Home plant growing is a very exciting and interesting activity. Today you can find dozens of varieties of domestic deciduous and flowering plants, from which you will make an excellent composition. At the same time, novelties that come to us from tropical forests, where they grow in natural conditions, are quickly gaining popularity among flower growers. Clusia was no exception. Home care for her is the topic of this article.
First meeting
Clusia - refers to perennial plants. It has a large number of varieties. Naturally found in the tropics. The plant is amazing, it is definitely worth it to be interested. Most known species are epiphytes. Seeds develop on trees. At the same time, aerial roots stretch down and soon reach the ground. Clusia can destroy the plant it has settled on.
As a roomPlants one species is popular, known as Clusia rosea. Under natural conditions, it is a large shrub or even a tree, evergreen and quite beautiful. The leaves are glossy, leathery, and the flowers are located on the tops of the shoots. For its elegant appearance, flower growers immediately fell in love with clusia. Home care has its own characteristics, but they are worth mastering so that the tropical beauty feels at home. At first glance, the flower is very similar to a ficus. Large, glossy leaves allow the plant to remain decorative even outside the flowering period.
Interesting Features
The plant develops quite slowly. This can be considered a serious drawback, if you do not consider all the charms of the amazing clusia plant. Home care is facilitated due to the fact that the flower normally tolerates the drying of the soil. Therefore, it is often used to decorate office buildings. The plant can be given the desired shape. To do this, you only need to correctly trim.
The plant has a very interesting feature, which is why it is called the autograph tree. The marks on the leaves remain for a long time. Damage scars and acquire a lighter shade. Therefore, the leaves will store the scribbled text. Of course, there is no need to spoil the plant for fun. But some gardeners turn it into an original bush that keeps mementos, dates and events.
What you need to know
Difficult to find so resistant to attackvarious pests instance, like clusia. Home care is facilitated by the fact that pests will bypass the pot with a tropical guest. An exception can be considered an attack by a mealybug, spider mite and scale insect.
Much more often, various types of rot develop on the plant. The reason for their occurrence can be considered excessive watering and maintenance at low temperatures. Do not forget that the homeland of the flower is the tropics, which have a stable and warm climate.
Any work with this plant should be done with gloves. If you have small children, then you need to once again think about whether it is worth planting such a flower in your home garden. And the thing is that the juice present in the vegetative organs of the culture has the property of causing a burning sensation upon contact with the skin. If you waited for the flowering and development of fruits in a plant, then know that they are especially poisonous. Therefore, make sure that the flower is located in a place inaccessible to children.
Growing conditions
First of all, you need to decide where the pot with the plant will stand. So let's start with lighting. Clusia pink is a relatively small inhabitant of tropical forests, and the main place of growth is the crowns and trunks of trees. That is, she prefers bright but diffused sunlight.
North windows are a bad choice. Here, the plant will not only not bloom, but will also significantly slow down growth and development, and also lose its decorative effect. Therefore, with this arrangement, you need to highlight the plant with speciallamps. Otherwise, stems will be stretched, on which leaves are almost not formed.
But south windows are not the best choice either. Here, the autograph tree will need to be hidden from the scorching sun. For this, a curtain or gauze is used. On a southern window, it will feel great in the winter months, when the sun is no longer so active.
Containment temperature
It is best if there are no temperature jumps at all, or they are minimal. And of course, no drafts. This is especially important if you have old, wooden windows that blow through the cracks in winter. It is important to create a permanent, warm atmosphere. The thermometer should show no higher than 25 degrees, and only in the winter months is it permissible to drop the temperature to 20 degrees. If this condition is not observed, then the plant begins to shed its foliage and become unattractive. And in the summer, it is permissible to take home clousia to a balcony or an open terrace. But you need to carefully monitor that no midday sun rays fall on it. In this case, the plant will continue to actively develop.
Irrigation
Many mistakenly assume that tropical plants need daily and abundant watering. In fact, such actions lead to the death of plants much more often than we would like. It is necessary to remember how and under what conditions the plant lives in its natural environment. Clusia settles on a tree and descends aerial roots to the ground. Accordingly, they do not reside permanently inwater. The roots are mostly above the ground and do not tolerate excessive moisture in the substrate. It is much easier for him to survive the drying of the topsoil than stagnant water.
Water should be moderate but steady. Be sure to drain the water from the pan so that it does not stagnate there. It is also useful to spray the plant, especially if the thermometer has risen above the 25-degree mark. Water for irrigation is taken soft, it must be defended for at least two days.
Humidity
Clusia flower is one of the biggest lovers of moist air. Therefore, in an apartment with central heating, he may not be too comfortable. In order for the leaves not to dry, you need to create additional moisture around the pot. You can use spraying or put pallets of pebbles nearby and periodically pour water into them. By evaporating, the liquid will optimize the conditions. At the same time, the roots do not touch the water and are not threatened with decay, and the air is saturated with moisture.
Ground
Even if you bought a plant from a nursery where a special soil mixture was selected for it, sooner or later it will need to be changed. After all, the flower will grow out of the pot and it will need a transplant. The gardener's calendar suggests that it is best to leave this procedure for the end of winter, when the plant has not yet begun to grow.
The root system of a flower is superficial, which means that the soil should be very light. The following composition will be optimal:
- Leaf earth - 2 parts.
- Over-rotted needles - 2 parts.
- Peat land - 2 parts.
- Coarse sand - 1 part.
- Vermiculite - 1 part.
Some amateurs take all the ingredients in equal parts. Which is also acceptable. Transplantation should not be carried out more often than once every two years. In order not to get confused, keep a gardener's calendar in which note the date of the last transplant. And also be guided by the state of the plant itself, the rate of drying of the soil.
A few words about filler
Not all flower growers know how to apply vermiculite to plants. So let's take a closer look at this point. This is a mineral that is a relative of mica. It is fired to obtain a porous structure and in this form is offered to the gardener. Added to the ground, it collects water, and then slowly gives it back and feeds the roots evenly. In the same way, it retains potassium and other beneficial ions from the fertilizer, and then gives them to the roots. How to apply vermiculite to plants?
- For seed germination. In this case, the mineral is mixed with seeds, moistened and placed in a warm place.
- Growing seedlings. Germinated seeds are transplanted into a mixture of soil and vermiculite. This provides protection against drying out and root rot.
This supplement will be a great help to the gardener. It drains, aerates the soil and regulates the balance of nutrients in it. Any flower crops will benefit if you add vermiculite to the soil.
Instead ofconclusions
Tropics near us - it's not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Delicate, tropical plants do just fine in home gardens. It is only necessary to provide them with suitable conditions for growth and development. Do not forget about the atmosphere in the house. The warmer it is, the better the flowers grow.
