Vines and Climbers: Aristolochia ridicula, 1 by ErickMN

ErickMN wrote:
Mark,

What a great thread for us vine afficiandos.

A couple respectful suggestions for staking/trellising your cool A. riducla:

In my limited experience, most tropical Aristolochias are sturdy vines that grow like weeds when given full sun and ample water. Rather than trying to build ever larger trellis' (trellises?) to accommodate them, consider a moderate-sized trellis - a standard large tomato cage works great for me - and simply wind the shoots around and in and out the cage as they grow, or trim them off if they are gangly. From my observations, moderate pruning seems to invigorate Aristolochias if they are in growing mode.

One big advantage to this approach is that it's really easy to move the plants, either to turn them, place them somewhere else, or bring them into the shower for a good spray.

The picture below is, left to right, A. ringens, A. trilobata and A. elegans about a month ago, on my porch, just before I trimmed them back and moved them out into the garden. I just noticed today that the A. trilobata has several dozen flower buds already....I am THRILLED!

Please keep posting pictures.

Regards,

Erick

This message was edited May 14, 2007 10:58 PM