Self-seeding habits of Moonflower

18 years ago

After pulling hundreds of Morning Glory seedlings from my beds last year, I will never plant that vine near my gardens again. It is only safe when surrounded by mowable grass or pavement.

This year, I'm considering growing Moonflower on a twiggy teepee in the middle of one of my beds. Does Moonflower have the same vigorous self-seeding habits as Morning Glory? Will I be hating it next spring?

Comments (4)

gardeniarose
18 years ago
Hi fennelgrl,
I had a few moonflower vines last year and they were not re-seeding uncontrollably. However, I only grew it for about 3-4 months and had to rip it all out due to an aphid infestation I just could not keep up with. I had 3 vines and probably a total of maybe a dozen flowers from those vines in 4 months. You can see the seed pods maturing on the vine and just pick them off. Each pod only contained 2 or 3 seeds. So I wouldn't say that they got totally out of hand. But I just planted a few morning glory vines the other day...I wonder what I am in for now, lol!
ron_convolvulaceae
18 years ago
Hi fennelgrl,

The night blooming members of the Morning Glory Family,including Ipomoea alba and Ipomoea turbinata very rarely self-reseed in the cooler zones,in fact most people who are interested to intentionally collect ripened seed from these plants find collecting fully matured seeds to be challenging...

The Ipomoea indica clones sold in stores will not produce seeds and will not survive the winters of the cooler zones,so this MG may be an option...

The climate zone and nature of the immediate terrain that the plants are grown in makes a big(!) difference in how the plant will perform as a self re-seeder...

The following species are not prolific self re-seeders in the cooler zones

Ipomoea lobata,Ipomoea platensis,Ipomoea tricolor(which is still very often mis-identified/confused with I.purpurea et al) and the night blooming Ipomoea macrorhiza...also the larger flowered Japanese types of Ipomoea nil tends to be less of self-re-seeders than the smaller flowered species like Ipomoea purpurea...

Generally speaking Convolvulaceae plants that flower later in the season and plants that produce larger seeds will not successfully self re-sow...

Enjoy your Moonvines (!)...

TTY,...
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msbatt
18 years ago
I too encourage you to try I. indica. Not only will it not self-seed or survive the winter, it flowers heavily and is BEAUTIFUL! It's also VERY easy to over-winter indoors for next year---just let a few pieces touch the soil and they will root at each node. Then just rip 'em up, pot them, and stick them on your windowsil. They'll be ready and rarrin' to go come spring.
skippy05
18 years ago
I always save the seeds from my moonflower vine because I have never seen it reseed on its own. Very easy to grow from seed.
hmmm, I have never tried to overwinter it indoors!
I do know it will root in water if you break a piece of the vine.