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A vine has been broken. What should I do? Vines break easily when they start growing rapidly. As the morning glory is a very strong plant, new vines grow from other places after a vine breaks. Furthermore, new roots sometimes come out from the broken vine if it is dipped in water. Don't give up! Instead, examine the situation once again. When a long vine breaks, you had better put the broken vine into a cup of water. After new roots grow densely, you can transfer the new plant into soil. When only a tip of a vine is broken, throw away the tip and bring the plant up. Before long, a new vine will grow from the side of a leaf. As for the"Andon" method (in which we make a frame like a lamp stand) or the pinching method, we cut off the tip of the main (parental) vine purposely (we call this a "pinch") when the plant grows to the 8 or 9 leaf stage. This stimulates the growth of child vines or grandchild vines and increases the number of flower buds. New roots come out after a broken vine is soaked in water. When roots appear this way, it's time to transplant them into soil.

Pinching in the "Andon" method We cut the vine at the upper portion of the 6th leaf and remove buds 1,2 and 6. We elongate vines 3,4 and 5 and wind them up in "Andon" fashion.

I want to see the flowers opening, but getting out of bed early is my great weak point. It would be nice if the flowers would open later! Morning glory flowers open earlier in September and October than they do in July. In July, when night falls late, the flowers open at about 4:00 a.m. But in September and October, when the sun goes down earlier, the flowers begin to open at about 2:00 a.m. You may think that the length of time from sunset to flower opening is almost the same. If you want the flowers to open later, you should delay the time of sunset by using artificial illumination (artificial lighting).

Take a potted plant that has a lot of flower buds inside your house in the evening, and illuminate it with a fluorescent lamp until late into the night. Then take the potted plant back outside in the dark, and observe the appearance of opening flowers for 2 or 3 days. There is some difference according to temperature and variety, but a flower will open at 7 to 8 a.m. every day if you illuminate it until 10:00 p.m. every night. What time will a morning glory flower open if you invert night and day by using a fluorescent lamp at night and putting the plant in a dark closet during the daytime? Test this idea under various conditions by considering the plan for yourself.

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