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Tree growing guide
Ixora (rangan, jungle geranium) is an evergreen flowering shrub native to India and Sri Lanka, famous for its dense red flower clusters almost all year. Nurseries usually grow it from cuttings, but fresh seed from ripe purple berries can be raised in warm, humid conditions with a little patience.
Ixora fruits are small, round, fleshy purple berries under 1.3 cm (0.5 in) across. Pick them when fully coloured and soft, squeeze out the seeds, and rub off all the pulp under running water, since leftover flesh encourages mould. Sow the cleaned seed fresh rather than storing it.
Not needed. The seed has no hard, water-proof coat.
Not needed. Ixora is a tropical shrub with no cold requirement; cold actually damages it.
Not needed beyond washing the pulp off. If the seed has dried slightly in transit, a few hours in lukewarm water before sowing does no harm.
Keep the tray warm, as for other tropical shrubs; in most of India sow during the warm, humid months. In cooler climates use a heated propagator and never let the seedlings drop below 10 °C (50 °F).
Cover the seed lightly with fine mix, about as deep as the seed is thick.
A moist, well-drained, slightly acidic mix rich in organic matter, such as fine compost with sand or coco peat. Ixora prefers a pH below 6.0.
Keep the mix evenly moist but never soggy; covering the tray with clear plastic or a glass sheet keeps humidity high.
Bright, indirect light or light shade until the seedlings have a few pairs of leaves.
Germination is uneven and can be slow. Do not discard the tray after the first seedlings appear; others often follow over several weeks.
Move seedlings into individual pots of acidic, organic-rich mix once they have two or three pairs of true leaves. Ixora grows slowly, so expect to keep them in pots for several months.
Plant out when the roots fill the pot, at the start of the rains in India, into moist, well-drained, acidic soil in sun or part shade.
Pinch the tips once or twice to make the young plant branch. Flowering begins once the plant has built up a bushy frame.
Ixora flowers best in full sun (6 hours or more) and tolerates a little afternoon shade.
Seedlings may differ from the parent plant. To copy a favourite colour or dwarf form, root short semi-ripe, non-flowering cuttings in a warm, humid, shaded place at about 25 °C (77 °F).
Ixora can be pruned at any time, but frequent shearing into a formal hedge reduces flowering; light shaping is better.
Salt tolerance is poor, so avoid coastal spray and salty irrigation water.
Sow fresh ixora seed in warm, acidic mix for a flowering shrub that blooms nearly all year.
It is possible but slower and less predictable than cuttings, which is why nurseries mostly use cuttings. Fresh, cleaned seed sown in warm, moist, acidic mix gives the best chance.
Usually because the soil is alkaline, which locks up iron and manganese. Grow ixora in acidic soil and treat with iron and manganese chelates.
Not year-round. It does not tolerate temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F); in cold regions grow it in a pot and bring it indoors for winter.
