China Doll Radermachera sinica
Common Name: China Doll, Emerald Tree, Serpent Tree
Latin Name: Radermachera Sinica
Family: Bignoniaceae
Plant Type: Tree
Origin: China
Blooming Time: Mid Spring
Humidity: Moderate
Temperature: 50 – 75*F
Height: 30′
Color: Green
Insects and Diseases: Mealy bugs, spider mites, aphids
Description:
The China Doll is a fairly compact plant that has became very popular in recent years. The tree like plant has medium to dark green leaves that are glossy and almost look oily. The leaves are divided into separate leaflets and are generally thin and delicate looking. The blooms are white, but it rarely blooms in the home.
Lighting:
This plant needs lot’s of indirect, bright sunlight to thrive well. The plant should be placed in an area that it can get at least 4-5 hours of bright light each day. If you don’t have the proper lighting you can use a plant light to give the China Doll the required light.
Watering:
The soil should be kept moist, but the roots shouldn’t be allowed to sit in water. Add some rocks to the
China Doll Radermachera Sinica Flower
pot, or Perlite or sand to the soil if it doesn’t have good drainage. You should water the plant when the top of the soil gets dry to the touch.
Provide adequate drainage and don’t over water this one. When new foliage is developing, watering can be slightly increased and decreased again once the plant has become dormant.
Soil:
These compact trees like a rich soil that drains well. General purpose potting soil can be used, add sand or Perlite if extra drainage is needed.
Fertilization:
The China Doll should be fed at least once a month while it’s growth period is active. Plants require less fertilization during inactive growth and feeding times should be decreased.
A slow release fertilizer can be used twice yearly. The plant shouldn’t be fertilized for four months after being re-potted.
Propagation:
While it is difficult to propagate a China Doll plant, it isn’t impossible with a little extra care. Cuttings can be taken from the stems, but the cuttings have to be green and not wood like.
The cuttings can be planted in small pots that you have filled with some moist compost or potting soil. Covering the pots with plastic will help retain the moisture level. China Doll’s need high humidity to take root.
The cuttings should be placed in a location with bright, indirect light. Keep the soil evenly moist during this time and within 3-4 weeks the roots should begin to grow.
Tips:
You have to be very careful with your watering schedule. If the plant has brittle leaves that have turned yellow, it not getting enough water. Too much water is indicated by black colored tips.
China Dolls prefer to be somewhat root bound, so be really careful about re-potting it. It’s a plant that doesn’t like change very much either and re-potting it, moving it to another area or drafts may cause major leaf loss.
If your plant loses most or all of it’s leaves, trim all of the stems down to around 1/2 their length and decrease watering. When the plant experiences a massive loss of leaves it’s very susceptible to root rot.
Written by Connie Corder, Copyright 2008 HouseplantsForYou.com, All Rights Reserved
I just wanted to say, this is by far the BEST plant site i have seen, and believe me ive seen several of them…………keep up the awesome work…………..Terri
Thank you Terri, I really appreciate that a lot!
your welcome….. : )
I have had two China Doll plants. They do fine for about a year and all of sudden start dropping their leaves a lot. What could be wrong?
Ihave a china doll on my screen deck, it has grown to about 9ft tall. straigt up not alot of long branches . Don’t know what to do with it!! It will be too tall to bring in for the winter! Can i cut it off and root the top? Never seen one do that before!! My husband let it groww to see what it would do! Don’t want to hurt it! Thanks Carol
I have recently purchased some china doll seeds and planted them, but after 3 weeks of not showing any signs of growing, my hubby, who knew how badly I wanted a china doll, bought my a HUGE plant for my birthday. I have some new growth from the plant that I have planted in soil to try to get it to root. In the meantime, some of my seeds have started to sprout. My question is, what should the new sprouts look like from seed? These don’t look at all like china doll leaves, but maybe they are suppose to change??? Thanks…Lea
I have only to say this one thing, “Indoor Gardner”, and I realize that my comment may be construed as ugly. I’m looking for advice from an INTELLIGENT person, and I cannot believe an intelligent person does not know how to properly use the apostrophe. “Lot’s” as in “lots of” is incorrect…it is lots. “It’s” is incorrect when it comes to ownership. It is “its”. It’s is for “it is”. I apologize for my rudeness, but I happened to read this at the wrong time on the wrong day at the wrong time. This should be basic grammar to someone with basic intelligence.
Hello Amy
Guess what? My grandmother knows a lot about plants and gardening yet she can hardly spell let alone understand proper grammar. Does that mean she doesn’t know what she is talking about? Does that mean she is not intelligent? No it does not. Apologizing for being rude makes it no less rude. This website is about plant care not about grammar but thank you for taking the time out of your day to give us a grammar lesson.
Indoor Gardener, I am sorry for Amy’s comment. Im sure your Grandmother is a awesome lady, mine was, and she couldn’t spell very well either, but gee could she ever make a great garden. You take care . Terri
Thank you Terri, I wasnt angry about what Amy wrote I just wanted to respond, and by the way I did not write this article. I am just the administrator.
I have a china Doll Plant that used to be on a decking and was not doing very well, I cut all the branches off and just left the main stem only, I then planted it into the garden where it is now approx 2 1/2 metres high. It has a perfumed white flower and at the moment, it is in bud. It gets morning sun and afternoon shade and is thriving. I live on the Mornington Peninsula in Australia and it obviously likes the sandy soil.