How and when to prune mandevilla or dipladenia

Mandevilla is a genus of plants that includes about 100 species of vine that produce beautiful and very showy trumpet-shaped flowers. The colors of its flowers vary, and can be white, yellow, pink or red. It is commonly known as dipladenia although many name it directly by the name of its genus. It adapts very well in small gardens, and with controlled pruning it can be grown in pots. In this post we will see everything about pruning mandevilla or dipladenia, how and when it should be done, with what tools and more.

1. Where can I put my mandevilla?

Before we start talking about the pruning of dipladenia or mandevilla, let’s first see where you can place it. In general, it is adapted to be cultivated in various ways, such as shrub, hanging, trellis, arched, etc.

Depending on the climatic conditions, it can be grown as an indoor or outdoor plant. If you place it indoors, find a place near a window, where it will have a few hours of sun exposure. At the same time, it prevents the foliage from coming into contact with the glass, as this could burn its leaves.

When winter comes, avoid leaving it near any heater. And since heating generally reduces the humidity in the room, it is good that you place a container of water near the dipladenia. It also tries to protect it from drafts that produce strong temperature variations.

And in areas with mild winters, it can be grown excellently as an outdoor plant. It is best to place it near a structure that allows it to climb. It can be a wall, railings, fences or other trees. Try to find a place where it has many hours of sun, this will favor a good flowering.

As a last tip on the location of this beautiful strain, I must say that if it is going to share a sector with other plants, it is good that have plants with similar characteristics. This is so that the needs are similar, or at least compatible, both in need of irrigation, type of soil, etc.

2. Tools for pruning mandevilla or dipladenia

Depending on the age, size and shape in which you are growing your dipladenia, the tools you may need to prune may vary. Although since it will never generate too thick branches it will not be difficult to find a tool with which to cut them.

Any manual pruning shears will be able to cut a branch of mandevilla. Keep in mind that when you go to prune you must first have disinfected the scissors blade. With this we seek to avoid any possible transmission of disease or plague from one plant to another.

In case the vine has already developed enough in height, either on a wall or any structure that allows it. In addition to needing scissors, a good ladder will be very useful. Take safety precautions whenever you go to carry out pruning tasks up a ladder, we do not want you to end up injured by pruning a mandevilla.

2.1 How to disinfect pruning shears

There are many ways that you can disinfect your pruning tools. Here we will see three of the most common and easy to do.

• Method 1: rub the scissors blades with a cloth dipped in alcohol (ethanol). After cleaning, allow the tool to sit for a couple of minutes for maximum disinfection efficiency.

• Method 2: prepare a mixture 1/9 of chlorine and water (one part of chlorine and 9 of water). Then soak the scissors for half an hour in that mixture. After those 30 minutes you can start pruning.

• Method 3: this third method is effective but from my point of view not so recommended. Here what you should do is pass the blade for a few seconds through a flame. This will disinfect but also burn the blade.

You already have the three methods to disinfect your scissors before trimming your mandevilla, which one do you choose?

3. Pruning mandevilla vines

With your scissors disinfected, we are ready to start pruning. But how and when to do it? We will talk about that in this section.

Keep in mind that here we will see general advice, then there may be certain variations depending on the species, the climate, the way of cultivation, etc. Read the information carefully and apply it in the best way for your particular case.

3.1 When to prune

The right time to prune a mandevilla or depladenia varies mainly depending on the climate. In the event that the climate where you live is characterized by very weak winters, pruning can be done during the cold season. Otherwise, it is better to wait to prune until the first days of spring.

Note that the flowering of these vines occurs on the new shoots of the season. Therefore, you should not delay pruning too much, since if you do it when it has already sprouted, you may be damaging the flowering. This means that it is best to prune at the beginning of spring, just before the first shoots occur.

3.2 How to prune

Pruning tasks should begin at the time of transplanting and then perform annual maintenance pruning. In the first pruning you have to lower the plant, leaving only about three or five stems, and in the case of having a single stem cut it to a third of its height.

As he grows, guide him up onto the structure provided. Go tying the branches, without adjusting too much, to ensure the correct formation of this vine.

An annual maintenance pruning should be carried out to eliminate all those dry or diseased branches, at the same time to control the size. Note that the mandevilla withstands strong pruning very well, so it can cut all its branches to half its length, and from them in spring they will cut new and vigorous branches.

When it comes to dipladenias with many years, or in the case of several seasons that have not been pruned, an even stronger pruning may be necessary. All branches can be cut at ground level, this will rejuvenate the plant. Giving it the possibility to develop new shoots from the base, to start from scratch with training.

While we said that pruning should be done just before budding, there is a pruning task that can be done in the middle of the growing season. This task consists of making a small pinch at the tip of each of the new shoots. This seeks to promote a more leafy and dense development of the foliage. Developing more number of new shoots, which means a more abundant flowering

4. Video about how to prune dipladenias

On this occasion, and as we always do on this blog, we have selected a video from the Heeman’s channel. In it you will see how to cut dipladenias. These are specimens grown in pots, I hope it complements what you have seen so far in the post. 🙂

And with this we have finished the article. As you may have noticed, pruning the mandevillas is not a very complicated task, so I hope you do not have any problems doing this task.