Caring For The Euphorbia Trigona (African Milk Plant)

The Euphorbia Trigona is an excellent plant for the outdoors in warm climates and indoors in cooler climates. The great thing about this plant is that as long as you do not allow it to get too cold then the plant will prosper for many years with little effort at all. In fact, outside plants need little if any care because the rain and sun will take care of it. It is important to water the plant if it is extremely dry for months on end, but in general the Euphorbia Trigona, also called the African Milk Plant, only needs to be watered once per week during hot weather and once every two weeks during cold weather. If you keep your plant inside where it is generally cool you will want to adhere to the every other week watering schedule.

This plant is excellent for gardeners who do not have a lot of time to devote to their plants, but want a beautiful landscape. There are several colors of the Euphorbia Trigona that make any garden burst with color with very little effort or work. However, the colored varieties of these plants need a little additional care to ensure they are as bright and vibrant as possible. If you want the leaves of the Euphorbia Trigona to stay red then ensure it has plenty of sun. For outdoor plants, they need to be under full sun. Indoor plants should be placed near a window with full sun. If it is exceptionally hot outdoors and the plant is in full sun you may need to water it a little more than usual. Always check the soil first to see if it is moist. If so, the plant does not need more water. If the soil it dry, then give it a little drink of water.

In general, the Euphorbia Trigona does well in really hot climates. It is originally from Africa, so this makes sense that in other hot climates the plant would flourish. Temperatures over 100 degrees F do not seem to be a problem for this plant. However, climates that have frost are not recommended at all for the African Milk Plant because it will die. Anyone living in an area that has even light frost should not plant this plant outdoors. It should always be planted indoors to ensure that it does not die.

The Euphorbia Trigona will grow well in soil that drains easily. However, if the soil has high clay content then the plant will still do okay. This is not the best of circumstances, but many African Milk Plants seem to do well in this type of soil. Planting in a pot is fine for cold climates, but remember the plant grows quickly and will soon be too big for a pot. Or else you will need a very large pot for it! The best recommendation for the Euphorbia Trigona is to ensure it gets enough sun, never gets too cold, and that the soil is never too moist.