The coral shrub is a popular houseplant because of its beauty. The great thing: it can be easily propagated from seeds and cuttings.
The coral shrub beautifies every sunny garden with its magnificent red flowers. The exotic container plant also looks good on the terrace. However, make more of your extraordinary shrub and take seeds or cuttings for propagation.
If you don't have your own coral bush yet, keep an eye out at your neighbors and garden centers. It is worth propagating the fascinating shrub! But don't confuse it with the coral tree, which looks very decorative with its cherry-like fruits, but belongs to a completely different plant family.
Propagate coral bush via seeds
Step 1: Collect seeds
The shrub blooms profusely and persistently from July to October. After flowering, dark, elongated pods containing the seeds are formed. The individual seeds look like small kidney beans. You can then harvest them. You can also get germinable coral shrub seeds cheaply by mail order (e.g. here) or in well-stocked garden centers.
Step 2: Store seeds
You can sow all year round. However, spring is particularly suitable. Until then, keep the seeds cool, dry and dark.
Step 3: Soak Seeds
Before sowing in potting soil, carefully roughen the shell of the seeds with fine sandpaper and soak the seeds in warm water for a few hours. But be careful: Coral bush seeds are poisonous! So always wear gloves.
Step 4: Sow seeds
Then place the seeds on some substrate, cover thinly with soil and keep the pot bright and warm. Also, always keep the soil slightly moist. The seeds then reliably germinate within a few weeks. If the seedling shoots up too quickly (it looks tall, thin, and pale in this case), move the jar to a cooler location.
Step 5: Caring for young plants
Strong young plants with several shoots and leaf bases must be repotted. potting soil ora mixture of garden soil and compost works well. Then gradually get the young shrub used to being outdoors. The small coral bush now needs a lot of water because it is growing fast. However, it can take up to four years before it blooms. Until then, enjoy the pretty leaves - or grow young coral bushes from cuttings. Then it will work faster with the flower.
Propagate coral bush by cuttings
Step 1: Get cuttings
May to June is the best time to propagate cuttings. To do this, use either head cuttings without flowers or shoot cuttings from near the trunk that still have a piece of bark.
Step 2: plant cuttings
The cuttings are placed in potting soil and must then be kept warm and moist.
Step 3: move young plants outdoors
After a few weeks the cuttings will have rooted. Above-ground shoots also appear. Now you can put the young plants in buckets and slowly move them outdoors. The new coral bushes will then bloom from the second year.