Four O'Clock Flower Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

Mirabilis jalapa

Growing calendar

Typical timing for central Japan (Kanto region). Shift it for your own climate, and record your actual dates.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow / plantGrowingFlowering

Guides

Sowing Four O'Clock Seeds: Soaking, Depth, Soil Temperature and Spacing
Four O'Clock Care: Space, Water and Keeping a Shrub-Sized Plant in Bounds
Why Four O'Clock Flowers Open in the Afternoon and Are Gone by Morning
Four O'Clock Year: What to Do From Sowing to Lifting the Tubers
Four O'Clock Pests and Problems: Beetles, Mites, Leaf Spot and Toxic Seeds
How to Propagate Four O'Clocks: Saving Seed, Dividing Tubers and Taking Cuttings

Pests and diseases (3)

Problems recorded for this plant, most serious first.

Powdery Mildew

Disease

White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.

Gray Mold

Disease

Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.

Choanephora Wet Rot

Written byYasuGrowing vegetables and fruit in Chiba, Japan, and building Gadenin. Corrections are welcome. 15 years of growing.