Drought tolerant. Colorful foliage. Bright red flowers. What else could you want from a plant?
Mezoo Trailing Red will grow to be 6-8 inches in height and spread as far as 18-24 inches.
We’ve found this plant to be a great option for a flower pot or hanging basket, as it cascades down over the edge and compliments arrangements well.
In this guide, we’ll cover what you need to know to grow your own Mezoo Trailing Red.
Planting Mezoo Trailing Red seeds
Before we start, we should issue a disclaimer that some specific varieties, like Mezoo Trailing Red, are not able to be purchased in seed form. You may need to go to a local greenhouse to purchase small plants in order to have some Mezoo Trailing Red for yourself.
If you are starting your Mezoo Trailing Red from seed, the timing of your planting will be a bit different. Aim to plant the seeds with enough time for them to germinate, sprout and mature before you plant them outside.
To plant the Mezoo Trailing Red seeds, purchase some potting soil and fill a container or tray with the potting soil. It doesn’t have to be a deep container — even a shallow tray will be fine for Mezoo Trailing Red seeds.
You can purchase plastic pots or packs to plant them, or use something you have lying around your home, such as an egg carton.
Once the container is full of potting soil, poke a hole in the soil with your finger no deeper than the first joint in your finger. Then, place the Mezoo Trailing Red seed in the hole and cover it up lightly with potting soil.
To initiate the seed’s growth, water the Mezoo Trailing Red seed lightly.
Try to keep the soil in direct sunlight as much as possible. You can cover it with some clear plastic to keep the humidity high as well.
Make sure to keep on watering the soil lightly whenever it dries out. The soil doesn’t need to be more than damp, but it does need to be moist consistently for the Mezoo Trailing Red seed to germinate.
You’ll soon start seeing a baby Mezoo Trailing Red sprout emerging from the potting soil.
Transplanting Mezoo Trailing Red seedlings
After the Mezoo Trailing Red sprouts, you’ll want to let it grow a little bit to establish a root structure. If the seedling is planted with its own space to grow, you won’t need to transplant it until it grows its own root cube.
However, if the Mezoo Trailing Red seed was planted with other Mezoo Trailing Red seeds in its own space, it should be planted earlier so that its roots aren’t in competition for limited space.
As long as the roots have room to grow, you’re fine to keep the Mezoo Trailing Red in its container.
If you notice that the Mezoo Trailing Red seedling is drying up fast, this may be a sign that it’s time to plant it in a larger container. You can transplant a Mezoo Trailing Red however many times you’d like before planting it in its final destination.
To transplant a Mezoo Trailing Red plant, pinch the bottom of the container as you gently pull the sprout up.
If the seedling is very small, you can turn the pack upside down as you do this for each sprout so that the plant and its early root structure fall out into your hand. This helps to avoid damaging the root structure.
If the Mezoo Trailing Red is rootbound, meaning that the roots are tightly wound together forming the shape of whatever container it was in, then you’ll want to gently rip the roots apart once before transplanting the Mezoo Trailing Red into its next container. This helps to promote growth in the roots.
After you have transplanted your Mezoo Trailing Red, water it in and make sure it gets some sunlight for continual growth.
Planting Mezoo Trailing Red outside
Whether you are growing your Mezoo Trailing Red from seed, or you purchased a young Mezoo Trailing Red plant from a local garden center or greenhouse, eventually you’ll want to plant it outside.
To plant your Mezoo Trailing Red, gently squeeze the bottom of the container and pull the plant out of its pack.
Then, use a trowel or your hand to remove soil from where you’d like to plant it.
If the soil is hard and packed down, consider using a tiller to break it up, or just push a shovel in the soil a few times to break up the clumps.
Although a Mezoo Trailing Red plant can be planted in the landscape, it looks the best when it has the side of a pot or hanging basket to cascade down over.
Best soil type for Mezoo Trailing Red
You can check your Mezoo Trailing Red plant’s tag for specific information regarding soil needs.
You’ll want soil that will drain well, meaning that if you overwater it, the excess water will drain through the soil and the container it’s planted in (or deeper into the soil, if it’s planted in a landscape).
You may need to mix in some potting soil or other soil additives to get your soil to the ideal consistency.
When to plant Mezoo Trailing Red outside
Choosing when to plant Mezoo Trailing Red outside is an important consideration. If you plant them too early, there’s the risk of a late frost killing them off.
As a general rule of thumb, typically if you wait until after Mother’s Day you’ll be fine to plant Mezoo Trailing Red outside. That being said, in Central PA we have had late frosts later than Mother’s Day, so make sure to check the forecast for your area in the spring to make sure that there isn’t a deep frost on the horizon.
In some cases, planting Mezoo Trailing Red outside before Mother’s Day is definitely doable. Some annuals are just hardier than others, so you’ll want to consider the hardiness of your Mezoo Trailing Red, too.
It depends on the plant’s size, maturity, hardiness (did the greenhouse you purchased the plant from “harden it off”?), and spring weather.
Where to plant Mezoo Trailing Red
Once you have your Mezoo Trailing Red, you’ll need some soil and a spot to plant it. If you’re going to be planting it directly outside from the pack you purchased it in, you have the option of planting the Mezoo Trailing Red in the landscape, in a hanging basket, or in a pot. A Mezoo Trailing Red will do great in any of these locations.
Sunlight requirements for Mezoo Trailing Red
If your Mezoo Trailing Red receives too little or too much sunlight exposure, it will likely still live, but may not grow as abundantly and could require more care.
Mezoo Trailing Red will need at least afternoon sun, but ideally, it should get a full day of sun. This will ensure it can grow to its full potential.
Best temperature and humidity for Mezoo Trailing Red
Most areas have plenty of temperature swings, so an easy way to determine if your growing area will work for Mezoo Trailing Red is to check your USDA growing zone.
A Mezoo Trailing Red will grow well in zones 10a, 10b, 11a, and 11b.
Watering Mezoo Trailing Red
One of the most important factors to keeping your Mezoo Trailing Red looking healthy is to diligently water it throughout the summer.
For Mezoo Trailing Red, you’ll know they need water when the top inch of soil is dried out. To check, you can stick your finger into the soil down to the first joint in your finger. If it’s moist, no need to water the Mezoo Trailing Red plant. If it’s dry, you’ll want to water it in.
Be careful that you don’t overwater the Mezoo Trailing Red. A Mezoo Trailing Red plant can be susceptible to diseases if it gets too much water.
If you planted the Mezoo Trailing Red in a container, make sure that it has holes in the bottom for excess water to escape. Otherwise, the water can collect at the bottom of the container and cause root rot, or other diseases.
Fertilizing Mezoo Trailing Red
Another important factor for plant health is keeping your Mezoo Trailing Red fed with nutrition.
If the Mezoo Trailing Red is planted in the ground, you can lessen the amount of fertilizer it’ll need by building up the soil with compostable material in the year(s) leading up to your planting. Otherwise, you’ll want to fertilize the Mezoo Trailing Red throughout the summer.
A good rule of thumb for fertilizing Mezoo Trailing Red is to give the plant a water-soluble fertilizer every third watering. This rule helps to account for the change in temperature and weather throughout the season.
For example, in May you won’t be watering your Mezoo Trailing Red plant as much as in the heat of the summer in August. So feeding the plant every third watering helps to provide Mezoo Trailing Red with what it needs throughout the season, no matter the weather conditions.
It’s also recommended to plant the Mezoo Trailing Red with a slow-release form of fertilizer to feed the plant slowly throughout the summer. You can add this in with your potting soil in a pot.
Growing Mezoo Trailing Red in a hanging basket
If you’re growing Mezoo Trailing Red in a hanging basket, you’ll want to make sure you don’t overfill the basket with plants. Plants will generally fill in the space you give them, so if the hanging basket isn’t packed full when you first plant it, that’s great.
The more Mezoo Trailing Red you plant in your hanging basket, the more you’ll need to water the hanging plants. In general, if you have more plants competing for water and soil, it’ll take more maintenance to keep the hanging basket looking beautiful.
If you’re watering your Mezoo Trailing Red in a hanging basket, you can check if it needs water by lifting the basket from beneath. If the basket is noticeably light, it could use some water.
You’ll know you overwatered your Mezoo Trailing Red in a hanging basket if water comes dripping or streaming out the bottom of the basket where the holes are.
Growing Mezoo Trailing Red in a pot
As mentioned above, be careful you don’t plant too many Mezoo Trailing Red in a flower pot.
The answer for how to care for Mezoo Trailing Red grown in a pot will vary according to the size of the pot. In general, make sure that it has plenty of room to grow and has adequate sunlight exposure where the pot is placed.
A Mezoo Trailing Red that is planted in a container, whether it’s a pot or a hanging basket, will need to be watered more than Mezoo Trailing Red grown in the landscape, since they won’t be able to pull natural water from the ground.
Growing Mezoo Trailing Red in the landscape
Choosing Mezoo Trailing Red for your flower beds or other landscaping is a great choice. They make for great borders and can help add beauty to your yard.
Since you’re planting them in a permanent spot, you’ll want to be extra careful when planting Mezoo Trailing Red in the ground outside. Make sure that there’s little chance of frost and that the Mezoo Trailing Red is in a spot that matches their sunlight needs.
If you do have a late frost, and your Mezoo Trailing Red are already in the ground, you can cover them overnight with a bucket or sheet to protect them in most cases.
How to get Mezoo Trailing Red to bloom
If Mezoo Trailing Red is not blooming with bright red blooms, it could be for a variety of reasons.
First and foremost, ensure that the plant is getting enough water, fertilizer, and sunlight. If Mezoo Trailing Red are not given the basic necessities, they’ll resort to growing only what they can, which may mean not producing flowers.
Outside of that, Mezoo Trailing Red can sometimes get diseases that prevent them from blooming or stops their blooms.
Deadheading and pruning Mezoo Trailing Red
You can deadhead your Mezoo Trailing Red to promote future growth, but you likely won’t need to since this plant is part of the succulent family.
Cutting back or pruning your Mezoo Trailing Red can be healthy for the plant. You shouldn’t need to do this more than a few times throughout the summer. It can be good to do this if the plant is overgrowing its area or overpowering another plant in a container.
Common diseases for Mezoo Trailing Red
A Mezoo Trailing Red is more susceptible to common diseases, such as downy mildew or root rot when it isn’t cared for properly. That being said, even Mezoo Trailing Red that are given the correct care can fall victim to some diseases.
Consult with your local garden center if you notice that your Mezoo Trailing Red has a disease.
Overwintering Mezoo Trailing Red
While it is possible to overwinter your Mezoo Trailing Red, this is not common for Mezoo Trailing Red in colder climates.
Mezoo Trailing Red is considered a warm weather annual and tender perennial, meaning that it will likely act as an annual in colder climates, but last through the winter in warmer climates.
Pest control for Mezoo Trailing Red
Typically, natural predators are enough to take care of bugs and pests that eat at your Mezoo Trailing Red. For example, ladybugs will eat aphids and can help control them.
However, in some cases, you will need to take extra measures to kill off plant pests. Again, consult with your local garden center for a specific solution to your pests.
Companion plants for Mezoo Trailing Red
There are many other plants that grow great with Mezoo Trailing Red. These are what we would call “companion plants.” This means that if they are planted together they will generally complement each other with their colors and growing styles.
When looking for companion plants for your Mezoo Trailing Red, look for plants that have similar growing needs. This is an easy way to find plants that grow well. For example, if two plants love the sun, require similar fertilizer needs and one is taller while the other is a spreader, they will probably be great companion plants in a pot or hanging basket.
Varieties of Mezoo Trailing Red
There are many varieties of Mezoo Trailing Red. In general, their growing needs will be consistent across these varieties, but it’s always best to check the plant’s tag to make sure there aren’t specific instructions for your variety of Mezoo Trailing Red.
Propagating Mezoo Trailing Red
It’s possible to propagate Mezoo Trailing Red.
To do so, you can cut off a small piece of the plant and put it in water for a week or so. Soon, the Mezoo Trailing Red should start growing fine roots.
Eventually, you’ll be able to plant the Mezoo Trailing Red cutting into the soil.
For some varieties of plants, propagating and then selling your cuttings as plants once they are established is illegal. Make sure there isn’t a patent on the Mezoo Trailing Red variety before you would do this.
Some annuals, such as sun coleus, can be propagated just by placing the cutting directly in potting soil.
