Crassula or Crassula is a member of the Crassula family. It includes about five hundred species of plants. In nature, they are all found mainly in the southern hemisphere. Most of the species can be found in South Africa, Madagascar, with slightly fewer representatives on the Arabian Peninsula. Crassula purslane is grown at home, but we used to call it the "money tree". In the article we will learn about the rules for propagating a fat woman with cuttings and a lot of other useful information.
Description of the plant
Crassids have one main feature - on the stem their leaves are arranged opposite each other crosswise. In nature, you can find aquatic and herbaceous plants, tree-like shrubs. Of course, at home, Crassula cannot reach the size that it reaches in nature. Indeed, in the conditions of an apartment or house there is much less space, the soil is significantly different, there may not be enough light or some nutrients. However, even domestic fat women eventually turn into beautiful trees with a solid stem, on which they are located.powerful, fleshy leaves.
In room conditions, Crassula blooms quite rarely, so you should not expect this moment. As for the inflorescences, they can be racemose or umbellate-paniculate. There are red, blue, white and yellow flowers. Now this plant is quite popular, due to its unpretentiousness and endurance. Even novice flower growers will manage to take care of the fat woman (money tree) at home.
How to care for Crassula
Most representatives of this genus are not at all afraid of the sun's rays, so they feel quite comfortable on the south window. If possible, it is better to place the plant pot on the southwest or east side. There the plant will look more lush. If there is not enough light for the flower, then its shoots will begin to stretch, and the leaves will fall off. In the summer, it is better to take out the crassula to the balcony, terrace or street. This will benefit the plant. The money tree loves warmth, so in the summer it feels great on the street. In winter, it will not refuse close proximity to a heater or battery. But this does not mean that the flower should be kept exclusively in a warm room, since it also tolerates low temperatures quite calmly. The fat woman does not stop its growth at a temperature of ten degrees. Will not cause any complications and low humidity in the room. As you can see, the fat woman (money tree) is quite unpretentious. Home care for this plant is rarecauses difficulties.
Irrigation features
Crassula is not enough watering too often. Periodically, you need to wash the leaves and feed the plant. In summer, watering is carried out when the top layer of soil becomes dry, in winter the plant is watered even less frequently. Even if you have to leave for a few weeks, you should not force the neighbors to water your flower, because the money tree is not afraid of drought, which is not the case with waterlogging.
Feeding and fertilizer
As for the fertilizer, it is applied in the spring-summer period once a month. It is recommended to use a special liquid fertilizer for succulents and cacti. And in autumn and winter, you need to give the fat woman a break from top dressing.
Formation process
You need to form a money tree while it is still young. If shoots are removed from an already adult plant, then stumps will remain in these places, due to which the decorative effect of the bush suffers greatly. With all responsibility, you need to approach the choice of a pot for a plant. If you plant a crassula in a pot that is too deep, then its root will tend to go deeper, and the trunk will begin to grow rapidly upwards. This is not a good sign, as over time it will become thin and weaken greatly. Therefore, it is better to choose a not very deep pot.
Where to plant
To answer the question of how to plant a sprout of a money tree, you need to tell what soil this sprout should be inplant. The soil should include three parts of soddy land and one part of leaf, humus, sand and brick chips, which can be replaced with fine gravel. Here is such a simple composition for the soil for the fat woman. When the fat woman reaches a height of fifteen centimeters, the smallest upper leaves should be pinched off from its top - this is the future branching site. Instead of two leaves, four will appear here after a while. You can remove the top leaves until you are satisfied with the formed crown. But only between such "operations" some time should pass so as not to injure the plant. In this simple way, you can form a beautiful crown for your favorite money tree.
Transfer
It is not necessary to transplant the fat woman every year, but if you have a desire to admire its flowering, then it is better to carry out this procedure once every two years. According to the rules, transplantation is carried out only if the roots have already completely filled the entire pot. In the spring, the fat woman begins a period of active growth. Therefore, it is at this time that it is best to plan a transplant. The pot should be slightly larger than the one in which the crassula previously grew. A drainage layer should be placed at its bottom. Expanded clay is best suited for this. After that, the crassula, together with the earthy clod, moves to a new pot, and the remaining free space is filled with a new substrate.
If you do not want your Crassula to become too large a plant, then a transplant is not needed at all. Enoughwill only change the top layer of the substrate annually.
Useful properties of Crassula
Fat woman is the real keeper of your he alth. It releases substances into the air that have antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial effects. But that is not all. Crassula leaves are used in folk medicine, as its juice has many beneficial properties. This tool is used for lotions, which are especially effective for herpes, insect bites. Also, juice can be used to treat various cuts, bruises, abscesses. With sore throat or inflammation of the gums, it is recommended to rinse using fatty juice, and for arthritis, rub them at night. But during treatment with the use of this juice, one should not forget that it contains a rather high concentration of arsenic. If ingested, it can be life-threatening. Therefore, crassula juice is only suitable for external use.
As for signs and superstitions, it has long been believed that the money tree brings good luck and we alth to the house. That is why this plant is often placed not only in residential apartments and houses, but also in offices, shops and other workplaces.
Reproduction of Crassula seeds
Before sowing the seeds of the fat woman, it is necessary to prepare the necessary container and soil for this. You should choose a wide bowl, which is filled with soil with the following composition: one part of the sheet earth, half of the sand. When the seeds are sownthe bowl is covered with glass, which must be slightly opened every day to remove the resulting condensate.
In two weeks it will be possible to see the first shoots. When they grow up a little, you can pick. Young seedlings are planted at a distance of one centimeter from each other. The composition of the soil remains the same, but half of the light soddy land should also be added. After picking, the seedlings should be placed in a place where diffused light will fall on them.
When the crassulas grow up a little and get stronger, they can be planted in separate pots. They should be no more than seven centimeters in diameter. They are filled with soil, which contains equal parts of sand, soddy and leafy soil.
Until the seedlings take root, they are kept at a temperature not higher than eighteen degrees. When it is seen that they have gone into growth, you can transfer them to a permanent place. Next, I want to pay attention to the features of reproduction of the fat woman by cuttings. This method is considered easier and more accessible even for beginners.
Propagation by cuttings
Propagation of the fat woman by cuttings at home is considered the easiest and fastest way. It is much simpler than seed and takes much less time. Not only stem fragments are suitable for this, but also single leaves.
You can only cut a shoot or leaf with a sharp knife. After that, the place of the cut is immediately treated with crushed coal to avoid getting various infections there. After that inwithin two or three days, the cut shoot or leaf is dried, and after this time they are planted in the ground, which consists of equal parts of leafy soil and sand.
In addition, the fat woman is propagated by cuttings in water, which is also quite effective. Charcoal must be added to the water. When you notice the first roots on the cuttings, you can safely transplant them into pre-prepared pots with a diameter of five to seven centimeters. The soil should consist of sand, sod and leaf earth in equal parts. Such pots are immediately placed in a permanent place. Young fat women are cared for like an adult plant. In such a simple way, the rooting of cuttings of a fat woman takes place.
Diseases and pests
The most terrible enemy for Crassula is considered to be excess moisture, which leads to rotting of the roots. In some cases, rotting begins at the base of the trunk. It is important for flower growers to remember that the fat woman tolerates drought more easily; like all succulents, there are moisture reserves in the leaves that it uses when there is a lack of water.
Drafts are also quite dangerous for the plant, which lead to the fact that the leaves begin to gradually dry and fall off.
As for insects, mealybugs are considered the main enemies. Removing them is very simple, just moisten a cotton swab in medical alcohol and wipe the leaves of the plant. Less commonly, scale insects parasitize on a fat woman. Here you can no longer do without processing the plant "Aktellik". If you do not water the plant for too long, then spider webs can settle on it.ticks. It is not difficult to notice them, since a thin cobweb appears on the plant, mainly on the leaves. Here again "Aktellik" or "Fitoverm" will come to the rescue.
Types of fat woman
This plant has so many species that it is impossible to mention each of them in one article. We will consider only the most popular:
- Crassula oval. This is perhaps the most common species that can be found in culture. He came to us from southwestern Africa. In nature, Crassula oval is a three-meter plant with shiny, oval leaves, painted in silver gray or green. In an apartment, it does not reach a height of more than one and a half meters. This species produces quite a lot of shoots that grow and develop rapidly. If you manage to get this species to bloom, you will enjoy pink or white flowers that form in umbel-shaped inflorescences. This is one of those species that practically does not need a lot of sunlight. Crassula oval became the basis for the breeding of most new varieties of Crassula.
- Crassula tree. Quite strongly similar to Crassula oval. This fat woman has a bare trunk, and the branches are covered with flat, fleshy leaves up to seven centimeters long. At home, it blooms quite rarely. If she succeeds, she pleases the owner with pale pink or white flowers, which are collected in small panicles. This species does not tolerate shade well.
- Crassula moss. This isa shrub plant that reaches a height of only twenty-five centimeters, has tetrahedral fleshy shoots, in which the tops are wrapped. It got its name because of the structure and arrangement of the leaves, which makes it look like a club moss. If you put this species in bright light, then its leaves will acquire a red tint. This type of krasula tolerates shade well.
- Krassula Buddha. Many flower growers call it pyramidal. Outwardly, this plant resembles a certain column, which is formed from triangular leaves. They are located along the entire length of the trunk and are tightly pressed against each other. This column is not too high, but it is required to prevent it from falling on its side under its own weight. This species can bloom and delight the eye with red flowers that form in apical inflorescences.
So we looked at the main types of fat women that can be grown not only in the open field, but also at home.
Conclusion
In this article, we learned what crassula is, what useful properties it has. We also learned everything about planting a fat woman with cuttings and about the features of its cultivation. Based on the information received, it can be concluded that this plant is absolutely unpretentious, it can grow in almost any conditions. It is worth noting that special attention should be paid to the frequency of watering the plant and its location in the apartment. Now that you know how to plant a money tree sprout, you can easily save money on buying a new flower and just ask for a sprout from friends who havethis plant is already there.
