mandevilla Alice Du Pont

I've had a time with this plant since I bought it this last summer. It kept losing it's leaves all summer long. It would get new ones and stablize for a little while then they would start to fall off again. I thought I would stick it out till be bitter end though so I brought it indoors when the cold started. Same pattern as outside. Leaves fine for a bit then falling one after the other. I know they can go dormat in the winter but for some reason I started fertilizing it with half strength 20-20-20 every time I water. Next thing I know it's got a new tendral coming out from the bottom and new little shoots coming out along the original vines. I'm just going to keep at it as long as it continues on this path. It only has one leaf left but I'm encouraged by the new growth. What I'm wondering is maybe they are heavy feeders or at least more so than it was getting before and that maybe could account for the poor performance. I admit I probably wasn't fertilizing it a lot before this. Any thoughts?

Robin

I bought this plant TWICE and it did squat for me. I 've given up on A. DuP. there are too many vines out there that require 1/10th of the work and put on a super show. That's my thought...

Well, if I do kill it I'll probably feel the same way. It's a very frustrating plant to grow. I do wonder if all the Mandevilla's are like that or just this variety.

Robin

The PDB gives this information:
"Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwater
Requires consistently moist soil; do not let dry out between waterings"

Doesn't make much sense to me, but I have one that has done well, I've just whacked if off several times because where I had it, it kept getting tangled up with other plants. I have it in a hanging basket.

Point to all this is, I do what I can when I can. I'll notice a plant is starting to wilt (I keep a couple heavily root bound for this very reason) and I'll soak all the plants, not even checking to see if they are dry. Therefore I have a tendency to over-water if that helps any.

Judy