Solanum Care Must-Knows
Solanum grows best in full sun or part shade and moist, well-drained soil. It will tolerate brief periods of drought after it is established, but it’s best to water regularly for continuous flowering. Fertilize your plant twice during the growing season with an all-purpose fertilizer, following label directions. Where solanum is hardy, prune it in the fall to control its size. Prepare for solanum to climb quickly after planting by placing a trellis nearby or siting it where it can scramble up a fence or pergola. Attach sturdy cables to a fence or wall to give solanum something to twine around and climb up. Gently bend the stems around a pergola or arbor post to encourage climbing.
More Varieties of Solanum
Royal Robe nightshade
Solanum rantonnetii ‘Royal Robe’ bears rich purple fragrant flowers spring to fall on a plant that can reach 8 feet tall. Often grown as an annual, but it’s grown as a shrub in Zones 9-11.
Naranjilla
Solanum quitoense offers large, velvety leaves with purple hairs and orange-yellow spines with fragrant white flowers and fuzzy orange fruit. While it’s usually grown as an annual where it grows about 3 feet tall, it is an 8-foot-tall shrub in the tropics.
Lychee tomato
Solanum sisymbriifolium bears large white flowers flushed with silvery blue and edible, bright-red fruits. The leaves and stems are covered in spines. It grows 3 feet tall. Note: In some areas, this plant has become an invasive pest.
Solanum Companion Plants
Castor Bean
Plant a castor bean and then stand back. This is one of the fastest-growing, giant annuals in the garden, rivaled only perhaps by giant sunflower. By midsummer, you’ll have a huge (it can hit up to 20 feet) tropical plant sporting burgundy foliage. It’s a great plant to grow with kids. Be careful, though. The seeds are extremely toxic. Wait to plant it outdoors after all danger of frost has passed; castor bean hates cool weather and won’t grow well until temperatures heat up in summer.
Licorice Plant
Elegant, silvery licorice plant is so useful to set off flowers in blue, white, purple, and other colors and to add contrast to plantings where you want more than just a mass of green. It’s especially good in containers, where you can admire it up close and show off its spreading habit to best effect. Technically a tropical shrub, licorice plant is usually grown as an annual in the United States. It does best in full sun and well-drained soil.
Hibiscus
The big, colorful blooms on hibiscus plants contrast nicely with solanum’s smaller flowers. If you live in a cooler area, try planting hardy hibiscus instead of the tropical varieties so it’ll survive cold winters. Plant in full sun and well-drained soil.
Salvia
There are over 700 different species of salvia, so it shouldn’t be tough finding one that works in your yard. These plants usually have dark purple or blue flowers, and grow over 5 feet tall (depending on the variety). Plant in full sun and well-drained soil.
Lantana
When lantana blooms, it really puts on a show with clusters of flowers that can be purple, red, orange, white, pink, or yellow. Lantana can tolerate some of the hottest, driest spots in your yard, and like solanum, it’ll also attract pollinators like hummingbirds and bees. Plant in full sun and well-drained soil.
