Ipomoea Acuminata 'Blue Dawn'

This plant is doing exceptionally well. I got a late start with it for our Florida climate, but it is just now starting to bloom. However, it is losing its bottom leaves. Some of the vines are very long and one even rooted in a big staghorn fern. Should I cut back the long, long runners or leave well enough alone? I know that it is root bound but I can't repot it as it is wrapped around the pot hangers etc. I have aerated the soil with a prong which has helped it absorb water better and put the plastic hanging basket inside a coco basket that I can dampen. But should I be alarmed about the yellowing and loss of leaves at its base? Thanks!

I have mine in a huge planter. It doesn't get yellow leaves. But if I let it run wherever I would soon be buried in vine. Just pull or clip off any pieces that are out of place.
Maybe it would be good to root some suckers at each leaf node and plant them in a large planter in the sun--with a strong trellis.

Dale mine is doing the same thing(yellowing and thinning at the base)I had given it bloom buster. I am going to start a 15-30-15 one week and a 10-52-10 the next. Growth, bloom growth, bloom. That's Miracle-Gro water-soluble fertilizers.

Dale, I had to remove mine, and I still can't get rid of it. This is a seriously aggressive vine. Those long runners will root whereever it is moist on the ground. They send down roots where they touch and new plants develop at every node. Before you know it, it will send runners out from each rooted postion, which in turn will root where they touch the ground. I had this vine for two years. It behaved very well for the first year. By year two, it was growing out of control and was more than I could handle. Even though I removed the main vine last year, the roots left in the ground send up new shoots all the time, which pop up all over the place. This vine is beautiful but too much work for me.

Edited to add: All Morning Glories get yellow leaves which shed. Also, I would not fertilize this vine.

This is one place where it used to be:

This message was edited Jun 25, 2004 10:42 AM

Clare, your picture is gorgeous.A perfect example of how much better vines do when spread out flat so that the leaves get maximum sunlight.

Thanks, Flicker. It grew a little too well! LOL!

That's the reason I have mine in a pot. What doesn't touch the ground doesn't root.

good point

Mine is in a hanging pot so it doesn't get a change to touch the ground. It is growing on an oak tree but I am coaxing it towards a branch that is cut off at the end. Sounds like you don't have to give this vine tender loving care!

Ah, no!

Dale, you will have to keep an eye on it because the root systems of this vine grow very fast, and it will likely become rootbound very fast and in need of a larger container.

That's what my problem is....rootbound. I keep aerating the pot with a forked tool. It's in a plastic hanging basket and for the life of me, I can't figure out how to repot it. Some of the main stems are growing up the hangers so how can I get it out of this hanging basket and into a larger one without doing major damage? It definitely will be a two person job....any suggestions? Please! I am also trying to fertilize often as I know it is rootbound.

I think you might have to give up the basket hangers and just clip them off and pull them out of the vines. Then you should be able to put it someplace else and start it vining up or however you wish it to go.

I agree with Brugie that the hanging basket will have to be cut off the vine. Don't worry about harming this vine. It can't be killed. You could cut it back to next to nothing, and it will come back easily. Also, I would not fertilize this vine. Fertilizer will only lead to more aggressive growth at the expense of flowers. This vine is aggressive enough without fertilizer! It can grow under any conditions.

clippings are easily started if you break a vine. i would do like the others cut the pot.

Cutting the pot is fine and I have thought about that, but I still have a problem...once I get the vine extricated from the pot, it is a good 5 feet to the ground...so my only option in my way of thinking is to then plop it in a bigger pot....what do you think??