Erythrina crista-galli

My 'crista-galli' produced two suckers earlier this year but they weren't as vigorous as the growth produced from the main stem.

This year, after I cut it back to remove dead material in March it produced about five strong stems that got to about 5ft in addition to the two smaller suckers which were more like seedlings in appearance. Last year there were just three stems that got about 8ft.

 

On my plant that dyed right back, it first formed rounded shaped nodes at ground level, only one of which went on to produce a new shoot, I think that is where it took time to regrow.

If it can shoot from an existing stem it just needs to form a new shoot from dormant buds, which was a much faster process in my experience.

Which is why I now do my best to make sure the wood ripens well.

 

I was just looking at mine and to be honest didn`t do a lot this year , and it seam that it`s die down even in the greenhouse , I was wonder if worth to bring it in and let it get bigger , I was actually thinking to wait untill it will get woody and plant it outside close to the house

 

I would love to try the variegated Erythrina , but I`m sure it need too many attantion

 

Pete - interesting comment. Could you expand a bit please. Do you mean that you leave the stem to go dormant naturally?

 

Yes, that's what I mean, I leave the plant in full sun during Sept, but at the same time drying out the roots, forcing it to go dormant.
This makes the leaves drop much earlier than they would if kept watered.

Quite a lot of plants from warmer parts suffer die back in the UK due to wood not ripening properly, and the tips of shoots just die.
Even hardy trees like Catalpa suffer die back most years because they are still growing when winter comes.

 

Many thanks Pete - most interesting. Its something I have never thought about.

I think you have also explained about cutting back Gingers, which are still in full growth. Before I cut them back I should first force dormancy on them by not watering - makes sense.

My only problem now is how to dry pots out - even under cover big pots can remain wet for weeks.

 

I think the ginger thing is slightly different, I cut them back because I dont have winter space or heat for them, others have said that un flowered shoots have gone on and flowered the following year, for them.
It didn't happen when I tried it, so I'm carrying on as usual.

I push pots over while still outside, that way they do dry out to some extent, then I bring them undercover while still in full leaf at this time of the year, a few pots at a time, each weekend.

Cutting back once the compost is resasonably dry, it doesn't have to be bone dry.

 

Thanks Pete. I didn't cut my Gingers back last winter, and overwintered them either in my garden room at 10C or in the house. The one that I kept all summer in the garden room did flower, but the others outside didn't. But the problem was, as discussed before, they all grew to 8 feet or more - both the inside and outside ones.

This year I will cut them back and overwinter them in my garden room at 10C, and see what happens.

I think you are right its not the same as letting wood ripen, but I still hate the idea of cutting back all that totally healthy growth.

 

@PeterS, did the ginger flower on the overwintered stems?
What ginger are we talking about?

I also hate cutting back good strong healthy growth, but I've always done it with H. gardnerianum, and they, once they reach a certain size, always flower late summer on the new spring grown shoots.

And that one has never reached 8 ft for me,

 

I only kept one ginger in my garden room over the summer, and that was the only one that flowered. And yes, I am certain that it flowered on the previous years growth as it flowered on the tallest stems at about 8 feet.

I bought it a couple of years ago, as a rhizome, at Harrogate Flower Show where it was described as an orange ginger. I showed a picture of the flower in an earlier thread when I called it gardenarium by mistake, but I think you identified it as Tara - which fits.