All You Need to Know About Rakhi Bel Plant
The Rakhi Bell is also known as Passiflora Incarnata, Maypop, True Passionflower, Wild Passion Vine, Purple Passionflower, and Wild Passion vine. The plant is a perennial climber that produces beautiful blooms with a sweet scent. Wherever these amazing blooms grow, they spruce up the aura, be it the trees in the forests, backyards, driveways, or indoor spaces. With the Raksha Bandhan festival around the corner, you should have Rakhi Bel plants on your list of surprises to make the occasion cherishable with your siblings. To help you make lasting impressions, we share all you need to know about Rakhi Bel plants in this post.
Origin and Importance
The plants have a significant meaning to the Raksha Bandhan celebrations! The Rakhi Bel plant has 5 petals, which indicates the five Pandavas brothers, the tiny petals around symbolise the Kauravas (cousins to the Pandavas). At the same time, the corona of the flower resembles Draupadi (queen of the Pandavas). The plant is also named a Rakhi plant because it looks similar to the Rakhi, which is tied to the wrists of brothers and sisters-in-law on this auspicious occasion.
Appearance
These plants grow up to 20 metres, producing flowers in various shades, from white, blue, and purple, to pink. Rakhi Bel flowers are eye-catching with leaves that can grow up to 18 centimetres long and wide with stunning 10-centimetre blossoms. With a lifespan of up to 2 years, these plants will always give you and your loved ones an amazing aura.
How to Grow and Maintain Rakhi Bell Plants
Where to plant
Besides the rich traditional background, Rakhi Bel plants are quite decorative both indoors and outdoors. But, the plants are a bit sensitive to extreme sunlight and cold temperatures. The ideal temperature where the plants thrive is between 19 degrees and 24 degrees.
So, in order to get the most out of your beautiful plants, you must position them where they receive morning sunlight and shade throughout the day. You can use the climbing vines to decorate the driveway or entranceways. Or you can use them as climbers or ground cover in shady areas (or areas with filtered shade).
Care and Maintenance
Maintain the plant by pruning after the blooming season. Pruning helps make it easy to protect the plant in winter (if you keep the plant outside the house, you can simply apply winter protection). If you keep the plant in a pot, you can easily move the plant away from scorching and freezing temperatures. The plants are susceptible to insects like Aphids, white flies, red spider mites, and scale insects. So, you should apply only the fertilisers and pesticides recommended by your florists.
Keep the soil moist in summer. Water at least every three to four days in summer. But, avoid overwatering! You should make sure that the soil is slightly dry in between the waterings. When the plant is watered during the day in summer, the water will become hot due to the hot summer temperatures thereby causing the plant to deteriorate. So, avoid watering during the day!
Wrapping Up
There you have all you need to know about Rakhi Bel plants! Make the best impressions of your siblings this Raksha Bandhan, send them a stunning Rakhi with plants with FlowerAura, the leading gift and flower store in India.