How to Take Care of Vinca Flowers

Vinca flowers are drought-tolerant, and require little maintenance. The leaves are green and glossy and the flowers are beautiful clear colors. The vinca flower blooms in late spring and continues until the frost in the fall. Other names given to the vinca flower are, periwinkle and Madagascar periwinkle. Catharanthus is the summer-flowering vinca.

Things You'll Need

• Fluorescent lights
• Water soluble fertilizer
• Garden shovel
• Flower pots

Instructions

1. Grow the vinca flowers in temperatures of 70 degrees F or higher. Place the vincas in a sunny window, or under a fluorescent light.

2. Water the vinca sparingly. Vinca is drought-tolerant so only water the plant when the soil dries out.

3. Add a low phosphorus, water-soluble fertilizer to the vinca's soil 10 days after the seeds germinate, and after that, every two weeks.

4. Transplant the seedlings when they reach 3 inches tall and have four real leaves. Use 2 1/2-inch pots, and do not overcrowd them.

5. Do not plant your mature vincas outdoors until the weather is warm, at least 65 degrees F.

Tips & Warnings

• When purchasing a vinca flowering plant from the nursery, make sure there aren't any yellowing on the leaves. Vincas grow to about 1 1/2 feet tall, but there are also dwarf varieties. Vinca minor and vinca major are cousins to the vinca. They are an evergreen ground cover with blue flowers in spring. Another cousin, the vinca vine, is a trailing vine. Vinca flowers do not like cold, moist weather. The fertilizer must have nitrogen, but make sure it comes from a different source than ammonium nitrate. Vinca must germinate in complete darkness.