Medinilla help needed

18 years ago

We found a nice little nursery at Yandina on Saturday that has a good range of less common tropicals. I managed to get out of the nursery with only a few plants - could have spent hundreds - but did buy a Medinilla. The owner couldn't remember the name of the plant but it wasn't the more common one. He had started a few plants off from one he obtained from a friend up North.

I know it is an epiphyte but don't know a lot about them and can't find much info on the net. I don't know if I should put it in a hanging basket or in the ground. The owner said the person he got the plant from had his in hanging baskets which looked really good. Any hints on their needs and the best way to grow them would be appreciated. Thanks.

Comments (11)

mistymorn
18 years ago
Hi GH.. Sorry I cannot help much but in my Sub-Tropical and Tropical gardening book,
they probably only have the common one and they class it as a shrub.
Maybe you could grow it in a pot then if it tends to get the weeping look about it
put it in a hanging basket.....Cheers...MM.
CoralCoast_Tropicals
18 years ago
Hi Goldhills, I have 5 different species growing and find that they will grow in any well drained mix in a pot or in the ground. They do grow naturally as epiphytes in the forks of trees in the Phillipines but unless you are able to ensure that it will receive adequate water and will not dry out at all I wouldn't recommend cultivating them that way. They can take a couple of years to flower depending on the species so don't be too worried if you don't get a flower next season. Hope this helps.
Andrew.
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I have had very mixed results from medinilla, - from success to total failure. I cannot offer a suggestion as to why two different species declined so suddenly, it suggests proximity of something. If not above the ground, maybe some pest or disease attacking the roots? My area is sub-tropical so things are outdoors all year and get nothing like the TLC that I'm sure yours do, but here, I am sometimes amazed where some pests can come from - like really mean-looking scale infestasions on two vines, right at ground level. Medinilla - in my experience - can just "go" in a snap of fingers and without any real reason. They like a free-draining mix, some species are regarded as epiphitic. I have never had much luck with them in plastic pots, I find terra-cotta much kinder in dealing with temp changes. And watering. And that means no over-kill with fertilizing. I have one in a tub - maybe 13 years? just topped up with soil occasionally, it's a bit woody but fine. Another came to me recently, it's an orange form, looked great, but the person who passed it on to me potted it on (he thought, helping) in his heavy volcanic clay soil - and probably some worms came for the trip. It ceased flowering, lost every leaf & I think is currently on its way to the compost bin.
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Hi Barbiekj1 It is pleasing indeed to think that someone even read our comments and delightful too think that they may have gained some benefit from our experience. It is some time since I was in contact with Kit. Australia's horrendous bushfire season early last year, followed by the Covid 19 outbreak has caused many of us to become deeply engrossed in our own world. But our worries here in Australia seem very trivial compared with those currently facing the United States. As a keen gardener myself I am reinvigorated by the knowledge that despite the difficulties facing you, that you are still able to show some concern for your environment. Jolting myself back to Medinilla, I am a little concerned about your need to move your Medinilla plants indoors. Some years back I wrote a book on the topic of growing Australian native plants indoor, as house plants. The most suitable plants to use indoors are generally those normally found growing in lower lit environments such as rainforests and jungles. The problem is, that the two most critical environmental factors for plants are the two that are least well understood by most gardeners. Those factors are light and humidity. Plants have a sensitivity to light which closely parallels our own sensitivity to temperature. A plant located close to a brightly lit window generally receives adequate light to maintain the production of essential sugars through the process of photosynthesis. But move that plant across the room and while we may hardly discern a change in light levels, the plant may be effectively have been moved into darkness. It may begin to shed lower leaves which, being now unable to receive sufficient light for photosynthesis have become redundant. At the same time, any new growth will probably be small and extended, with long stems between pairs of leaves as the plant stretches out to find more light. In the forest this would equate to an effort to reach the forest canopy where there is more light. Artificial lighting is possible, but plants do best in light closer to the light blue or ultraviolet spectrum. The best we offer is usually cool fluorescent lighting. But even these lights need to be very close to the plants. Of course it is important to keep the leaves free of dust which may impede what little light is available. Humidity is the other commonly unappreciated factor. Humidity levels in the rainforest may be as high as 90% or more. In a temporate climate such as California, daytime levels usually average 40% to 60%. Even deserts are not devoid of atmospheric moisture. Deserts commonly have humidity levels of 10% to 35%. But in our built environment the humidity is usually between 10% and 20%. This is way too low for most of the plants we like to have indoors. Short term measures such as keeping plants in a well lit bathroom, if not actually in the bath can help as will measures such as plant grouping and trays of moist gravel or similar. As usual I have prattled on longer than was perhaps wise. But I did so with good intent and the hope that my words my contain a glimpse of something you find useful. Regards, Vera
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goldhills
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks MM & Andrew. I will keep it in a pot for a while then maybe in the ground but that will depend on how it copes with winter here and if I can find a warm enough position. At least in a pot I can keep it warmer.

Are they hard to get cuttings to strike? It looks to be the type of plant that strikes easily.

I don't know why I buy things I know nothing about but I like the look of the plant.
mistymorn
18 years ago
Hey GH we are all guilty of that.
Make the Garden and Life Interesting....
ImANut
18 years ago
Medinilla is a zone 10 tropical or house plant and gets to large to grow in trees here n both mine are 3 ft wide by 4 ft tall
info: http://mgonline.com/medinilla.html

Here is a link that might be useful: picture
paradisi
18 years ago
goldhills said: "I don't know why I buy things I know nothing about but I like the look of the plant."

I thought that's what gardening was all about and why google was created :-)

here's a couple of links (courtesy of google)

http://florawww.eeb.uconn.edu/acc_num/198500277.html
http://www.flowers.org.uk/plants/plantfacts/medinilla.htm
http://www.plant.id.au/trade/guide_view.aspx?id=36

Here is a link that might be useful: a google search
goldhills
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks imanut and paradisi. I did do a google search and found a couple of those sites but didn't see the others. I'm wondering if I searched Australia only, I'm always doing that and forget to change back.

I know it isn't the more common magnifica as the guy I bought it from had them as well, this is a smaller variety apparently. I'll probably keep it in a pot so it can be kept warm in winter. I hope I can keep it alive and see it flower.
alisonoz_gw
18 years ago
GH yes I have seen some grown in baskets at nurseries but would agree with Andrew - and your own leanings - to leave it in a pot. Adequate water but good drainage. I've had one which is also not magnifica - in the same terra-cotta tub on the porch for... good heavens, 12 years at least since we moved. All day filtered light through the patio cover, afternoon sun but a bit filtered by western trees. I guess I must have potted it on once in all that time. I used a half and half premium poting mix and orchid mix. I treated it like an azalia or tropical rhodo in terms of being initially shallow rooted, so filled the last pot about 1/4 with large river stones first. And put it on pot feet, if you know what I mean. It's spread wider than it's height, and the weight of the stones adds some stability to the tub when it's windy. All I do annually is a little prune of deadwood, top up the soil and I mulch it a couple of times a year as well as fertilizing. It is right now just laden with flowers, so I guess it's happy.
goldhills
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for that. I put it in a larger pot in the bushhouse and it is sending up new growth already and looking good. My main worry now is winter but I will bring it inside then I think.
john_dr
18 years ago
I brought one at Bunnings West Gosford NSW and it grew and flowered for me at Gosford. I have since moved to SE Qld and it is growing and flowering in a pot with normal potting mix. It has been burnt by the sun so it would appear that some shade may be appropiate.
goldhills
Original Author
18 years ago
Hi John, it does look like it needs a bit of shade. If yours survived in Gosford, hopefully mine will survive here. I actually posted a picture of it on the gallery today. I've put the link below if anyone wants to see it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Medinilla picture

Medinilla help needed

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