This flower adorns the collections of many indoor plant lovers in our country. Most of them he is better known as a Decembrist. Schlumbergera flower is a beautifully flowering plant that does not require complex care. It got its name in honor of the French florist, big fan and collector of cacti Frederic Schlumberger. Another name for the flower is zygocactus. It is translated from Greek as "rocker". The stems of the flower really bend in the shape of a rocker.
Flower Description
Despite the fact that this plant belongs to the cactus family, it does not come from a hot and arid desert. Under natural conditions, the Schlumbergera flower grows in the humid forests of Brazil and South America. These flowers live on the trunks and roots of trees growing in the highlands. Hummingbirds pollinate flowers in these conditions.
Flower growers often call him a Christmas or Decembrist. The names of these plants are not accidental. This amazing flower blooms around Christmas. However, zygocacti are so unpredictable that they can kick out numerous buds in spring, and even in the middle of summer. But most often flower growers manage to make the Decembrist bloom in winter.
Schlumberger's indoor flower is an epiphytic (forest) cactus. Each stem of this beautiful plant is flattened-segmented, branched, flower buds appear at their ends. They have a somewhat drooping shape and can be dyed in different colors.
Breeders are constantly working to improve this plant and new hybrids appear every year. Over time, the Decembrist may show corking of trunks. In order for the Schlumberger flower not to be one-sided, it must be periodically turned towards the light source.
Varieties
Today, three types of Decembrist are most often used in indoor floriculture:
- Gartner;
- truncated;
- Booklets.
The first variety is a fairly large plant with numerous leaf-like segments, up to seven centimeters long. Beautifully blooms in a scattering of bright red-orange flowers in the form of bells, which have petals pointed at the edges.
The following variety has stems consisting of leaf-like segments with sharp teeth on the edges. The flowers are symmetrical, the central tube is slightly slanted, and the petals are wrapped back. The color of the flowers is diverse: pale pink and white, purple and lilac.
Stems of the third grade consist of smalllight green segments that have small protrusions along the edges. Symmetrical lilac-pink flowers.
Decorative properties
Schlumbergera flowers, which are easy to care for even for beginners, thanks to their attractive appearance, organically fits into any interior space. Best of all, they look in a hanging planter, because it is an ampelous plant. If you do not have such an opportunity, the Decembrist can be installed on an inverted pot.
Soil
The soil mixture is prepared from leafy, soddy soil and sand. Acidity must be neutral or slightly acidic. A little powdered charcoal should be added to the prepared mixture (activated tablets are also suitable). Drainage (pebbles, expanded clay) is laid at the bottom of the pot. The capacity for planting should be low and wide: the diameter should be greater than the height of the pot. Decembrists grow well and look impressive in original wicker baskets.
Crown formation
For a thicker and more lush crown, Schlumberger's home flower is pinched and cut off. Twigs that do not branch should be shortened. Due to the fact that buds appear more often on new young shoots, frequent cutting is justified, as it promotes rapid and abundant flowering.
Lighting
Schlumbergera flowers, which are surprisingly easy to care for, love bright areas of the room, but protected from direct sunlight. In summer, the flower must be protected from the heat that itdoes not tolerate well. In the summer, the flower can be taken out into the fresh air. However, it must be remembered that direct sunlight can harm the plant: the leaves turn yellow, flower growth stops.
The plant feels quite comfortable on the northern, western or eastern windows. And in winter, the Decembrist can be rearranged on the windowsill of the south window. But this must be done before flowering, otherwise the Decembrist may drop the buds.
Temperature
The Decembrist is quite tolerant of temperature extremes and environmental conditions. The plant survives at temperatures from +2 to + 7 °C. But do not abuse this feature. In order for the Schlumberger flower to delight you with its beauty, home care must certainly include control of the air temperature in the room. The thermometer readings will be optimal in the range from +18 to +25 ° C.
Flowering
When the Schlumberger flower, the photo of which you can see in this article, blooms, gray winter days seem to brighten. Bright delicate flowers, like multi-stage fountains, cascade down the stems. And if you plant several plants in a pot, and even with multi-colored flowers, it seems as if magnificent fireworks broke out on the windowsill. New Year holidays with this decoration become more colorful, brighter, and happier.
Schlumbergera flower forms buds only when the temperature drops and the daylight hours decrease. Therefore, it must be taken into account that in spring and summer, as well as during the heating season, when the temperaturein the apartment is from +20 to +23 ° C, the plant grows foliage. Buds in such conditions either do not form at all, or fall off immediately.
What is needed for the Schlumberger flower to bloom, how to care for it? First of all, it is necessary to maintain the temperature in the room not exceeding +20 °C.
Irrigation
Despite the fact that Schlumberger flowers are called cacti, the care and reproduction of these exotics is not much different from other equally popular indoor plants. Water the flower with warm settled water, since cold water can damage the root system. At the same time, watering should be moderate - the Decembrist does not tolerate overdrying or waterlogging of the soil. In both cases, this is fraught with the death of the root system, and then the whole plant.
After the appearance of the buds, you must carefully monitor that the soil in the pot is always moderately moist. In the period from late April to mid-September, when the plant is actively growing, the root system requires moisture only when the topsoil dries up.
From the second half of September, watering is reduced, and the plant is transferred to a cool room. In the heat, the Schlumbergera cactus evaporates a large amount of moisture from the leaves, so it should be sprayed with soft water. From time to time it is necessary for the Decembrist to arrange a warm shower.
Feeding
In order for the Schlumbergera flower to grow well and delight with lush flowering for a long time, do not forget about regular top dressing. From February to October, they are usually applied to the soilorganic and mineral fertilizers for cacti, which can be purchased at a specialized store. During the formation of buds, the flower is watered with nutrient formulations for flowering plants.
Resting period
For the active development and lush flowering of the Decembrist, the plant needs a dormant period. After the end of flowering before the beginning of the growing season, the flower must be placed in a cool place and watering should be reduced to a minimum.
Reproduction
If you decide to propagate your beautiful flower, you need to do this in late April or early May with cuttings from stems consisting of two or three segments. Carefully unscrew the cuttings from the mother plant and dry them for two days. After that, they will easily take root in moist soil, sand or water. You can grow a Decembrist from seeds, but this is a rather troublesome and lengthy process.
Vaccination
Fans of experiments can grow a grafted Decembrist, in the form of a small tree. As a rootstock, you can use other cacti: cylindrical cereus, prickly pear, pereskia. Vaccination is done at the beginning of summer. The top of a rooted young cactus is cut off with a very sharp knife, the top of the stem is slightly split, and a Decembrist cutting, consisting of three segments, is inserted into the split. The vaccine is fixed with a thin needle and tied with a thread.
When the sections grow together, thorns and leaves are removed from the cactus. After that, the bandage can be removed. As soon as the flowerwill develop a crown, it should be tied to a peg to prevent breaking off. Owners need to be aware that grafted plants are short-lived: they grow very quickly and soon lose their shape. In addition, they are often affected by various rots.
Diseases, pests
If the Decembrist's stem segments begin to wither or die off, yellow spots appear on them, which means that the flower is struck by a flat red mite. The disease causes excessively dry indoor air.
Direct rays of the sun make the stems of the plant sluggish, the color of the segments turns pale. But this may also be a sign that the root system has begun to rot in the absence of regular watering, or affected by pests.
If the flower sheds segments, buds, then the air temperature in the room is too low. The plant can give the same reaction with insufficient watering, damage by pests and rotting of the roots. Lack of light or nutrients in the soil leads to the cessation of flowering.
Often a Decembrist is struck by a scale insect. In this case, the leaves first turn pale, then dry and fall off. If you notice wounds on the surface of the stem, then fungal diseases are probably introduced with infected soil: phytium, fusarium, late blight. To get rid of the disease, fungicides are used.
If slippery and wet spots appear on the flower, it means that it is infected with a bacterial infection. The action of antibacterial agents is not always effective, therefore it is more expedient to remove the affected stem or part of it.
Additional care tips
Manythey acquire a Decembrist, tempted by beautiful flowering, without knowing how to care for it. Therefore, we will reveal to you some of the secrets of growing this flower.
- The Decembrist has a very poorly developed root system, so it should be grown in low pots.
- If you have purchased a flowering plant, then do not rush to transplant it immediately. Wait until it blooms.
- Young flowers are transplanted every year, and mature plants - after three years.
- After flowering, the plant can be plucked (not cut off) the tops of the stems to give a beautiful shape to the crown. The stems will become more branched, many new shoots will appear.
The blooming Schlumbergera flower is unusually beautiful: bright, attracting attention. At this time, it becomes a decoration of any interior. If under natural conditions the Decembrist has only red flowers, then in indoor floriculture today plants are grown that delight with multi-colored buds. The flower belongs to centenarians. With proper care, it will decorate your apartment for twenty years.
