Let’s know the care of Cobea scandens

Cobea scandens also known as Purple ivy, Mexican ivy, Cup plant, Cup and saucer, Bishop’s shoe or Cobea. It belongs to the Polemoniaceae family , which is made up of about 20 species of climbing plants. It is native to the tropical areas of the American continent, especially Mexico.

Cobea scandens characteristics

Semi-shrubby climbing plant in its place of origin, since it usually behaves as an annual in very cold places. It can reach 6 m in height. The leaves are alternate and are made up of 3 elliptical lobes and end in tendrils that are used for climbing. The flowers are about 5 cm in diameter, greenish-yellow in color and then turn purple, they are shaped like a cup with a chalice reminiscent of a saucer, but they last a few days. The fruits are small, inedible with seeds. It blooms during the summer until winter comes in.

Cobea scandens care

It is a plant that is commonly used to cover walls and pergolas .

It is a species that lives in semi-shadow exposure, especially when the summer is very hot. If autumn is cool it should be in full sun, being a tropical plant that does not resist cold or frost.

The soil would be a mixture of ½ normal garden soil with ¼ peat and ¼ sand.

Watering should be every 2 days in the summer and minimizing when autumn arrives. Spray the leaves from time to time when the heat is on high.

As for the fertilizer, it must be with an organic powder fertilizer when planting in the final place and with mineral fertilizer once a month during the flowering season.

In those places where the plant behaves as a perennial, it can be pruned when flowering passes. This should be one third the length of the branches. It’s even an idea to protect the base of the plant with dry leaves or a plastic cover in late fall.

It is a species that is attacked by spider mites and aphids if it does not receive the necessary humidity.

It multiplies from seeds that are sown at the end of winter, or through cuttings made in early summer.

Images courtesy: chuck b. , Forest and Kim Starr ,