Today, in almost every living space, you can find home flowers that delight with their beauty. Epiphyllum is a plant of the Cactus family. In total, there are about 200 of its varieties. The name of the plant is associated with the presence of leaves: in Greek, "epi" means "on top" or "on". Some call this culture phyllocereus or phyllocactus. In this review, we will look at how the epiphyllum flower grows. Photos, home care and recommendations from experienced flower growers will also be presented.
Description
Where did this unusual plant come from? The birthplace of the flower is the tropical forests of America and Mexico. The first description of this culture dates back to 1812. Today, the epiphyllum cactus is considered a houseplant. It belongs to succulents and has long spreading stems that can be creeping or drooping. As a rule, the trunks are flat or triangular in shape and are equipped with aerial roots. It is themmistakenly considered epiphyllum leaves. Phyllocactus may also have large, white, funnel-shaped flowers. Their length reaches 40 cm, and they open both in the daytime and at night. The inflorescences are so beautiful that the epiphyllum is sometimes called orchid. This cactus is also able to bear fruit. They are quite large, prickly, have a reddish color and a strawberry-banana flavor.
How to grow at home?
Let's take a closer look at this. Many are interested in how to properly grow epiphyllum. Care at home is not particularly difficult. If you want to enjoy a beautiful inflorescence every day, keep the plant on the windowsill on the west or east side. The flower needs a bright diffused color. In the summer, the epiphyllum will feel great in the fresh air. It is only undesirable that direct sunlight falls on the plant during the daytime. In summer, the optimum temperature for growing phyllocactus is 20-25 degrees. In the period from November to February, the epiphyllum needs rest. Then the temperature should not rise above 10-15 degrees. Epiphyllum is quite indifferent to such a parameter as air humidity. However, on hot days, it does not interfere with spraying with water.
Basic Requirements
What they are, every beginner and professional grower should know. How should an epiphyllum grow? Caring for this plant involves regular watering. It is required to moisten the soil in a container with a plant when its top layer is completely dry. In summer, you need to water the cactus more often than in the cold season. If the plant hibernates in a cool room, then it is recommended to stop watering altogether. When spring begins, the soil in a pot with epiphyllum can gradually begin to moisten.
At home, the plant must be fed twice in the spring and summer. For this purpose, a special fertilizer for cacti is suitable. It must be prepared in strict accordance with the instructions. With the beginning of the bud formation stage, epiphyllum should be fed with mullein. Fertilizer is diluted in water in a ratio of 1 to 4. After the appearance of inflorescences, the cactus should be fed once every two weeks. In this case, it is best to alternate organic components with the application of nitrogen mineral fertilizers for indoor plants. Phyllocactus does not require additional feeding during dormancy.
Flowering
What do you need to know about this? Does epiphyllum bloom at home? The care and cultivation of this plant should be carried out in accordance with the recommendations of experienced flower growers, then you can achieve the appearance of beautiful buds. Once buds begin to form, don't try to move or turn the pot. With the slightest change in flowering conditions, the cactus can drop buds. They usually bloom gradually. Flowering each proceeds for about a week. Some varieties of epiphyllum bloom even twice a year - in autumn and spring. The main thing is to ensure that the plant has enough nutrition and moisture. To help drain excess fluid frompot, it is better to put it on a pallet. Then the moisture will not stagnate at the roots and cause them to rot.
Cutting required?
How to grow an epiphyllum cactus? Care at home necessarily includes a procedure such as pruning. But how often should it be done? You need to remove only those stems that have a faceted or round section. They will never have flowers. Flat stems are also subject to pruning. Carrying out this process, it should be borne in mind that the flowers of plants are formed on stems that have grown over the past year. Those that have already bloomed will no longer form buds, but they can be cut off only after 2-3 years. They are essential for the survival of plants. Stems on which cork formations appear must be cut off. At the epiphyllum, it is also worth removing the stems growing or twisted into the inside of the bush. It is necessary to remove faded buds. Crushed charcoal can be used to process cut stems.
Possible problems
Why doesn't the epiphyllum bloom? Care at home, pruning were carried out correctly, but the plant still refuses to please you with beautiful inflorescences? What could be the matter? Most likely, the problem is a lack of lighting, too abundant watering in the winter, or a long stay at rest in a cool room. Sometimes plants do not bloom due to excess nitrogen in the soil. How to solve this problem?
What other difficulties might arise?
Beginner growers get lost and don't know what to do when epiphyllum refuses to bloom. A flower, home care for which does not present any particular problems, requires some conditions. First of all, check if it has enough light and moisture. For a while, stop feeding the plant with fertilizers with a high nitrogen content. Leave the cactus to rest in a cool dark room. The best time for this is autumn and winter. After that, the plant should bloom in the next season.
Transfer
So, how to do it right? What if the epiphyllum cactus grows too fast? Care involves regular plant transplantation. This action is carried out annually in the spring. It is better not to use a large pot for transplanting at once. Plants of mature age should be transplanted only when necessary. This procedure is carried out when the roots begin to break through the drainage holes.
The phyllocactus pot should not be too big, but wide. Containers made of plastic or ceramic are best suited. Drainage should be laid at the bottom of the pot. An excellent option for this purpose would be to use broken foam, expanded clay or special pebbles for drainage. Soil for plant transplantation can be made independently. To do this, mix 4 parts of soddy and leafy soil, add charcoal, coarse sand and peat to them. The composition of the soil should not include ingredients with a high content of lime. The optimal indicator of acidity - pH5-6.
Diseases and pests
This issue deserves special attention. How to grow epiphyllum at home? Photo, care and growth features - that's what usually worries beginner flower growers. However, this plant is susceptible to pests. Most often, scale insects, aphids, spider mites, and mealybugs are found on it. The latter feed on the sap of the plant and leave behind a cotton-like coating. After their appearance, the epiphyllum may begin to lag far behind in development. The danger lies in the fact that the worms can also carry viral diseases. You can remove pests from the surface of the plant using a cotton swab or brush soaked in soapy water or alcohol. Thus, the insects themselves and traces of their vital activity should be removed. If the lesion is severe enough, it is necessary to carry out a triple treatment. First, the plant is treated with Aktara, then with Confidor, and finally with Mospilan. The intervals between treatments should be 7 days.
Aphids are another pest that can kill epiphyllum. Care of a diseased plant in this case will include treatment with drugs such as Biotlin and Antitlin. The danger of aphids being affected is that they can carry viruses, due to which the plant can stop its growth altogether.
In conditions of chronic lack of moisture, the crop in question can be affected by spider mites. Like worms and aphids they startsuck the juices from the plant and thereby disrupt its further development. How in this case to save the epiphyllum flower? Home care must necessarily include treatment with insecticides. For this purpose, compositions such as "Aktara", "Aktellik" and others can be used.
What other pests affect epiphyllum? Care and reproduction of plants at home is often associated with parasites such as scale insects. These pests can completely deprive the plant of vitality. First of all, they should simply be mechanically removed from the cactus. After that, you can treat the plant with a systemic insecticide. Processing, if necessary, can be repeated after a couple of weeks.
Often, diseases such as fusarium, black rot and anthracnose also affect the epiphyllum. Care in this case should consist in removing the affected areas, processing sections with crushed coal. In this case, the plant itself is recommended to be sprayed with a solution of "Fundazol". How to understand that the flower was struck by rust? Dark spots appear on the surface of the stems. The disease can provoke excessive watering, low air temperatures, burns received under the influence of sunlight, water entering the stems during irrigation. If you find one of the symptoms described above, then the plant must be treated with a drug called Topaz.
A distinctive feature of anthracnose is the appearance of light brown spots on the stems. The diseased surface must be removed andsprinkle with crushed coal. The flower itself is recommended to be treated with a fungicide. Fusarium is easily recognized by the change in color of the phyllocactus stems. Instead of green, they become brown or reddish. This occurs as a result of rotting of the root system. How to save the epiphyllum in this case? Home care must necessarily include transplanting a flower into a new soil. It is better to cut off rotten roots. Sections are treated with crushed coal or ash. After transplanting the cactus, reconsider the watering regimen. Perhaps you did this too often, which caused waterlogging of the root system. As a result, a favorable environment for the development of a fungal infection was created.
Most often, diseases and pests on phyllocactus appear as a result of a serious violation of the conditions of detention. From insufficient watering or too bright light, the leaves may begin to dry and wrinkle. In this case, it will be enough just to rearrange the flower pot to a more suitable place, and normal development will resume. Often the condition of the plant deteriorates sharply after transplantation. Most likely, this is due to damage and death of the roots. Then the stems begin to dry out. Due to the excessive amount of fertilizer, the shoots may begin to crack. However, it is most difficult to cure a plant in case of rotting roots. Such a nuisance can happen not only due to fusarium, but also due to excess moisture near the roots. Rotting can also begin due to overheating of the pot in the sun. There is only one way to save the plant in this case - it is transplanting into fresh soil.with preliminary removal of diseased roots.
Reproduction Tips
Many want to have epiphyllum at home. Home care, photos of adult plants, growing conditions - this is information that is usually of interest to beginner gardeners. But how do you get epiphyllum sprouts?
There are several ways:
- Reproduction using seeds. There are no particular difficulties in this method. Seeds just need to be sown in moist soil intended for growing cacti. After that, the container is covered with a film and kept at a temperature of 20-23 degrees, from time to time raising it for ventilation. When the cactus-like shoots appear on the surface, the film can be completely removed.
- Reproduction by dividing the bush. A large flower in the process of transplantation can be divided into parts. It is best to carry out this procedure after flowering. Each part should have strong roots, he althy young stems. Dead and rotten roots should be removed immediately and treated with charcoal. The parts obtained as a result of division must be transplanted into separate containers with pre-prepared drainage and soil. The first time after transplantation, the planted parts of the phyllocactus require a little water. It is better to hide them from bright sunlight.
- Propagation by cuttings. This method is best used in April-May. Stems no longer than 13 cm long are cut from an adult plant. A wedge-shaped incision must be made on the lower part. After that, the cuttings are placed in a dry container for a couple of days. It's requiredfor the juice to flow out of the plant. Then the shoots can be deepened into the substrate to a depth of 1 cm. For cuttings, it is better to use a flat container. After planting the cuttings, the surface of the substrate must be sprinkled with a layer of sand. It will be possible to water the cuttings only two days after planting.
Conclusion
Now you know what an epiphyllum flower is. Photos, home care, flowering features, diseases and pests - we considered all these issues in this review. The main thing is to choose the right place and observe the irrigation regime. Epiphyllum is not too picky about the conditions, growing it is quite simple.
