Donkey tail plants produce blooms in summer. Having said that, it is very unlikely that you could spot donkey tail plant flower when you grow them as indoor plants.
When they flower, they would produce flowers in pink to red. Those blooms would form in clusters and appear on slender pedicels.
If you are excited to discover the plants’ flowers and how to care for them well, keep reading this article.
What is a donkey tail plant?
To briefly touch on the plants, they could thrive well on their own with minimum supervision from you. They consist of fleshy leaves, and they would tend to take a teardrop shape.
If you wish to make the indoor grown donkey tail plants bloom, you need to provide strong indirect bright sunlight particularly during spring.
Further ensure that the container has sufficient draining holes also so that there will not be any water pool remainingin the plants once you complete watering them.
However, you could expect them to flower only if they are 25 cm in height.
How often do donkey tails plant flowers?
Donkey tails usually bloom in late summer.
However, if you have grown them as indoor plants and fail to provide the proper care treatments, it is very unlikely that they would produce flowers.
Colors of donkey tail plant flowers
Donkey tail plants flowers in red, white and in yellow.
How long do donkey tail plant flower last?
The exact duration is not in records. But these flowers can last one to two weeks.
Do they die after flowering?
No Donkey tail plant do not die after the flowering
How to make donkey tail plant flowers?
It is important that you provide bright indirect sunlight during spring if you wish to make the donkey tail plant flower.
Apart from that you need to water them properly and grow them in a pot which has enough draining holes. Those conditions would suit them the best and will make the plants flower too.
How to care for donkey tail plant flowers?
Donkey’s tail plants are easy to grow plants and even a forgetful gardener could grow them. Consider that if you forget to water them once or twice, they would still perform well without any issue.
They have fragile stems and chances are that they could drop at the slightest touch. As such best is to select a bright sunny spot to grow and let them grow.
Sunlight Requirement
Succulents and cactus thrive well if they can gain lots of warm sunlight levels and Donkey’s tail is not different to them.
Hence if you want to grow the donkey tail plants as indoor plants, I encourage you to go ahead with a bright sunny spot which could possibly be a sunny windowsill.
Ideally, your plants need to have a few hours of daily sunlight.
If you grow them outdoors, you could plant them in a pot and place them in a spot where they can preferably get full sunlight in the morning and partial shade during afternoon hours.
If you adhere to these care tips, you could avoid any potential sunburns in the plants.
If you spot your donkey tail plant turning gray from its usual rich blue green color, it could be an indication of too much sunlight.
In addition to that, too much exposure for sunlight could result in chalky white appearance in the plants. However, that waxy layer acts as a protective layer of harsh sunlight.
Soil
Donkey tail plants prefer to grow in a well-draining sandy soil mix as those conditions would be helpful for the plants to thrive well.
I recommend you go ahead with a gritty soil mix which is available at stores which are specifically designed for cactus and for succulents.
If you wish to grow them in a larger garden, ensure that it has also a well-draining soil mix which does not retain excess moisture in the soil.
That is crucial since, if the soil is retaining excess moisture it would lead to root rot which could result in death of the plants.
However, you could consider adding sand to your garden soil so that it will help to fasten the draining of the soil mix. The right ph. of the soil mix would be neutral to acidic and a ph. value of around 6.0.
Water requirement
Donkey’s tail can thrive well with minimal watering. They are used to grow in drought weather conditions just like the other succulents and cactus in general.
In order for these plants to thrive well, you should water them more often in spring and summer whilst doing it less frequently during winter and fall.
When watering the plants, you should water them thoroughly once every fortnight during the spring and summer. On the other hand, once a month watering would be adequate when watering them in winter.
If you are into succulent gardening, you may already know that it is crucial to water the plants only if their soil is dry only and Donkey’s tail plants are no different to them.
Further keep in mind that your pot has to have sufficient draining holes for the excess water to move out too.
Further I recommend using a porous material pot such as terracotta as they will not retain excess moisture within the pot.
If you are unsure whether the plants require water or not, best is to wait for a couple of days and then water. That is simply because they could go waterless for several days and cannot withstand over watering conditions.
Temperature and Humidity
These plants are fond of growing in warmer temperatures. However, they could also tolerate some colder temperatures for a shorter period too.
The ideal temperature range would be 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit be it indoors or outdoors. They can tolerate colder temperatures such as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, however as aforesaid they could withstand those colder temperatures for a shorter period only.
As such if you expect colder temperatures than that and you need to shift the plants indoors to protect them from frost damage.
In terms of the right humidity levels, they could thrive well in dry to moderate humidity levels. Avoid misting the plants since it would increase the humidity levels.
Fertilizers
These plants are not dependent on fertilizers. Having said that, if you apply some fertilizers during their active growing season, the growth of the plants would be benefited from that as it would provide the additional nutrients for the plants.
Spring would be the most appropriate season to feed the plants and a fertilizer like a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer would be quite effective here.
They comprise balanced amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and potassium. They would be useful for the donkey tails flowers’ vigorous growth too.
Conclusion
To sum up, no matter where you plant the donkey tail plants, you simply need to locate them in a place where they can gain bright indirect sunlight preferably in the morning.
Ensure that you do not provide excess water for them as it could be quite unhealthy for the flowers as well as for the entire plant’s growth.
On the other hand, do not under water them too as it would also be unhealthy for the plants.
If you manage to fulfil their sunlight requirement and grow them in a well-draining soil mix along with proper watering patterns, their flowers as well as the entire plant will grow well.
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