Lagerstroemia 1-4

Growing tips:

Location : Outside all year round, it should be exposed to full sun in summer. Protect it from heavy frosts

Watering: Very important to keep your tree alive, so always keep the soil moist, water it regularly while letting the root ball dry out slightly between two waterings in order to avoid excess water. Watering will be done very regularly, in hot weather, it's every day ! On the other hand, in winter, water according to the soil monitoring you do. Thanks to the rain and cold, you won't necessarily need to water regularly since the substrate will remain moist.

To do it well: Don't hesitate to water the entire root ball up to the roots, the water will drain away through the holes under the pot or bathe it in water (drenching) for a few minutes, to be sure to water it well. We do not recommend putting a cup/container underneath your pot as the water will stagnate and can cause root rot. (Too much water = asphyxiation).

Repotting and substrate : It has fine, fibrous roots that need to be repotted every 2 years between mid-April and mid-May. In the nursery we use agricultural soil composed of black peat, blond peat, bark, topsoil, horse manure, pozzolana. You can adapt your susbtrat very well, by making a mixture of 50% akadama/pumice and 50% potting soil.

Waist: Severe pruning is advantageous because it induces dense growth. Generally, large branches are pruned late in the fall or early in the spring, just before the buds open. Remove or shorten spindly or packed stems. You can prune the branches anywhere without threatening the next year's bloom. Sure enough, the flower buds develop on the new stems. Thick stems and suckers (aerial shoots, born on a root and producing adventitious roots) form at the base of the trunk or on the main branches. These should be removed as soon as they appear.

Caution : Do not prune the top too severely. The new shoots should be able to lengthen until mid-May and reach the equivalent of 3 to 5 internodes. Do not prune the stems during the growing period; The flowers will appear at the end of these stems from July.

Fertilization: In the nursery, we use blue tomato/flower fertilizer NPK 12 12 17. You can use some and put a handful (small or large depending on the size of the pot) on the substrate from May to October, every 2 months alternating chemical/organic.