The ibervillea lindheimeri grows in sandy soils, mostly in coastal oak woods in Texas/Mexico, rocky hills and other areas. It getting hard and very rare to find in the wild. Also, known as Balsam Gourd, Globeberry. It develops a large white caudex, annual vines, dormant in winter. The ibervillea lindheimeri vines have long tendrils, small yellow flowers and red berries.
It develops a fat caudex highly desired and collectible. From the top of the caudex vines grow and very small yellow flowers. The flower as not the attraction but the caudex long vines and the fruit 25..30 mm in size. The vines die back to the caudex each year right before dormancy.
Ibervillea Lindheimeri Growing
The tree is deciduous and in spring the plant flowers before it produces the leaves. The vies are thin and very flexible so they can easily be trained along a trellis, walls, etc.
Sun and Soil: Provide plenty of light during the growing season. Use well-draining soil keeping in mind its natural desert habitat. Keep away from moss and water retaining additives. When growing in containers it better to grow in wide shallow pots. During the first few years do not expose too much caudex beyond what it does naturally.
The Pot and Water: Yes, if you are container growing then do water the plant often during the growing season. Remember the soil is key to making the caudex grow and prevent root rot problems. Also, we do not place the plant directly in soil. Instead we have a layer of about 1″ of non-porous rock between the plant and the soil. The roots will penetrate the rocks down to the soil. This rot of the caudex of the plant.
The ibervillea lindheimeri plant (globe berry plant) does not like standing water what-so-ever! In the wild they can last a few years without any water when they are a mature size such as the ones being offered by AdeniumRose Company. During the growing season we spray them with water twice a month and they do great.
Temperatures: The plant will tolerate short periods of sub-freezing temperatures. However, we highly advise that you protect it from sub-freezing temperatures. In its native habitat, the ibervillea lindheimeri plant is a desert plant which means it handle drought conditions.
In desert areas and similar hot climates protect the based from extreme heat. We grow the globe berry plant under our plant benches protected from direct sunlight and let the vines seek out direct sunlight. The plant will produces several long vines that do great in the sun and heat. In the summer our Florida location the daily temperatures in the 90’s with high humility (90% plus and Daily thunderstorms).
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