A plant with beautiful flowers of unusual shape - clerodendrum: home care, propagation

Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/ru/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Houseplants Published: January 16, 2019Last edits: January 11, 2021

The plant clerodendrum (lat. Clerodendrum) , or clerodendron , is a deciduous or evergreen tree or shrub of the Verbenaceae family of the order Lamiaceae. In nature, clerodendrum flowers are found mostly in the tropics of Africa, Asia and South America. In total, about 400 species of clerodendrum are known. The name of the plant is translated as “tree of fate”; it is sometimes called “volkameria” or “innocent love”. Although clerodendrum was introduced into culture several centuries ago, the clerodendrum flower has been grown as a house plant not so long ago, but its popularity in this role among flower growers and designers is growing very quickly.

Planting and caring for clerodendrum

• Flowering: from June to early autumn, fragrant clerodendrum blooms almost all year round.
• Lighting: bright diffused light (eastern and western window sills, shading required on the southern window).
• Temperature: 18-25 ˚C during the period of active growth and flowering, 13-15 ˚C during the dormant period.
• Watering: abundant, the top layer of the substrate should dry out between waterings.
• Air humidity: high, requiring nightly spraying in the warm season and keeping away from heating devices in winter.
• Feeding: from mid-spring to late summer, twice a month with complex mineral fertilizers for flowering plants.
• Dormant period: after flowering - in autumn and winter.
• Pruning: at the beginning of the growing season.
• Transplantation: at the beginning of active growth: young plants are replanted annually, adults - every 2-3 years.
• Reproduction: seeds and cuttings.
• Pests: aphids, whiteflies and spider mites.
• Diseases: chlorosis, rot.

Read more about growing clerodendrum below.

When and how to root?

Before planting the cuttings in the ground, you should germinate the roots. To do this, the selected part must be placed in a glass of water, cover this structure with a transparent film and place it in a dark place. You should also periodically add fresh water. After a few days you can see the roots that have formed, but they will be very fragile.

The transplantation procedure into the ground should be done carefully so as not to break the new roots.

1. You should start by preparing the container for planting: a drainage layer no more than three cm thick should be laid on the bottom.
2. Next, fill in 2/3 of the total volume with the soil mixture prepared in advance. All that remains is to thoroughly moisten the soil and carefully plant the cuttings.
3. At the end of the procedure, you need to add soil and cover the planted cuttings with a cut plastic bottle. It will need to be removed when the first leaves appear.

In the first week after rooting, the plant should be watered abundantly.

Features of cultivation

• The leaves of clerodendrum are bright green, simple, heart-shaped, with jagged or solid edges, a rough “quilted” surface, 20 to 30 cm long, arranged oppositely or whorled on the stem. Flexible shoots in the lower part become woody very quickly. The indoor clerodendrum flower is grown for its beautiful flowers with long stamens, collected in terminal corymbs or racemes.
• Clerodendrum flowers in most species have the shape of a butterfly, but in Clerodendrum philippines and Clerodendrum benguet the inflorescences resemble bouquets of unusual shapes.
• Both flowers and leaves of most clerodendrums emit a scent, and each species has its own.
• The indoor flower clerodendrum is represented mainly by two species - Thompson's clerodendrum and brilliant clerodendrum, although other representatives of the genus grow well at home.
• Clerodendrum can be given various forms (ampeloid, bush-like, standard) using pruning and pinching.
• Caring for clerodendrum flowers is not difficult - they are hardy, unpretentious and at the same time fabulously beautiful and also fragrant.

Description, changes in classification

The genus Clerodenrum is currently included in the tenacious

(
Ajugoideae
).

,
in turn, is part of the
Lamiaceae family .

But relatively recently, clerodendrum belonged to the Verbenov

(
Verbenaceae
). Thanks to this, some sources still habitually continue to classify him as a member of this family.

Most tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and South Asia (China, Korea) can be called the homeland of this plant. Among the many species there are shrubs, vines, and even small trees.

The shoots of clerodendrum are quite flexible, but quickly become lignified in their lower part, which allows the formation of fairly powerful crowns. The stems and leaves of many species often have a pubescence of short hairs. Despite the wide variety of species, all clerodendrums have two characteristic features: tetrahedral stems and wrinkled leaf surfaces. The leaves are usually very large with clearly visible relief veins.

Clerodendrum leaves and shoots

Well, the flowers differ in such variety that it is impossible to describe. They are usually located at the ends of the shoots, collected in brushes or scutes, and are distinguished by a unique structure with unique details.

Caring for clerodendrum at home

Rules of care

For healthy growth and full flowering, tropical forest plants need conditions that are as close to natural as possible. Clerodendrum at home prefers window sills facing south, west or east - it needs bright light, but with protection from direct sunlight. The optimal temperature in summer is between 18-25 ºC; during the dormant period, which occurs in the winter months, the plant needs coolness - no higher than 15 ºC.

The air humidity in the room with clerodendrum should be high, so you will have to spray the plant with soft, settled water every night in the warm season, and in winter, remove the flower pot away from heating appliances.

Clerodendrum should be watered abundantly with soft water, but the top layer of soil should dry out between waterings. During the dormant period, soil moistening is carried out according to the following principle: the cooler it is in the room, the less often we water it, but the earth ball should not dry out completely. From mid-spring to the end of summer, clerodendrum is fertilized twice a month with complex fertilizers for flowering indoor plants; no fertilizing is needed in autumn and winter.

• Is it possible to grow an exotic kumquat at home and get edible fruits twice a year?

Clerodendrum flowering

Depending on the species, clerodendrum begins to bloom in June, and these plants fade in September. It is interesting to observe how white bracts appear on the still bare shoots of Thompson's clerodendrum in early spring, from which crimson corollas up to 2.5 cm in diameter are formed. The beautiful clerodendrum blooms from June to September with panicles of purple flowers, and the fragrant clerodendrum blooms almost all year round. Anyone who has seen clerodendrum bloom will definitely want to see this magic again.

Trimming

Caring for clerodendrum involves mandatory annual pruning of the plant at the beginning of the period of active growth. Caring for Thompson's clerodendrum, for example, in addition to removing dried or weak branches, requires shortening all shoots by a third of the length, which should stimulate abundant flowering, as well as intensive growth and branching of young side shoots, on which inflorescences are formed. Clerodendrum is also pruned in order to form a crown - if you want the clerodendrum to grow as a bush, you need to greatly shorten the shoots when pruning in spring, otherwise you will have to install support for them later.

How to prune clerodendrum to make a tree? The standard form is created as follows: all shoots are removed, except for one, the strongest, which is cut off at a height of 50-70 cm, and then all shoots that appear in the apex area are pinched in order to create a crown due to their branching. If sprouts appear on the stem below the crown, they are removed.

Transfer

Growing clerodendrum requires replacing old soil with new soil from time to time; in addition, an overgrown plant may require a larger pot. Plants are replanted at the beginning of active growth after pruning. Young plants need annual replanting, but older plants need to change the soil and pot once every two to three years. The soil for clerodendrum should be nutritious and slightly acidic (pH 5-6). You can use store-bought soil, adding sand to it, or make your own from peat, coarse sand, leaf and clay soil in equal parts.

Before replanting the plant, the new soil must be disinfected by steaming, oven or microwave. How to transplant clerodendrum? Take a pot 2 cm in height and 2 cm in diameter larger than the old one, place a layer of drainage three centimeters high in it and transfer the plant from the old pot to the new one, being careful not to damage the root ball. Add the required amount of new substrate to fill the voids in the pot and water the plant. If your clerodendrum needs support in the future, dig it in when replanting so that you don’t have to stick it into the pot later, damaging the roots of the plant.

Trimming and shaping

Young plants should be pruned by cutting off the tops of the shoots. Mature plants need pruning. Do not spare the clerodendrum - after pruning it recovers well and sends out many side shoots. All stems are cut to one third of the length. Inflorescences are formed on annual lateral shoots.

The natural form of Thompson's clerodendrum is a vine. At home, it can be grown as a hanging plant with freely hanging branches or attached to a support, setting the desired direction of growth. Clerodendrum easily forms as a shrub or tree.

• Stem shape. When only one strong shoot remains at a young age, tie it to a vertical support and cut off the rest completely. The top is cut off when it reaches half a meter in height. To enhance branching, the growing points of subsequent side shoots should be trimmed. All shoots below the desired canopy level should be systematically removed.
• Bush. With annual pruning, all clover shoots are shortened to the desired height. Side branches are pruned to make the bush thicker.

Shaping a tree along its trunk is a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. It may take several years before the plant takes on a new, attractive shape.

Clerodendrum propagation

Reproduction of clerodendrum at home is carried out both by generative (seed) and vegetative (cuttings) methods.

• Dracaena - care, photos, types

Growing from seeds

Clerodendrum seeds are sown at the end of February or early March in a mixture of turf soil, sand and peat, placed in a greenhouse and kept in good light, ventilating and maintaining moderate soil moisture. You will have to wait a long time for germination - one and a half to two months. When the seedlings have four true leaves, they are planted in separate small containers with a diameter of 6 cm, one seedling at a time or three in a container with a diameter of 11 cm, and as soon as the seedlings have become accustomed and begin to grow, they begin to accustom them to the conditions for adult clerodendrums.

Cuttings

If you already have clerodendrum, you will not need the seed propagation method, because you can always get cuttings for rooting when pruning in spring. Clerodendrum cuttings root easily in water, especially in spring and summer. Once the cuttings have taken root, they are planted in pots approximately 7 cm in diameter and grown under a glass cover, keeping the substrate moist.

As soon as the root system develops and shoots and leaves appear on the cutting, the cutting with the root ball is transferred to a pot with a large (9 cm) diameter, in which it will grow until spring without a cap. A year from the beginning of rooting, transfer the plant to a pot with a diameter of 11 cm in soil for an adult clerodendrum. During this time, be sure to pinch the shoots at least twice to stimulate the growth of side branches.

Pests and diseases

Of all the harmful insects, clerodendrum can be affected by spider mites and whiteflies. Whiteflies hide on the underside of the leaves, and on the top there is a shiny coating from whitefly excrement - honeydew, or honeydew. Spider mites are too small for you to see, but they make their presence known by white dots on the underside of leaf blades and subtle webs on the leaves. You can fight these pests with the same insecticide: dilute one ampoule of Actellik in a liter of water and spray the plant. The treatment can be repeated four times at an interval of three days.

Clerodendrum does not bloom

Very often, on flower forums, beginners try to find out from experienced flower growers why their clerodendrum does not bloom, and each time they are amazed at how simple the reason for their sadness is. Moreover, when they are convinced that everything depends only on them and get down to business, then problems with other colors are solved by themselves. And the reason is always the same: the rules for growing the plant were violated. In the case of clerodendrum, flowering most often does not occur due to improper wintering of the plant.

How to make clerodendrum bloom

So, what to do if clerodendrum does not bloom? In order for your clerodendrum to bloom in the spring, it needs to have a cool winter. As soon as flowering comes to an end, gradually reduce watering the plant and move the flower to a cool room - no warmer than 15 ºC. Optimal conditions for wintering are a temperature of 12 ºC and purely conditional watering only to prevent the plant from drying out. With this maintenance, for one and a half to two months, the clerodendrum will rest and gain strength for a new season of active growth.

As soon as you notice that the clerodendrum has begun to produce new shoots, gradually increase watering, prune and, if necessary, replant the plant, move it to its usual place and resume feeding. Make sure that the soil of the clerodendrum is nutritious - sometimes the plant does not bloom due to the fact that it has not been replanted for a long time. Another reason for delayed flowering and even falling buds may be insufficient lighting.

• Reliable protection of strawberries - planting in garlic

Clerodendrum turns yellow

If clerodendrum leaves turn yellow in spring or summer, the reason may be a lack of moisture in the soil - water the plant more often or more abundantly so that there is always water in the pan. Sometimes the cause of yellow spots on clerodendrum leaves is the disease chlorosis, which can be cured by feeding the plant with iron-containing preparations.

Clerodendrum leaves are falling off

If leaf fall begins after flowering, then most likely this is a natural autumn process for deciduous plants - the leaves turn yellow and fall off throughout the fall and winter, leaving bare shoots. But in spring and summer, the leaves should not fall, so re-read the rules for caring for the plant and correct your mistakes or change the location of the clerodendrum.

Possible problems and their solutions

1. Being the owner of delicate and thin leaves, clerodendrum is susceptible to sunburn. If this problem occurs, it is necessary to change the location of the plant.
2. The appearance of dry spots is caused by a draft that the plant is exposed to.
3. Spider mite infestation causes leaves to turn yellow (why do clerodendrum leaves turn yellow and fall off?). Prevention will be regular watering and spraying.
4. Fungal diseases can be eradicated with a solution of fufan or karbofos.
5. The lack of flowering may be caused by a violation of the dormant period of the clerodendrum.

Both an experienced gardener and an amateur can delight themselves with the unusual flowering of clerodendrum. To become the owner of this flower, you only need to collect the seeds at the beginning of spring from another plant or cut a cutting from it. The propagation procedure using any of these methods is easy and straightforward. By following simple rules, you can quickly get a healthy adult plant.

The variety of clerodendrum flowers is simply amazing. Thanks to the fact that flower growers and botanical breeders have recently paid attention to this plant, more and more new species and varieties have begun to appear.

Kinds

Thomson's clerodendrum (Clerodendrum thomsoniae)

The most common species in indoor floriculture, it is a woody deciduous vine with smooth thin shoots. Dark green large dense leaves with clearly visible veins and solid edges have an oblong-ovate pointed shape and reach a length of 12 cm. On the upper side of the leaf plate there are irregularly shaped spots of more or less light shades. White swollen flowers with a red corolla are collected in loose racemes growing from the axils. Thompson's clerodendrum is propagated at home using cuttings, grows very quickly, blooms from March to June.

Clerodendrum splendens

It belongs to evergreen shrubs with climbing shoots, almost round leaves up to 8 cm long and 6 cm wide, having a heart-shaped base, a pointed oblong apex and wavy edges. Scarlet-red flowers are collected in short axillary racemes or corymbose inflorescences. Clerodendrum brilliant blooms almost all year round.

Philippine clerodendrum (Clerodendrum philippinum)

A species with a strong, pleasant jasmine-vanilla aroma that intensifies in the evening. This wonderful representative of the genus, unfortunately, is an infrequent guest in our apartments, although it is not capricious in care and blooms already in the second year of life with pinkish-white inflorescences up to 20 cm in diameter from pinkish flowers with a diameter of 2-3 cm, the beauty and tenderness of which is emphasized by wide dark green leaves.

Ugandan clerodendrum (Clerodendrum ugandense)

A fast-growing evergreen vine that can reach two meters in length. The leaves are dark green, broadly lanceolate, the flowers are collected in loose terminal inflorescences with few flowers and their blue thread-like stamens resemble butterflies with antennae. The upper and side petals of the flowers are blue, and the lower, barely noticeable petal is lilac-blue or violet. This clerodendrum can be given both the shape of a bush and the shape of a tree.

Fragrant clerodendrum (Clerodendrum fragrans)

Evergreen shrub up to two meters high. On the pubescent shoots grow broadly ovate, with deep teeth along the edges, the same pubescent leaves up to 20 cm long. White with a pink tint on the outside, simple or double flowers, exuding an aroma with notes of violet and citrus, collected in dense apical shields up to 8 cm in diameter . This species blooms almost non-stop.

Clerodendrum Wallich, or Clerodendrum Prospero

And also “Cleopatra’s tears”, “bride’s veil” or “bridal veil”, as this species is popularly called, is distinguished by the abundant flowering of snow-white inflorescences, composed of exquisitely shaped flowers. The plant itself is a small graceful bush with tetrahedral shoots and dark green lanceolate leaves 5-8 cm long with a wavy edge that fits on the narrowest windowsill. This is the most difficult species to grow indoors, requiring special daylight hours and high air humidity.

Clerodendrum beautiful, or most beautiful (Clerodendrum speciosum)

An evergreen shrub with tetrahedral shoots reaching three meters in height. Shiny, large heart-shaped leaves on long dull red petioles, covered with hairs. Purple flowers with a dark red corolla are collected in apical panicles. Blooms profusely from June to September.

What you need for abundant flowering. Signs and superstitions

In unfavorable conditions, Thompson's clerodendrum does not bloom. The most common mistake novice gardeners make is neglecting the winter dormant phase. In warm weather, flower buds do not form and flower stalks do not appear in spring. In winter, the flower should be kept in a cool room. In total, there are three reasons for the lack of flowering:

• warm winter;
• improper or insufficient pruning;
• lack of nutrients (potassium and phosphorus).

To make Thompson's clerodendrum bloom, at the end of autumn it is moved to a cool room and watering is limited. The soil should be slightly moist. You can prune in the fall before the dormant period or in early spring before active growth begins. In spring, clerodendrum is returned to warmth and watering is increased. After the first buds appear, mineral fertilizers begin to be applied.

Flowers form on new shoots, so in spring or autumn all clerodendrum lashes are cut off by a third. Without pruning, cold wintering and regular replanting, clerodendrum will not bloom.

Caring for Thompson's clerodendrum during flowering involves systematic watering and fertilizing. The flower is protected from cold and drafts, temperature changes, and drying out of the soil. Withered flowers that have lost their decorative effect are immediately removed.