The bell vine is an easy-care and undemanding climbing plant. It is also very easy to propagate. Try it.
The bell vine or bell morning glory is a fast climbing plant that makes for a good privacy screen. With its dense leaves and many purple-violet flowers, it is a beautiful eye-catcher.
If you want to propagate your bell vine, you can pick and sow seeds or take cuttings. Both methods work well and provide decorative climbing plants again next gardening season.
Propagating bell vine by seed
After flowering, a seed pod forms, initially green, later brown. Cut off the ripe pods before frost. Bell vine seeds are flat and about the size of a nickel. Store seeds in a cool, dry, dark place until ready to use.
From February you can start sowing. Proceed as follows:
❶ Soak the seeds in warm water for a few hours, then they will germinate better.
❷ Fill wide, shallow pots with potting soil and place the seeds in with a larger spacing, cover thinly with soil.
❸ Keep the pots moist and stretch cling film over them. A pane of glass that you place on the vessel is also well suited. A mini greenhouse for the windowsill is also a good option.
❹ In a moderately warm and bright place, the seeds will germinate after a few days. Air the film from time to time to prevent mold from forming.
❺ Separate the young plants. The strongest specimens go into separate pots and are allowed to develop further until they are moved outside. A climbing aid is already useful. Stick thin bamboo sticks next to the young plants.
❻ Gradually acclimate the plants to fresh air and place the pots on the patio or balcony for a few hours in good weather. Young plants are sensitive to too much sun, sometimes brown spots appear on the leaves. After the final move outdoors, however, the bell morning glory quickly regenerates.
❼ After the ice saints in May, put the bell vines outside.It thrives well in normal garden soil and is also suitable for planting in containers. Bell vines are growing fast! Now the plants only need a permanent climbing aid, then after a few weeks you will have a dense, green screen.
❽ To ensure that the plant branches well, cut off the fresh shoots from time to time. You can use trellis, bamboo sticks or stretched nets for tendrils. Bell vines eagerly form many tendrils that will corkscrew around anything available.
Propagating bell vine with cuttings
Take cuttings and propagate in autumn. Strong shoots with a few leaves are well suited. The cuttings are placed in pots with potting soil and spend the winter on a warm windowsill.
Keep the soil slightly moist at all times, but not wet. By spring, the rooted cuttings will be large enough. You can put the new plants outside from mid-May.