Am I Taking Good Care Of My Duranta?

Did you planted your Duranta in full sun?

Did you planted your duranta in well-drained, fertile soil?

Did you provide a warm place for your duranta to overwinter in?

Do you water your plant regularly?

Do you feed your plants frequently?

Did you repot your duranta when it got rootbound?

Do you prune your duranta regularly?

Do you keep your duranta free of pests and diseases?

Duranta plants need full sun to get the energy they need to make blooms and berries. Plants growing in too much shade often get lanky and sparse.

When growing Duranta plants as annuals, provide rich, loamy soil to help the plants reach their potential in one growing season. In their growing zones, Duranta plants can tolerate lean soil, as long as they have good drainage.

Duranta plants do not like cold temperatures. If you are growing the plant in a container, bring it indoors when temperatures dip below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, Duranta plants do well in both dry and humid conditions.

Duranta plants require a moderate amount of water. Plants growing outdoors need the equivalent of about an inch of rain per week. When growing in containers, water your duranta when the top of the soil feels dry.

Duranta plants are not heavy feeders and can get by without any supplemental fertilizer in rich soil. In lean or rocky soils, you can use an all-purpose general fertilizer once a month during the growing season.

If your plant is failing to thrive and you notice a lot of roots coming out of the soil, the duranta likely needs to go up a pot size. Take great care when repotting the duranta, as larger specimens will grow sharp spines that can reach an inch long and pierce garden gloves and skin with ease.

Without pruning, duranta can take over paths and structures, as well as choke out neighboring plants. Because Duranta plants form flowers on new growth, you can cut them back severely in the winter in preparation for the burst of growth that occurs in the spring.

Good job! You are taking good care of your duranta.

The Duranta plant resists disease but is susceptible to a variety of insects, including scales, and mealybugs. A scale insect infestation isn’t usually lethal, and you can control their populations by spraying the entire plant with horticultural oil in the dormant season. Mealybugs congregate in tell-tale cottony masses, and you can control them by spraying them off the plant with a garden hose.