The Alice du Pont mandevilla vine, with its vibrant pink flowers and lush green foliage, makes a stunning addition to any garden. However, these tropical vines can be prone to rotting if proper care is not taken. As a gardener, you want your precious mandevilla plant to thrive and delight you with blooms all season long. The good news is that with the right techniques, preventing your Alice du Pont mandevilla from rotting is easy to do!
Choosing the Right Potting Method
Proper potting is key to keeping your mandevilla vine healthy and rot-free When potting your Alice du Pont mandevilla, opt for a container that is at least 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep This will allow the root system ample room to spread out and grow. Make sure the pot has drainage holes to prevent waterlogging.
The potting soil itself also matters. Use a high-quality, well-draining potting mix, not regular garden soil which may become compacted. Incorporating perlite or pumice into the soil creates air pockets that improve drainage.
Avoid soil mixes that contain moss or peat moss, as these can retain too much moisture. The ideal potting mix for mandevilla will be loose and lightweight.
Mastering Watering Techniques
Overwatering is one of the main causes of mandevilla vine rot. Therefore, learning the proper watering technique is critical.
Water your Alice du Pont mandevilla deeply, but infrequently. Wait until the top inch or two of soil has dried out before watering again. Use your finger to test the soil moisture.
When you do water, water slowly and thoroughly until it flows from the drainage holes at the bottom. This encourages deeper root growth. But don’t allow the plant to sit in standing water.
Self-watering containers or drip irrigation systems work well for maintaining ideal moisture levels. Avoid overhead watering the foliage, as wet leaves are prone to fungal diseases.
Providing Optimal Sunlight
Mandevillas crave bright, warm sunlight. When grown indoors, situate your Alice du Pont in a south or west facing window where it receives at least 6 hours of direct sun daily.
If planting outdoors, choose a spot that gets sunlight most of the day, with some afternoon shade. Insufficient light leads to weak, lanky growth, making the plant susceptible to rot.
Rotate indoor plants periodically to ensure even sun exposure. Use sheer curtains to filter harsh midday sun if necessary.
Giving Adequate Support
As vigorous climbers, mandevilla vines need sturdy support to grow upward and maintain an attractive shape. Install a trellis, arbor or other support structure. Avoid overcrowding the vine or allowing it to tangle with other plants.
Proper support improves air circulation to the leaves and stems, reducing fungal disease risk. Check trellises frequently to maintain stability and prevent damage.
Use plant ties to gently guide wayward stems back onto their support. Pinching or pruning overgrown parts improves shape and light exposure.
Providing Ideal Humidity
The humid, tropical origin of mandevilla means it thrives in average home and outdoor humidity levels. But too much moisture can lead to fungal or bacterial rot diseases.
Monitor humidity around your plant. Move an indoor Alice du Pont away from humidifiers, steamy kitchens or bathrooms. Outdoors, allow for adequate spacing between plants for airflow.
A small fan circulating air around your mandevilla can help control humidity buildup and drying of the soil surface.
Maintaining Proper Temperature
Ideally, mandevillas prefer daytime temperatures of 70-85°F and 60-70°F at night. Exposure to extremes of hot or cold will stress the plant, making it prone to wilting or rot.
Move indoor pots away from cold drafts of air conditioning vents or hot blasts from heaters and appliances. Keep outdoor mandevillas in a sheltered spot or provide shade cloths to protect from temperature extremes.
Insulate pots against hard freezes if you live in a cooler climate. Bring outdoor mandevillas indoors before the first frost.
Regular Scouting and Pruning
Check your Alice du Pont frequently for signs of disease, damage or dead foliage. Remove any infected or dying leaves immediately to prevent spread of rot. Cut away dead or damaged vines back to healthy growth.
Good air circulation is key, so maintain a loose, open shape with regular pruning. Trim back wayward or overgrown stems and clear inner branches to allow light penetration and airflow.
Disinfect pruning shears with isopropyl alcohol between each cut to avoid transmitting diseases. Destroy all diseased trimmings.
Appropriate Use of Fertilizer
Fertilizing encourages healthy new growth but excess salts can burn roots and lead to rot. Use a balanced, water soluble fertilizer like 10-10-10 at half strength every 2-3 weeks during active growth.
Avoid over-fertilizing which stresses the plant. Flush pots monthly with clean water to prevent salt buildup. Reduce feeding in winter when plant is dormant.
Organic options like compost tea or worm castings provide nutrients without risk of chemical root burn. Always follow label directions carefully.
Employing Preventative Fungicide Treatments
In areas with excess rain, fog or humidity, preventative fungicide applications help protect mandevilla. Use an organic copper spray or sulfur powder on leaf undersides where fungi take hold.
Neem oil is another organic option with antifungal properties. Always test on a small area first to ensure plant tolerance. Follow label application rates and safety gear recommendations.
Rotate between treatment types for most effectiveness. Combine with cultural methods like pruning for adequate airflow and moisture control. Treat quickly at first sign of infection.
Controlling Pest Infestations
Insects like aphids, mealybugs and spider mites can weaken and damage mandevilla vines. Their feeding activity stresses plants and spreads disease.
Check undersides of leaves frequently and treat pests early before populations explode. Knock aphids off with a strong stream of water. Apply horticultural soaps or oils to suffocate soft-bodied insects.
For chewers like caterpillars, use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) treatments specifically for eating insects. Always follow product instructions carefully.
Isolate badly infested plants to prevent pest spread. Severely damaged parts may need removal to save the plant. Consistent monitoring and early treatment are key.
Providing Winter Care for Mandevilla Vines
In cold climates, some advance preparation is needed to help mandevillas survive dormant periods where rot diseases are common.
Before the first frost, allow the plant to harden off by slowly reducing water and fertilizer. Prune away all dead or dying foliage and stems.
Bring potted Alice du Pont mandevillas indoors to an area with temps above 50°F. Cut back watering but don’t allow soil to totally dry out. Resume normal care in spring.
Outdoor vines can be heavily mulched to insulate roots from hard freezes. Cut plant back to 6 inches and remove mulch after danger of frost is past. Regrowth will return.
With proper overwintering care, your Alice du Pont mandevilla will return healthy and vigorous the next growing season.
While mandevilla vines are susceptible to stem and root rot when conditions are unfavorable, there are many effective preventative steps you can take as a gardener. The keys are providing well-drained soil, proper sunlight and humidity, adequate support, pest control and appropriate watering and fertilization.
With a little attention to proper care guidelines, you can keep your Alice du Pont mandevilla thriving in pots or garden beds for many years of beauty. Protect your plant from temperature extremes and treat any signs of disease promptly. Your diligence will be rewarded with amazing pink blooms cascading from your healthy, vibrant mandevilla vine.
Mandevilla Types
Today, easy-care mandevilla come in two main categories: mandevilla vines and mandevilla.
Are the old-fashioned type, which more gardeners tend to be familiar with. These plants quickly twine up and around trellises, arbors, and other structures, making them valuable for adding color vertically. Mandevilla vines climb by wrapping their new growth around a support. It’s important to know they grow in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion, so pay attention when you train them. If yours grows clockwise, and you wrap it counterclockwise around its support, your mandevilla will unwind itself. Different varieties of mandevilla vines grow different heights; the largest varieties tend to climb between 10 to 15 feet tall in a gardening season. Because they are vines, you can train them to grow horizontally or vertically.
Tend to be newer selections. Rather than growing up, they form tidy mounds, making them ideal for use in garden and landscape beds and borders, as well as in container gardens. Most mounding mandevillas grow 12 to 18 inches tall and and don’t need supports to climb. Because they have more of a bushy habit, they’re also choices for hanging baskets and window boxes.
Originally, pink-flowering mandevillas were most common, such as the old variety ‘Alice Dupont’, but over time, plant breeders have expanded the color range. Now you can find mandevilla flowers in all shades of pink, from soft, cotton-candy pink to bright and bold hot pink. There are pure white and bright red mandevilla varieties, as well. There’s even an apricot-colored variety available.
When you’re at your local garden center shopping for mandevilla, look for lush plants with lots of dark green leaves. Plants that have a lot of yellow leaves (especially in the middle or at the top of the plant) may be stressed and less healthy. The presence of flowers doesn’t necessarily show a plant is because most are sold in full bloom. Selecting a mandevilla with flowers helps you ensure you’re getting the exact color you want. Another way you can look at a mandevilla’s health is to slip it out of its pot and look at the roots. Healthy roots are firm and white or creamy. Unhealthy roots will look yellowed or brown and be mushy. If the plant is suffering from rot, you may detect a foul odor in the potting mix, particularly toward the bottom of the pot. You’ll probably see mandevilla vines grown two ways: with trellises or with teepees. Trellised plants are better for growing on fence or structure you want them to fan out. Teepeed plants are better suited for places you can grow them vertically, such as up a pole or trellis.
Heat- and drought-tolerant mandevilla plants require little care once they’re planted and established. All varieties do best in a spot with sun — at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sun each day. They also like well-drained soil or potting mix. (Tip: If you grow mandevilla in containers, use a potting mix rather than garden soil, which can lead to root rot or disease problems.) Mandevilla require regular pruning, though you can prune them at any time if they start to get too large or grow out of bounds. Mandevillas grown in shade or part shade benefit from regular pruning to keep them from lanky and leggy. Mandevilla in the ground typically don’t require fertilizing as part of their care regimen, but potted plants benefit from fertilizer to keep them blooming profusely. The easiest way to fertilize is to mix some timed-release fertilizer into the potting mix when you plant; these products continue to slowly add nutrients to the soil over time. You can also fertilize regularly with a water-soluble product you mix with water. No matter what type of fertilizer you use for your mandevilla, follow the directions on the product’s instruction label to know how much fertilizer to use. Learn more about fertilizing plants. These are tropical and don’t like frosty temperatures. If you live in an area that experiences frequent frosts, you need to consider them as annuals or bring them indoors for the winter to care for as houseplants. Get tips for saving tropical plants like mandevilla before winter. Get winter care tips for your mandevilla.
Today there are many varieties of mandevilla available at local garden centers, mass merchandisers, and home improvement centers. Some of the most popular types include:
This was one of the first varieties that was widely available. It features large pink flowers and textural leaves. It’s not as floriferous as newer selections.
Dipladenia is another name for mandevilla.
Summervillea is an especially strong mounding variety that shows off a profusion of rich red flowers. We’ve found that, in our Miami, Florida, Trial Garden, Summervillea holds up better than other varieties as a perennial.
Alice Dupont Mandevilla
FAQ
How to save a dying mandevilla?
How do you protect mandevilla?
What does an overwatered mandevilla look like?
How to care for a potted mandevilla plant?
How do you repot a Mandevilla?
Mandevillas grow quickly, so you’ll probably need to repot them every spring. Use just one pot size larger when doing so. Carefully remove the root ball from the old container, place it in the new container, and fill the space around it with fresh potting mix, and water well.
How do you care for a Mandevilla vine?
As long as their growing conditions are ideal, mandevilla plants are quite simple to care for. Plan to water your vine anytime the soil starts to dry up and feed it throughout the growing season. The vines flourish with a lot of light, warmth, and moisture.
How do you grow a Mandevilla plant in a hole?
Add a layer of compost or aged manure to the bottom of the hole. Gently remove the mandevilla from its container and loosen the roots. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil, tamping it down lightly. Water the plant deeply to help settle the soil and establish the roots.
How do you plant a Mandevilla vine?
Placement: Set your mandevilla at the same soil depth as it was in its initial container. Support: Provide a trellis or stake for the vine to climb on as it grows. Watering: Thoroughly water the vine after planting. Post-Planting: Position your mandevilla where it gets at least six hours of sunlight.