Remember to always water your Candy Corn Vine

by | Mar 29, 2010 | Resources, Market News, Ask Pahl's Market

Question: I have a Manettia bicolor plant. The plant has brown on the leaves. Any suggestions as to what, if anything, I am doing wrong? The plant is just starting to lower again. Is it supposed to flower all year long? Thanks!

Rhonda

Dear Rhonda,
The Manettia bicolor is a tropical vine.  Also known as the Candy Corn Vine it will winter over in the house, but probably won’t bloom in mid-winter.  We just don’t have enough sun during the colder months. The brown leaves you are getting on the plant may be the result of drier indoor conditions and should clear up once the plant is outside.
 Keep the plant watered and the soil moderately moist at all times.  Do not allow the plant to dry out between waterings.  If your vine has gotten too leggy (long stretches of stem between the leaves) it would not hurt the plant to trim it back now.  This will encourage branching and the result will be a thicker plant.  Freshening the soil with a good potting mix would also be helpful.  Remove the plant from its pot, shake off as much of the old potting soil as possible, and then replant in fresh potting soil.  If you
think the plant needs a larger pot- signs include roots wrapped around in circles at the bottom of the pot or roots coming out of the bottom of the pot- now is an excellent time to do that as well.  For the best growth on your candy corn vine you want the new pot to be no more than one inch in diameter bigger than its present pot.  You should be able to place your candy corn vine outside around mid-May.  Once nighttime temperatures reach about 50 degrees the plant will be safe.  Remember tropical plants do not like lower temperature.  They may not die, but they will not thrive until temperatures get more summer like Thanks for the question and good luck with your vine.

Dee

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6 Comments

  1. Joy C Bowers

    The candy Corn Vine is one of my favorite mainly because my hummingbirds love the blooms and I love the colors. I’ve order the plants three different times and when they arrive they are beautiful and complety full of blooms. After I plant them in a hanging basket it eventually stops blooming all together and gets bushy with no blooms. I inquired about the proper fertilizer from the seller and he gaver me the ratios I’d never heard of
    and was hard to find in the flower shops. After using this fertilizer – the leaves became black and the entire plant almost died. I brought it in when the weather cooled and on my sun porch in the middle winter it started blooming. The plant is still almost completely dead but still has couple of blooms. Twice before the same thing happened but the plant survived the winter on my sun porch and continued to bloom for sevral months then the plant excpired again. What in the world am I doing wrong? Many Thanks – Joy Bowers

    Reply
    • Chris Kaufenberg

      Hi Joy, make sure the plant is getting full sun exposure. This plant tends to do better a little bit on the dry side, so limit watering. Also, we would suggest to cut back on the fertilizer, not sure what ratio he told you but it sounds like black leaves might be fertilizer burn. Good Luck!

      Reply
  2. Suzi Miros

    My plant is growing so well but I do not have any blooms. What should I do?

    Reply
    • Chris Kaufenberg

      Our best suggestion would be to prune back any old branches and fertilize every other week. Thanks for checking with us and good luck!

      Reply
  3. Sandi D

    Can I prun my candy corn plant & leave it out all winter?

    Reply
    • Chris Kaufenberg

      Thanks for checking with us Sandi, the candy corn vine is an annual in our zone and will not survive the winter outdoors.

      Reply

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