Written from the home-garden experience of Shami, who has grown plants for 8+ years in Malappuram, Kerala. All photos are our own.
One day my brother asked me to choose a plant for his house. He wanted something that looks very good and doesn't need any extra care, and I picked Eugenia. It gives a premium look, it doesn't need much attention, and it stays beautiful even though its flowers are nothing special. The leaves are shiny and lovely in sunlight, and they keep the same colour in the rainy season and in summer. He grows it at home now, and he tells me the guests who visit keep giving it very good impressions.
A quick note on the name: Eugenia is what nurseries call it. The red-tipped hedge plant sold under that name is usually Syzygium myrtifolium (formerly classed as Eugenia oleina), in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Its natural range runs from northeast India through Southeast Asia, and in Indonesia it's called pucuk merah, "red shoot."
Four types, and how to spot the copies
There are 4 varieties of this plant:
- Green leaves, with a reddish colour at the ends of the branches
- Wine red or brownish red
- Variegated, with a white and green combination of leaves
- Yellowish and greenish leaves
There are also duplicates in the market. They're cheaper but look similar to the original ones. To tell the difference, check the width of the leaves: the duplicates have wider leaves, while the original ones don't have such wide, thick leaves.
Buying one: go for the middle size
When you buy it from a shop or nursery, always choose a medium-sized plant, 1 to 2 ft tall. The small ones take a long time to grow, and they're hard to shape. If you buy a very tall one, you won't be able to shape it as you like, and you'll have to grow it in the shape it already has. That's why I always buy the average, middle one, so I can shape it however I need.
Shaping is the whole point
Eugenia is trending, and you can see it in almost every lawn these days. It's most beautiful when you shape it into a bushy form, and you can cut it into any shape you like. When you cut it, new shoots, new branches and new leaves come.
Don't forget to shape it once in a while, because this plant grows very tall and becomes a very big plant. The real beauty is in the shaping and in keeping it thick and fluffy. Every 15 days I trim it a little, which is soft pruning, and if I find any insects at that moment, I kill them on the spot.
Who moves in
Here's something interesting I've seen in my garden. The leaves are thick and packed so closely that sunlight and rain don't reach the stem or the inside of the plant. Tiny birds come and sit in it, and they make nests in it too, because it's good shade and a lovely plant.
Sun and water
This plant needs a lot of sunlight, and new shoots only grow when it gets it. It needs at least 6 to 7 hours of sunlight each day to stay bushy and healthy. In a shady spot with no sunlight, it won't put out leaves properly, the leaves won't be shiny, and new shoots won't come.
I've heard many people say this plant needs watering every day. In my experience, I water mine once a week. My plant is almost 4 years old, so once a week is all it gets. If the plant is very small, it's better to water it every day, but after it matures, at 2 to 3 years, it only needs watering once a week. That's for our conditions in Malappuram, so judge by your own climate.
Flowers: they exist, but you have to look
This plant does have flowers, but they're not that beautiful compared to the flowers on other plants, and you won't notice them quickly because of the beautiful leaves. From a distance you can't see any flowers at all. Look close up, and you'll see very tiny flowers, like tiny buds. Honestly, in my opinion they're not that beautiful.
Four ways I've propagated it, ranked by results
I've propagated Eugenia in a few different ways, and the results are very different. Here they are, best first.
1. Air layering (my main method)
You can do air layering on any suitable stem or branch. When you plant cuttings in soil, you can only take small ones, but with air layering you can choose a big stem. I always do it on a good, mature, tall stem, and I've got very good results.
2. Cuttings in soil, under a plastic cover
Plant the cuttings in soil, then wrap them in a plastic cover, like a greenhouse effect where the temperature is controlled. After 4 weeks you can see roots coming. When I planted 10 cuttings this way, almost 8 of them gave good results. It's a method worth considering if you want good, healthy new plants.
3. Cuttings in water first
If you put the cuttings in water first, the results are good. I placed 10 cuttings in water and got around 6 to 7 of them with roots and healthy.
4. Cuttings straight into soil
This gave me the poorest results. I planted almost 10 stems directly in soil, and only 3 of them turned into healthy, good plants. The rest died.
Pests
The main pests are leaf-eating caterpillars, and I've also seen some insects that roll up inside the leaves and destroy them. To prevent this, I mix a spoon of neem oil and 2 to 3 drops of dishwash liquid into 1 litre of water and spray it on the plant once a month.
With sunlight, regular shaping and a monthly spray, this is an easy plant to keep looking sharp.