Pyracantha

Submitted by: Charles E. Mashburn

Common Name(s):

Firethorn

Background:

Famous for striking red berries. Extensively used for landscape in temperate regions.

Sun:

Pyracantha, even in deep pots, does not like direct sunlight, and does better in partial shade, and will even tolerate full shade

Temperature:

Pyracantha is subtropical, and cannot tolerate frost.

Watering:

Pyracanthas must have constantly moist soil in hot and dry climates. If they use up all the soil moisture, they wilt very rapidly, and take a long time to recover.

Training:

Wire carefully, and do not wire any branch that feels brittle. They grow very fast in the spring and summer, and you must be ready to unwire at the first sign of the wires biting in.

Fertilizing:

Pyracanthas are not fussy about fertilizer. Any brand seems to work, and they produce a profusion of flowers and berries.

Repotting:

Repot in early spring. Do not remove more than half of the root mass in repotting, and leave enough roots to support the existing top growth.

Propagation:

Seeds work so well that if you let your pyracantha set fruit, the berries dropping off it will give rise to seedlings in the bonsai pot.

Pests/Diseases:

Aphids love this plant. Lay in a supply of strong pesticides to use throughout the warm months. There is also a disease called fire blight, for which there is no cure, which is carried by a type of leaf hopper. Ernie Kuo lost a prized Pyracantha to fire blight. So far my two pyracanthas have been fine, and I have had the large one for eight years. Fire blight may affect only some varieties of Pyracantha, but not others.

Additional Comments:

If you want to develop branch structure or thicken up the trunk quickly, cut or pluck off all the berries as soon as they start to form. Otherwise the plant will use up all its nutrients setting fruit, and you will see little vegetative growth. Removing the berried while they are small and green will result in a profusion of long, leafy shoots.

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