Abutilon megapotamicum - Trailing Abutilon

Habitat

Exposition

Plein soleil ou mi-ombre

Humidité

Humidité moyenne.

Sol

Tous sols.

pH

Sol acide ou calcaire

Rusticité

Zone 8

Habitat originel

Widely cultivated in the Tropics and not known in a truly wild situation.

Origine géographique

S. America - Brazil.

Comestibilité

• Flowers - cooked .
• Used as a vegetable [183].
• A pleasant sweet flavour, we like to eat them raw [K].
• The flowers produce nectar all the time they are open so, assuming the plant is grown indoors and is not visited by pollinating insects, the sweetness increases the longer the flower is open [K].

Culture

• Requires a sunny position or part day shade in a fertile well-drained soil [200].
• Dislikes drought [200].
• This species is only hardy in the mildest areas of Britain, tolerating temperatures down to between -5 to -10°c when given the protection of a south or south-west facing wall [11, 184, 200].
• A deep mulch in winter and tying in growth to the wall will maximise protection in winter [200].
• If the plant is cut back by cold weather, it will normally resprout from the base in the spring and can flower on the current year's growth [202].
• Dead-heading plants to prevent seeding can enhance longevity [200].
• Tip-prune young plants to promote a bushy habit, older plants can be cut back hard annually in spring if required [200].
• There are some named forms, selected for their ornamental value [200].
• There is a variegated form in cultivation, this variegation is as a result of infection by abutilon mosaic virus [184, 200].
• Les plantes de ce genre sont notamment résistantes aux armillaires (champignons) [200].

Propagation

• Graines - semez au printemps sous serre [200].
• Germination should take place within a few weeks .
• Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots .
• Grow them on for at least the first winter in a greenhouse and plant out in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts .
• Cuttings of young shoots, June in a frame [200].
• Grow on in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant out in spring after the last expected frosts .
• Boutures de bois mi-mûr, Juillet/Août sous chassis [200].
• Grow on in the greenhouse for their first winter and plant out in spring after the last expected frosts .