This ultimate guide on Rangoon creeper plant care will help you to care and grow Rangoon creeper plant. Get to know growing season, potting mix, propagation, etc.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Rangoon Creeper or Madhumalti is a tropical vine and a fast growing flowering plant that produces red to white colored fragrant flowers in cluster throughout the year. They are generally found in India, Philippines, and Malaysia.
Rangoon creeper Botanical Name: Combretium indicum
This alluring flowering plant attracts pollinators such as hawk moths, bees, birds, butterflies, etc. Adding them in your garden will give lush green appearance with eye soothing flowers that will make your garden amazing.
Flower blooms with white coloured flowers at dusk to attract pollinators such as hawk moths. Next day the colour of the flower changes to pink and gradually into red as it reaches maturity. This colour changing property of these flowers is a strategy to attract pollinators.
Madhumalti is known by many other names such as Chinese honeysuckle, Akar Dani, Udani, Burma creeper, Irangan malli, Drunken Sailor, etc. in various regions of the Earth.
Rangoon Creeper Benefits
Rangoon creeper is not only a flowering plant but also a herbal medicinal plant. The roots, seeds or fruits can be used to treat diarrhoea, nephritis, Fruit parts for gargling, leaves for pain relief caused by fever.
How To Grow Rangoon Creeper?
I am growing this flowering in my terrace garden in a pot and you will be amazed to know how much it blooms daily. I am not growing the local variety that grows large and bushy but I am growing dwarf hybrid variety.
If you have ground soil space or backyard garden then you can grow this beautiful plant directly in the ground soil and spread the plant across the wall of your home to get a wonderful appearance of the plant and home.
Later on when it grows big, you can add a set of chairs with classic table and enjoy your evenings under the shade of this plant while smelling and enjoying the fresh aroma from its flowers.
I purchased the plant directly from the nearest plant nursery few months ago and transplanted in a 12 inch earthen pot in my terrace garden, like me you can also start growing this plant very easily. This plant doesn’t need much care but you have to take care of few points that I will discuss with you in this article.
Growing Season
You can start growing this flowering from March to April from cuttings. Although they can be easily grown from cuttings from spring to the rainy season. I grew Rangoon creeper from cuttings few years ago in my previous home and that is still growing there.
They grow really fast and you will need to provide support to the growing plant along a wall so that it can grow properly and fill your home with a charming aroma.
Selection Of Pot
If you are growing Rangoon creeper directly in soil then it will show natural growth but if you want to grow it in your terrace then you can select a medium sized to large sized pot depending on the growth of the plant.
My dwarf hybrid variety plant is 0.4 metres in height i.e. 40 Centimetres and I have kept it in a 12 inch sized earthen pot with good drainage holes.
Propagation
You can propagate this plant from stem cutting and for that you will need:
- Cutting Scissor
- Rooting Hormone
- Growing container
- Trowel
- Potting Mix( 80% soil + 20% river sand)
- Polythene bag
Select healthy branches of the plant and take stem cuttings of 2 to 3 inches long having several leaf nodes with the help of cutting scissors. The stem cutting must be hard and woody than the greener branches.
Dip the bottom end of the cutting in rooting hormone solution in water and leave it for at least one to two hour. Fill the growing container with potting mix. Make sure that growing container have at least 2 to 3 drainage holes.
Place the bottom end of the cutting at one to two centimetres depth in the potting mix and apply water gently in the pot and cover the complete setup with a polythene bag. Keep this in shade.
If you see soil drying very fast then only you should apply water to maintain the moisture in the soil. Do not over water or apply water frequently.
Within 15 to 20 days you will notice new leaves coming out from the cuttings. Now they are ready to kept under sunlight for 6 to 7 days before transplanting them into a bigger sized pot.
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Transplantation
Either you have purchased Rangoon creeper directly from the plant nursery or you have grown them from cutting you can transplant it the way I transplanted it in my terrace garden.
The first step that you need to do is to make potting mix for transplanting. Believe me guys selecting best potting mix for you plants can give better results. When I bought this plant recently I prepared potting mix with:
- 60% normal garden soil + 30% any organic compost + 10% cocopeat and mixed it thoroughly with my own hands. This step is fun I love mixing them and so do you? I hope so you will be loving to mix them together for your beloved plants.
Well talks apart, I have sandy loam soil with me that’s why I don’t mix sand but if you have clay soil then mix additional 10% river sand in the mixture by reducing 10% from the soil.
Now fill your pot that has good drainage holes at the bottom with this potting mix and leave two inches of space at the top.
Take out the new plant carefully from the old pot without disturbing the roots. Dig hole in the centre of the pot with the help of a trowel and place your plant roots and the base portion under the soil and cover it properly.
Apply water gently and keep your pot in semi shade area for 10 days. Whenever you notice the top layer of soil going dry then apply a little amount of water. Watering once in a day is good.
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Sunlight
Rangoon creeper is a tropical plant that requires at least 6 hours of direct sunlight to grow properly. A good exposure to sunlight ensures more flowering.
If you are trying to grow it in your balcony then make sure that it receives at least 6 hours of sunlight daily. Growing this plant in open terrace or balcony is wonderful.
Watering
The plant requires regular watering to bloom properly but this doesn’t mean that you over water your pot. Watering once in a day in summer is good. In winters you can water once in every 3 days or a week. It depends on dryness of the soil.
If you notice that the top layer of the soil is dry then apply water in the pot otherwise if it is wet then avoid watering at that time.
Fertilizers
Avoid applying nitrogen rich fertilizer in your plant to have more bloom. You can start feeding your plants with a handful of any organic compost with 3 to 4 granules of DAP once in a month.
If you want to apply inorganic fertilizers then you can apply a teaspoon of NPK in the ratio 5:10:10 once in a month. Avoid applying fertilizers in winters.
You can also use organic fertilizers only. For this purpose you can add 2 to 4 handful of organic compost once in every month. During flowering season you can use banana or onion peel fertilizer.
Take care of these given points and your plant will grow very well. They are generally not affected by any pest or disease hence you will not need to worry much. Just care for your plants and in return plant will take care of you.
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Article is more informative.
Thanks!
Do the flowers bloom on old vines or newer ones?
My plant is about 2 years old – would love some input on how to get it to bloom. No flowers yet.
Thanks
Madhumalti or Rangoon creeper is a perennial flowering plant that flowers from late spring to fall and goes under rest during winter. To promote flowering, prune old branches at the end of winter, apply fertilizers rich in nitrogen for a month, then from April, start adding phosphorus and potassium-rich fertilizers such as banana peel, onion peel, or bonemeal along with dung manure to promote flowering.
If you skip pruning, they produce flowers, but the quantity decreases. I hope this will help!
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I want to know how much oxygen it produces per hour?? Cause it’s too much ever green it’s means it make photosynthesis very 1st and growing rapidly .so please tell me how much oxygen we get from Rangoon Creeper.
According to a rough estimate, a mature and healthy Rangoon Creeper could potentially produce around 100 ml of oxygen per hour under ideal conditions.