Greetings all......we are on our second winter of overwintering our Tibouchina......it barely survivied last winter, we had limited information from the Plant Store. We have to put the tree in our downstairs, in a North facing window. We now know not to fertilize midwinter. We should be able to keep the room in the 60 degree range. Last year we had a grow light on it for 12 hours a day. Is this necessary or is the limited low light from a large North window enough? We also used a canned Aphid spray midwinter for the aphids. Also misted it quite frequently. We pulled it through but it never did flower but has lots of buds right now. How far back are you cutting it? We were told about 18 inches........thanks for any help....we love this tree!!
Tibouchina like night temperatures of around 6o degrees as you have indicated; however they like daytime teperatures of 10 to 15 degrees higher. During the growing season and into Fall keep the soil moist at all times and fertilize monthly with a liquid fertilizer. Pinch off young growth to stimulate compact branching. Rest the plant after blooming, withholding water. Cut the plants back halfway when new growth starts in the spring, and repot to a larger container when the roots become crowded. Plants flower best when they are less than three years old; take cuttings and replace the plant every 2-3 years. Propagate in the spring from stem cuttings that are rooted in sand, perlite, or vermiculite.
