Moose or royal mallow

alcea rosea

There are many flowering perennial herbaceous plants, but not all are as popular as the moose or royal mallow. This beautiful plant native to China produces very, very long flower stems considering the type of plant it is: no more and no less than 1,5 or 2 meters. Can you imagine having it in your garden or even on your terrace in a large pot?

In addition, it has interesting medicinal properties that cannot be ignored. Let's learn more about this curious and beautiful plant.

Main characteristics of the moose

Royal mallow or moose flower

The scientific name of this plant is Althaea rosea, although it is much better known by its other names, such as royal mallow, moose, hollyhock or mad mallow. It belongs to the botanical family Malvaceae. It grows to a height of 3 meters, with erect, hairy stems. Its leaves are heart-shaped, with 5 to 7 lobes, green in color.

Flowers sprout during the summer grouped in spike-shaped inflorescences, red, purple, white, yellow, pink or black-purple. The fruit is about 2cm in diameter that, when ripe, opens, letting the seeds fall.

Caring for the royal mallow

alcea rosea

The royal mallow or elcea is very grateful, so much so that it can grow in all types of soils. But like all plants, she also has her preferences 🙂. Let's see what they are:

Location

It must of place in an area where it is exposed to direct sunlight, ideally throughout the day.

Irrigation

Irrigation must be frequent, especially in summer. But it is necessary to avoid leaving the substrate or the soil waterlogged, therefore, it is advisable to check the humidity before watering. If you don't know how, here is a trick that will be very useful: insert a thin wooden stick (the kind they give in Japanese restaurants) in the pot or in the garden floor, as far as you can, and carefully extract it. If when you take it out you see that it is practically clean, it is because the earth is dry and, therefore, it needs water; On the contrary, if it comes out with a lot of adherent soil, it means that it is humid and you can wait a little before watering.

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It's advisable fertilize from spring to late summer / early fall with organic fertilizers, such as guano or worm castings.

Transplant

Alcea Flowers

Whether you want to move to a larger pot or to the garden, this is a task that must be done in spring, when the risk of frost has passed. How to proceed in each case?

Move to a bigger pot

Follow this step by step so that your moose can grow more in your patio or terrace:

  1. Remove the plant from the pot, carefully. If you find that you can't, give it a few taps on different sides of the container; this way it will be easier to remove it. In the event that the roots have started to come out through the drainage holes, it is better to untangle them and not cut them, although if some of the fine few are broken, nothing will happen.
  2. Take a pot that is at least 5cm wider and deeper than the previous one, and fill it a little with substrate composed of black peat and perlite in equal parts. You can add 10% organic compost if you wish, such as worm castings or compost, but it is not necessary.
  3. Now, place your plant right in the center of its new container. In the event that it is low or high, add more soil or remove a little to be at the desired height.
  4. Fill the pot with more substrate.
  5. Water, so that it is well soaked.
  6. And finally, place it in an area where the sun hits it directly.

Plant in the garden

To go directly to the garden, you just have to do the following:

  1. Make a 50x50cm hole.
  2. Mix the soil from your garden with universal growing medium and perlite in equal parts.
  3. Fill the hole with a little of this mixed soil if necessary.
  4. Place your royal mallow in the center, and check if it is 0,5-1cm below ground level.
  5. Then fill in the hole with dirt.
  6. Make a tree grate with the remaining soil. It is advisable to have a height of 3cm, so that the water cannot leak out.
  7. Give it a generous watering.

Moose pests and diseases

Royal mallow

The royal mallow is a plant that can be affected by various pests and diseases. They are as follows:

Pests

All the red spiders, weevils and green mosquitoes they can seriously harm royal mallow. It is advisable to do preventive treatments with Neem Oil from the beginning of spring until the end of summer. In case they occur, you will have to resort to paraffin oil or infusions of garlic (3 cloves) or onion (1 whole).

Management

The most common is roya, which can affect both the leaves and the branches and flowers, but can also be affected by other fungi, such as those of the genus cercospora o Phyllosticta. They can be prevented by doing treatments with sulfur or copper, and avoiding excessive irrigation, but once they occur, unfortunately only the affected part can be cut.

Reproduction of the royal mallow

Alcea seeds

Would you like to have your own royal mallow? For it, you can sow its seeds in spring. But of course, it bears fruit in the fall, so the ideal is to buy an envelope with seeds in a nursery or farm store. It is very cheap (it costs between 1 and 2 euros) and with it you can get several plants.

Once you have your seeds, put them in a glass of water for 24 hours so that you can know which ones are viable (which will be the ones that sink), and which ones are not. The next day, we proceed to sow them:

  1. Choose the seedbed: you can use flowerpots, seedling trays, yogurt containers ... whatever you want. Of course, it is important that it have holes in the base so that the water can drain.
  2. Fill it almost completely with universal growing medium or with black peat mixed with perlite in equal parts.
  3. Place a maximum of 2 seeds on the surface of the substrate, separated from each other.
  4. Cover them with a little substrate.
  5. Give them a good watering.
  6. Place the seedbed in an area where it gets direct sunlight.
  7. And that's it!

Now all that remains is to wait 10-15 days to see germinate the first 🙂.

Uses of moose

Royal Mallow flowers

Besides as an ornamental plant, dyes and food coloring are extracted from the red petals. In addition, it has use in traditional medicine, since it is used as much as laxative as expectorant, and even how emollient.

And so far the file of this beautiful plant. What do you think?


12 comments, leave yours

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  1.   ephraul said

    hello, after rust is on the plant can not be removed from it? regards

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hello Efraul.
      To combat rust you can use a systemic fungicide, following the recommendations indicated by the product.
      The leaves that are affected will not turn green again, so you can remove them.
      A greeting.

  2.   Ingrid said

    Good afternoon, how do I let the seeds dry if they are still green, I got the twig and it has several Bretons of the flower, but I don't know how to dry them, thanks

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hello Ingrid.
      Keep them in the sun for a few days, for example in a tupperware (without the lid).
      When they are brown, you can open them and remove the seeds.
      A greeting.

    2.    Fran66 said

      About what month I plant the seeds to have good flowering in summer.

      1.    Monica Sanchez said

        Hello Fran.

        Taking into account that they are fast growing but not too much, I recommend you sow them either at the end of February or at the beginning of March (from the northern hemisphere). But yes, if your area tends to have late frosts, do it better in mid / late March.

        Regards!

  3.   katherine matta said

    Hello. I loved this technical sheet .. but I have a question… it only reproduces by seed? If you get a sprig that is sticking out close to the base of the stem ... can it be planted in the ground and rooted or put in water and rooted? It happens that the plant that I saw could not see the little buttons of the dried seeds?
    Another question ... how would the infusion of garlic or onion be? I mean, do you put the infusion in the pot or is it foliar?
    Thanks and greetings from Colombia

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hi Katherine.
      The truth is that I have not tried to multiply it by cuttings. I do not know if it will be possible, although everything is a matter of that, of trying.
      The garlic or onion infusion is made as follows:
      -Cut one or two cloves of garlic or half an onion.
      -They are put in a pot to boil.
      -Sneaks in.
      -A sprayer is filled with the resulting liquid.
      -And finally, wait for it to cool down and spray the plant.

      A greeting.

  4.   GLORIA RUTH VALDEBENITO BARRIGA said

    IT IS A VERY NICE PLANT, THE GROWING FOR 10 YEARS AGO AND EACH YEAR IT HAS MORE DIFFERENT COLORS, FROM SO DARK RED TO VERY VERY CUTE WHITE.

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hello Gloria Ruth.

      Thanks for your comment. It is a very, very beautiful plant 🙂

  5.   Gabriela said

    The article is very complete, I am just starting out in gardening, so it helped me a lot.

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Great, we are glad to hear that Gabriela.