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As beautiful as this plant looks, it takes nothing much to make it glow and bloom as you want it if you know the basic requirements on how to not just grow them but also care for them.
Moreover, this plant doesn’t necessarily require all your attention as you can still go on with your life while grooming them.
To know the basic requirements, then you should keep scrolling as we have designed a guideline to make it easier for you.
Basic Grow & Care Guide For Your Black Pagoda Plant
Black Pagoda plant which is also known as the Zebra Basket Vine plant is a popular tropical houseplant that originated from Asia, Thailand and Malaysia precisely.
It produces a beautiful bright orange flower which is tubular and lipstick-shaped.
This plant blooms in winter and spring and doesn’t necessarily need much maintenance as it tends to grow perfectly fine when it gets the little care that it requires. This care is also what helps the plant to grow.
So if you want to know them, then keep scrolling below as we outline them for you.
1. Soil Type
Not all types of soil are suitable for growing this type of plant. So you must know the best suitable one.
Black Pagoda Plant grows well when planted in a well-draining, chunky potting mix. It is advisable to use such a type of chunky soil mix as it will help to create macro pores that contain oxygen.
To be able to get the perfect soil, you can make it by mixing 2 parts of store-bought potting soil with 1 part perlite.
Afterwards, it is important to water the soil for healthy growth.
Read Also: Best Soil pH Tester- Top 8 Digital Meters, Strips + Dyes [Reviews]
2. Adequate Sunlight
The next thing that can aid your plant to grow well is by exposing it to its suitable sunlight rate. This plant tends to thrive best when it is placed in bright, direct sunlight of about 1-2 hrs in the early morning or late in the afternoon.
The optimum amount of light is 3,000+lux(300+FC) while the minimal amount is 750+lux(75+FC)
If you reside in a place where direct sunlight isn’t achievable as it can be grown either indoors or outdoors depending on your choice, then you can place it inside your home or office and add a grow light.
Furthermore, if you are anticipating to start your planting in Summer, then, you should keep this plant far away from direct sunlight and ensure that you water it to prevent it from drying up.
3. Plant Watering Level
Just as this plant requires well-drained soil, so does it also need a suitable watering rate just as to avoid damaging the plant through overwatering.
The best watering format is to water the plant when it has completely dried out. To achieve this by keeping the pH level at a low rate.
However, it is important to know that it tolerates underwatering more than overwatering because of its thick leaves. So ensure that you check out the soil before attempting to water the plant. You can use a chopstick and stick it inside the pot down to the bottom to confirm if it is completely dry.
4. Fertilizer
Fertilizing your black pagoda plant is best done when it is actively growing once a month or even less. The best fertilizer is a liquid fertilizer with a 3:1:2 NPK ratio.
Using this will make it easy for the plant to absorb and also utilize the nutrients and minerals.
So before you start applying the fertilizer, ensure that you thoroughly go through the instructions on the label to avoid over-fertilizing the plant.
However, if you always repot your black pagoda plant yearly, then it isn’t necessary to fertilize it as the nutrients will still be intact and active before the next year.
5. Temperature & Humidity
Just like other tropical houseplants, black pagoda plants thrive in a warm temperature location that is between 65° and 80°F. Any temperature lower than 50°F (10°C) should be avoided as it will lead to leaf drop.
Furthermore, the humidity levels that this plant can be exposed to should be between 25% and 50%. Though this plant can adapt to any humidity level, it is best with the supposed level.
If the location doesn’t have enough humidity, you can also install a humidifier near your plant to keep the air around it moist.
6. Repotting
Every plant needs to be repot at some point before the harvesting period. So you should repot your black pagoda plant if you notice that it is overgrowing its container or pot.
However, you will know that it is time to repot if you start noticing the roots of your plant shooting out due to overgrowing. So, you will need to replant it in another larger pot or container.
Even if you don’t notice any sign, just bear in mind that it is necessary to do so once a year so that the nutrients from the new soil can help the plant to grow effectively.
To repot your black pagoda plant, follow these steps:
A. Gently take the plant out of its pot and untwist the roots carefully.
B. Inspect the root for any dead, rotten or diseased roots and if found, gently cut it off using your clean sanitized pruning shear.
C. Fill up ⅓ of the new pot with fresh suitable soil.
D. Place your black pagoda plant in a new pot with drainage holes and fill it up to ⅓ pot with fresh soil
E. Gently press the soil around your Black Pagoda and wait for the soil to dry out fully before you water.
7. Pruning
You need to prune your black pagoda plant especially if you want your plant to branch out fuller or you notice any dead/diseased part. To do so, always ensure that you sterilize and sharpen the pruning shears before use.
Furthermore, If you want your plant to be brushy, you can prune any stem and it will branch out below the cut.
Also if you want to remove any dead stems or dry leaves, just prune them off as well as any diseased parts as it will help to curtail the spread of the infection.
8. Propagation
Propagation in plants is an indispensable stage in any plant’s life cycle. It’s either the plant propagated through stem cutting or watering cutting. As for our black pagoda plant, it is easier to propagate through stem cutting in water than Stem cutting in soil.
However, you can do your stem cutting in water through the steps below:
A. Pick a stem and take a few inches long stem cutting with sharp and sterilized scissors or shear. However, If you want to maximize the chances of successful propagation, then, you should do more than a couple of cuttings.
B. Remove a couple of bottom leaves from the stem so that no leaves sit in water when you place the cutting into a container
C. Put the stem cuttings into a glass or another container with fresh water. Ensure that at least 2-3 nodes are in the water.
D. Put the containers with the stem cuttings in a warm place with bright sunlight.
E. Check the water periodically and replace it with fresh water once a week, or when it is getting dirty.
F. Observe for new growth and when the roots on the stem cuttings reach about 2 inches of length, plant the stem cutting into the soil.
9. Pests & Diseases
Black Pagoda Plant isn’t a tropical houseplant that is often infested by pests or diseases. However, it is still not safe from them as it is occasionally infected by a few of them.
Some of these include aphids, mealybugs, and mites. To get rid of these infestations by these pests, you can apply this remedies such as:
A. Use Of Alcohol
You can get rid of this pest by rubbing alcohol on the affected areas. Just make a solution of alcohol and water.
Ensure that you spray the plant with the solution and make sure that you don’t miss any nooks and crannies since pests like to hide there.
However, before doing so, it is good that you test the solution on a leaf and wait patiently for 24 hours before spraying the whole plant, to make sure there is no damage on the leaf.
B. Use Of Insecticides Soap
You can also use insecticidal soap on any affected areas by aphids and mites. Just spray the plant thoroughly, most especially the underside of the leaves.
You will need to repeat this process a couple of times every 4-7 days, according to the instructions.
C. Use Of Neem Oil
To treat the affected areas with neem oil, you just need to mix 5 drops of pure 100% neem oil with 5 drops of dish soap in 16oz of water.
Get a spray bottle and pour the mixture into it then spray it on the plant. However, after doing so, ensure that you keep away the plant from direct sunlight a few hours after the application, as the direct sun can cause leaf damage after neem oil application.
Furthermore, some common diseases can cause damage to this plant such as Botrytis Blight and leaf spot. You can prevent these diseases by ensuring that you keep your plant and leaves dry and out of close contact with potting soil.
However, if the diseases occur, all you need to do is to cut off and discard the infected leaves. Afterwards, spray fungicide on the plant to keep the infections from spreading out further. Then, continue the process until it fades away.
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FAQs
1. How Often Do You Water Black Pagoda?
Your black pagoda plant will need to be sprayed 0.8 cups of water every 9 days especially when it doesn’t get direct sunlight and is potted in a 5.0″ pot.
2. Why Are The Leaves Falling Off My Black Pagoda Plants?
The most common cause of the falling off of your plant’s leaves is improper watering.
So do well to examine the soil by sticking your finger one inch down to make sure it’s dry before giving it more. If it’s wet, then allow it to dry out a bit before watering it again.
3. Why Is My Pagoda Plant Dying?
The major cause will be the overwatering of the plant as it can result in the weakness and death of the plant. So do well to examine your plant bearing this in mind.
To remedy the situation is by allowing the soil to dry entirely before adding water, as mentioned previously.
4. Why Are My Pagoda Plant Leaves Turning Yellow?
The yellowing of pagoda flower foliage indicates possible under-watering. This can be resolved by making sure that enough water is present in the soil at all times during the spring and summer months.
Conclusion
With all these being said, you can see that the Black Pagoda Plant is very easy to grow and care for if you can follow these necessary guidelines which we have provided for you in this article.
Though it isn’t easy to be consistent while doing so it is worth the result when it starts blooming.
If you have tried these guidelines, we will be happy to get feedback on how helpful it was. You can leave comments in the comment box below and for further questions, do well to also comment about them.
