How to Grow the Gopher Plant from Scratch and keep it insect free

 The Gopher Plant is a beautifully shaded impressive grey-blue, with lance-shaped leaves, chartreuses shaded bracts, and bright yellow springtime flowers.

A native of the Med and the Middle East

This Plant is a native of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, although it is strangely considered a weed in these countries. Fortunately, the Gopher has found a more suitable home. This Euphorbia is just perfect for attracting pollinators while keeping pesky rodents away. Many gardeners appreciate its attraction and easy case habit.

The Gopher is Toxic – Be Careful

The Gopher is perfect for attracting pollinators while keeping pesky rodents away.

If eaten, this Euphorbia is toxic, and anyone who touches it, like kids or new garden hands, or family pets, can tell you that this Plant can give you a ferocious bite. You need to take precautions when dealing with this Plant. Wear gloves and long sleeves and watch out for the milky sap inside it.

Extremely Tough Plant

Take two 3-5-inch cuttings. With these, you can root the cuttings, dust the ends with rooting powder. These attractive toughies will tolerate many soil-drained – full sun – conditions, but some gardeners have experienced growing in partial shade. I usually see them growing in an inferior quality wood.

It’s extremely drought tolerant, so keep it in partial shade without too much to drink.

Also, the gopher plant, being so drought-tolerant, can manage on the natural rainfall it receives, which happens a couple of times in summer.

This 9 x 20-inch seeding heating mat for propagation and cloning.

This 9 x 20-inch map will help to speed up your rooting process. Keep your cuttings out of the direct sun. Water your Plant only enough to keep the soil from drying out.

Your cuttings should be rooted in a few weeks. It would be best if you allowed them to remain in their containers throughout winter and then transplant them outdoors when all danger of frost has passed after the winter; I would make my life easier and keep these plants in containers.

The seeds are not shelf-stable, so it is unlikely that you will be able to purchase the Gopher seeds commercially. When mature, the Plant will self-seed in your garden, and you can divide existing plants too.

Insecticidal Soap

Gopher Plants may be occasionally bothered by nematodes, spider mites, aphids, or mealybugs. You need to get rid of these pests with an insecticidal soap like the one from Safer Brand, available at Amazon. This arrived in a 32-ounce bottle you can spray with.

This Gopher is a beautiful plant that does well in xeriscape landscapes and other gardens where an intriguing specimen plant would be welcome.

This Gopher Plant (Gopher Rigida)

Its Characteristics:

CategoryCactus & Succulents
Size3 x 2 inches
Flower ColorYellow
Flower SeasonEarly Spring
ExposureFull Sun to Partial Shade
WaterIrrigate during the warm weather
Growth RateModerate to Fast
Hardiness0 degrees F

Evergreen

This evergreen plant grows about two feet tall with a three-foot spread and has attractive, narrow, pointed, blue, green sharp leaves, as it produces rounded clusters of papery chartreuse yellow flow bracts. This late winter to early spring bloomer adds plenty of unusual charm to the landscape and is easy to grow.

After blooming, the main stems die, and new growth appears from the center of the Plant. The gopher plant works well in containers as a specimen or a low foundation plant, combined with other desert natives. It’s not the usual showy Plant but something rather unusual and tastefully used as a point of interest in your garden.

From South Africa

Also, use it as a perennial garden in low planters, border, or background planting. We already know that after the summer monsoons, it obligingly reseeds naturally in desert landscapes. Further, the Gopher plant is a native of South Africa and the Mediterranean region.

The Gopher Plant is exceptionally hardy up to zero degrees and is a moderate to fast grower if it performs best in full sun to partial shade. While Draught resistant, it does better with a small amount of extra water during the warm weather.

The Gopher Plant grows in any soil as long as it is well-draining. Do not overwater it, as it is susceptible to damping off and dying. Afterward, flowers, the old dry stems, and the old blooms need to be vigorously clipped.

A white Sap from this Plant that can be Toxic

When pruned or broken, the Plant produces a white sap that can be toxic, If ingested, almost as though protecting itself. If your Gopher looks like it might be dying, you have either overwatered or underwatered it.

Keep a Journal of Watering & Feeding the Plant

So, carefully observe what you’re doing when you care for the plants. Perhaps keep a journal of when and what quantity of water you allow them.

Back to the basics about the Gopher Plant. Strange that this Plant attracts rats but does not like them – rats, I mean. It’s vital to keep rodents and insects away from the Gopher plant so that it will grow stronger and become rat and insect free – but return to this moment, and you will have to do all that until the Plant grows sturdier and becomes more mature.

Repels Rats & Spiders, Deers & Gophers

The Gopher is a very hardy plant and self-sufficient in that it repels Deers, Rats, Spiders, and Gophers, and any other nuisance insects.

Biofuel

This Plant is recently receiving lots of attention from scientists examining the milky sap inside it and currently talking about biofuel. I expect we’ll hear about it soon.

Winner of Awards

We must remember that it won awards for its beautiful foliage because being Native to the Mediterranean and Middle East regions, the gopher plant is a low-maintenance plant-type and a drought-resistant evergreen. Due to its unique vegetation and impressive characteristics, the Plant has the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit to its name.

A Stunning Plant in a Different Way

Instead of being famous for its blooms, the Gopher is the other way around; the Plant is renowned for its foliage!

I did notice that it started in little containers and then potted on to larger ones and then more considerable, and so on.

During the early part of its growth – before maturity, put it in a container with wheels on doing while it’s still living in the house, so you can easily wheel it around with no difficulty.

Keep it on Wheels & In a Container.

Also, do similarly when taking it to competitions. Again, the wheeled container is easy to transport at a match. Further, I’d keep my Gopher in the wheeled container all the time and never put it into the ground where it just might not stay alive; this time not because it’s a delicate plant but instead, because it’s an extremely hardy plant and can protect itself too well!

Patricia Godwin

Patricia Godwin

Patricia has many years of experience as a content writer on various subjects, but her first love is gardening. She’s never met a plant she didn’t like and, consequently, she writes about every type of plant you can think of. Once an avid gardener with a herb garden, a succulent rockery, and a rose garden – to mention a few. Nowadays, she’s constantly on the move searching for interesting plants to bring to your attention; and explain to you all the details you need to grow, care and maintain these plants.

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