where are you ..

i never fert a recent transplant ...

ken

I'm in OK. How long do you wait before you feed it?

Oakley, starting a fertilization schedule after you repot is perfect. You can use the same soluble product that you have on hand for other houseplants. My usual practice for my outdoor container "show stoppers" is to mix up a weak solution to apply at each watering. As the summer progresses, I may be watering once or twice a day.....at that time, I fertilize every other time. Remember, mandevilla is a high performance plant and requires a consistent source of fuel in order to be productive for us.

It's imperative that you use a potting mix that drains rapidly, isn't too mucky, and is coarse textured. Mandevillas can take some drying but not wet, mucky potting soil. Choose your medium carefully.

Mandevilla likes a sunny location. If you live in a very hot climate, shade in the hottest part of the afternoon will be welcome.

So, what are you using to trellis your mandy? Don't forget to pinch/prune occasionally!

I didn't get any this year and am sort of regretting it but I kept finding mealybugs on the ones at the store. :-(

Rhizo, great information, thank you! The heat has finally settled in and I'm watering the few container plants I have twice a day.

I think I'm set on potting mix. I have both potting mix and potting soil. I'll make sure it's arid in the pot.

This summer I'm feeding everything indoors and out with Rose food. I read several websites that said it was safe on all plants because it's not too strong. But I never thought to fertilize so often for container plants! Maybe that's why I never really succeeded? lol

I have a lot of bamboo stakes and if I have to, I'll use a tomato cage. They work well to put around Clematis too.

Here's a picture of the plant, in it's temporary home until I plant it later to a container. Does it need to be pruned at the moment?

The plant itself is almost two feet. I haven't hit submit yet, but this picture looks awfully tiny.

Oakley, what do you mean by "rose food"? I was talking about a powdered or liquid product that you mix with a specified amount of water in order to apply as a liquid.

Many people mix a very diluted dose of their favorite soluble fertilizer and use it every time they water. That includes those kept as houseplants.

Your plant looks great.....you'll want to pinch it back later on when some of the vines get too leggy. I make a three legged tepee out of bamboo stakes, joined at the top with sisal baling twine. Wrap the twine around the outside of the tepee, too, to give plant tendrils something horizontal to grab on to.

Rose food is the fertilizer I use, mixed with water. I didn't want to buy different types of fertilizer for my plants, which includes roses, so I'm only using rose fertilizer for all of them.

I'm going to make the teepee today!

Rhizo, here's an update on the vine. It's not blooming too much. Well, it's only been 13 days since I planted it but I'm wondering if it's not getting enough sun, potting mix, and/or fertilizer? Or do you think I'm rushing things? lol.

Comments below picture.

Here's how I'm doing things. The flowers you see are spent and I plan on pulling them off tonight. I've also read tons of advice on the Net, all saying different things. All day sun, morning sun, fertilize often, fertilize every two weeks. You know how it goes.

Vining: The vines are getting long, but not many leaves on them yet. Are leaves to be expected as soon as it grows an inch or so? If so, that ain't happening. lol

Sun: Temps are averaging 90, and it gets direct sunlight from about 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 or 1:00 pm. 1 pm is when it gets scorching here, and it's in a no wind area. Should I give it more sun? I really have no place else to put it. A friend had hers in morning sun and she said it did well.

Soil: The majority is a potting mix, it's loose soil and I was very pleased. But it needed another inch or two of soil and all I had was potting soil. That's what you see on top, and it's kind of packed.

The drainage isn't fast because I think it's because there is only one hole in the bottom of the planter and I can easily put more holes in it.

Would it shock the plant to take it from the pot, amend the soil, and put it back in the pot? I have a bag of Orchid mix, and it's mostly bark. I thought about mixing a bit of it with the soil.

Fertilizing: I've only done it twice because although it's a prolific bloomer, it doesn't have a lot of blooms yet. Should I fertilize like you suggested, and does that encourage blooming?

I'm using Rose plant food, which I'm using on everything, and I read it can be used on all plants, indoors and out.

Any suggestions, or am I behaving like a first time mother? :)

Glad I found you Rhizo! Okay, since I wrote the above, nothing has changed, except it now has the beginnings of powdery mildew due to high humidity and it being in a location with low wind. I'll be treating it tomorrow if UPS comes.

One flower. It's still growing. Only two flowers getting ready to open. No buds anywhere else. BUT...those two flowers getting ready to open have looked the same for several days. lol

I'm wondering if it's not getting enough sun. I'm going to drill more holes in the container today because I don't think the one drainage hole is enough.

It was fertilized last week. Should it be fertilized often even if it's not putting on flowers? I ordered a fertilizer specifically for flowers.

I may even add different soil to it.

Hi, Oakley. Let's see what we can do.....

I'm afraid that the only places I've seen luscious mandevilla are in a great deal of sun. My first introduction to this plant was on a trip to Florida, many years ago.

I'm not at all sure what you mean in reference to potting soil versus potting mix. The usual soilless mix is peat based with assorted amendments added. What kind of product is your potting 'mix'? The ingredients will be on the packaging. If concerned about it being too heavy, perhaps you should listen to your intuition.

Conifer bark is an important amendment to a good potting medium. My brand consists largely of pine bark fines as the first ingredient, along with peat and perlite. Any good potting medium must drain rapidly, as you know.

As long as your fertilizer is soluble and applied as a liquid, there should be no problem in mixing at weak doses in order to apply more often. If your potting medium doesn't drain rapidly, you may think about being conservative with the fertilizer, however.....at least until you resolve the problem. I fertilize my outdoor container plants with one of my soluble fertilizers nearly every other time I water.

Sorry about the powdery mildew.....mandevilla is pretty susceptible to it. I hope you have great success with your plant.

Since I last replied I've been busy doctoring the plant. DH drilled more holes in the bottom of the pot. It's a rectangle pot with only one nickel size hole.

I was able to take the plant out of the pot to inspect the root ball. It has not grow one bit!! I was shocked. What was nice is that I was able to unwrap the vine from the trellis with no problem.

The potting mix bag is gone so I don't know what was in it, but it was looser than the potting soil.

I have a bag of Phalaenopsis mix which contains horticultural charcoal and course peat. I mixed it with the soil that was in the pot and put it back together.

Right now I have the pot sitting in an area where it will get full sun today. We've had a couple of heavy rains this past week and the poor plant hasn't been able to dry out.

I will probably either scoot the trellis a couple of feet over where I think it gets more sun, or bring it out from the wall a few feet where I know it will get more sun with midday shade.

I have no clue why I'm obsessed with this plant. We have a greenhouse but I don't want to put it in there. :)

I just now decided not to use the white trellis. After looking a lots of pictures and what you said about making a tee pee, that's what I'm going to do. That way I can put the pot anywhere in my flowerbed to insure perfect light.

My bamboo sticks aren't tall enough so I'm going to see if our Cane will work. If not I'll hit the trees for the perfect limbs.

I know this is a coincidence, but the three flowers that have just been hanging there for days and not opening, well, one of them opened after I transplanted the pot. :)

Wood dowels from Lowes/HD should work well.

Sounds like you're moving in the right direction, Oakley. I've heard good comments about the orchid mix as an amendment, though have not used it myself.

Here is a picture of one of my mandavillas, I have them all around my home outside. This one is climbing up into the tree
behind it.