How to grow crape myrtle

one. Soil

Crape myrtle has strong adaptability to the environment and can be grown in any general growing soil.

If conditions permit, you can choose deep, fertile sandy soil for cultivation, which is most conducive to the growth of crape myrtle.

two. Watering

Crape myrtle is drought-resistant and sensitive to waterlogging. It can be watered once in the spring before budding, and once with frozen water after the leaves fall in autumn. At other times, remember to "not water unless the plant is dry."

During spring drought, the plant needs to be watered 1-3 times; during the rainy season, drainage work must be done well to avoid root rot caused by water accumulation; watering is generally not required in autumn.

three. Lighting

Crape myrtle needs sufficient light to grow, otherwise there will be few flowers or even no flowers during the flowering period. In more serious cases, the whole plant will become weak.

Four. Temperature

The grown crape myrtle plants are very cold-resistant, but the seedlings must be well protected from the cold and kept warm.

You can stop keeping warm after the plants are more than three years old.

five. Fertilization

Similar to the watering schedule, fertilize once in spring before budding and once in autumn after leaf fall.

You can apply human feces or sesame paste residue to promote more vigorous growth of the plants in the next year and make the flowers more lush and bright.

six. Pruning

Since the inflorescence of crape myrtle grows at the top of the new branches of the year, it is important to heavily prune and cut back the one-year-old branches to help concentrate nutrients and make the branches grow stronger.

Overgrown branches, drooping branches, diseased and insect-infested branches, dead branches, thin branches and endophytic branches should all be pruned off. During the sapling stage, the lateral branches growing at the lower end of the plant's main trunk should also be pruned off in time to reduce nutrient consumption and ensure that a good crown can be formed on the upper part of the plant's main trunk.

seven. Pests

Lagerstroemia indica is easily infected by pests such as woolly scale, yellow thorn moth and large bagworm moth, so timely measures such as spraying pesticides should be taken to prevent and control them.