stored within the soil, results in fungal problems. Many gardeners opt to mix a spoonful of different quantities of fungicide while preparing the potting mix for hybrid vinca seeds and seedlings.

The regular application of fungicide is recommended in varied quantities at different junctures throughout the growing and blossoming phases of the plant, but especially before and during the rainy season, when the chances of fungal rot due to water accumulation are high.

Many people opt for other chemical-free and more organic alternatives. These are supposed to have anti-fungal properties and are believed to act just as a fungicide would. The options of adding cinnamon and its powder, aloe vera and turmeric are widely claimed to act almost as a fungicide.

There is a lot more that needs to be addressed on how to get the best out of the colourful range of hybrid vinca plants, which I will touch upon in future articles.

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 8th, 2024