Healthy and beautiful indoor flowers always ennoble and enliven the interior of any home. Especially interesting look unusual tropical plants.
In this article, we will share with the readers the secrets of growing a decorative flower with an interesting name for the afelandra. Care at home is quite difficult for him. This plant requires a careful attitude and needs constant attention. Most often in a domestic setting, it quickly drops leaves and dies. However, when creating favorable climatic conditions, timely watering and proper agrotechnical procedures, the flower will actively and rapidly grow, pleasing the eye with its well-groomed appearance for a long time.
How do flowers of the aphelander look?
There are about 150 varieties of these evergreen shrubs and shrubs. They belong to the family of Akantov, their homeland is the vast territory of the humid tropical forests of South and North America. You can find out the flowers of the afelandra by the following characteristic features. These plants are usually undersized. They have succulent lignified stems, reaching a height of 25-30 cm. Their leaves always attract attention. They are large, glossy, rich green, with bright silver veins and white stripes. At the end of August Aphelanders have golden spicate inflorescences resembling cones in shape. Usually the plant blooms throughout the autumn. When it ends, all the inflorescences are immediately removed. Otherwise, the plant forms fruits with seeds that ripen during the winter. They look like boxes with two nests, in which there are two seeds.
Decorative flower for your home collection - afelandra. Home care
In indoor plant growing, two species of Acanthus - the orange aphelandra and the protruding afhelandra - were most widely distributed. To grow something like home, you should make a lot of effort. It is believed that whimsically and whimsically indoor plant aphelandra. Care for him is to select the right fertile soil, provide sufficient lighting, permanent moisturizing and timely feeding, as well as pruning young shoots and faded inflorescences. Afelandra prefers good, fairly bright lighting, but at the same time does not like the hit of scorching sunlight. Therefore, it is desirable to pritenyat it when it is necessary.
In winter, the plant needs additional illumination. If you do not provide Afelandra with the necessary additional lighting with fluorescent lights, it will lose its decorative appearance, and its bloom may also worsen. In the warm season, you can take a pot of plant on the balcony or loggia. The main thing is to place the aphelandra so that it does not get precipitated and do not burn the direct rays of the sun. Outdoors, the plant will feel great. And in the cold season it is desirable to install a flower pot in a warm room and not to plunge the plant to drafts.
Optimal temperature conditions
How to grow a roomy flower aphelander? Care of it is not only in selecting the optimal lighting, but also in maintaining a favorable temperature and humidity in the room. In the warm season, the plant prefers to establish a comfortable temperature for it at 22 ° C - 25 ° C. In winter, a slight decrease in this parameter is possible up to 20 ° C. At temperatures below 18 ° C, the plant may not survive wintering. The only species called the Aphelandra protruding can withstand colder climatic conditions (up to 10 ° C).
Humidity in the room
Like many other people from the tropics, this shrub prefers high humidity. Maintain the necessary 60-80% with a household humidifier. Also the afelandra should be sprayed regularly from the spray gun. Perform this procedure should be in the morning and evening. In the winter season, experienced flower growers are advised to put the pot with the plant on a layer of wet claydite. This will create increased humidity around the flower.
Watering and top dressing
The regime of moistening of this interesting plant of the Acanthic family is as follows. In summer, the soil in the pot is watered twice a week, and in winter - every 10 days. It is very important that the substrate always remains moderately moist and never dry up. On the other hand, water stagnation should not be allowed, otherwise the roots of the afelanders can rot and die. For irrigation it is recommended to use only soft boiled warm water. And when moistening the earth coma do not allow liquid to enter the leaves. Well responds to the feeding of the afelandra. Care for her involves the regular introduction of nutrients. They make fertilizing in the period from May to October, fertilizer is applied every 14-15 days. For afelanders perfect liquid complex fertilizer for indoor plants. During the rest period (November-February), top dressing is stopped.
Plant transplantation into a new substrate
In addition to proper watering, sprinkling and top dressing, a timely transplant to the plant of the afelander is required. Care at home for young specimens is as follows: they are annually put in pots with a new substrate. Carry out this operation in the spring. Adult specimens are transplanted every two or three years. For afelanders pick up a fertile soil or make a soil mixture yourself. It is recommended to make a substrate from such ingredients as sand, peat and turf ground, in proportions of 1: 1: 2, respectively. If you buy a soil mixture in a store, choose a loose, moisture and breathable. Rooting of the aphelandra is carried out by cuttings.
Annual pruning of the bush
As a rule, at the end of February, the pruning of the mother plant is provided. This procedure is performed in order for the bush to have a beautiful fluffy shape. When pruning the plant, remove all the shoots, leaving only hemp 30 cm tall. After this, a regular spraying of the flower is carried out. Sometimes, for better adaptation after removing shoots, it is advised to shelter the aphelandra with a cellophane bag. If the old plants are too stretched, and the cuttings do not help to give them the former beautiful shape, they produce cuttings.
Reproduction
After cutting, the resulting side shoots are placed in a mixture of peat with sand and covered with a hood. At a room temperature of 23 ° C-24 ° C, rooting occurs easily, especially if you constantly ventilate and spray the cuttings. Sometimes, shoots are treated with growth stimulants and bottom heating is used. After 15-30 days, the root cuttings form roots, and in 50-60 days - stem. After that they are planted in the soil mixture from humus, leaf, peat soil and sand. In addition to propagation, the whole leaf and seeds of the apheland plant are sometimes reproduced. Care at home when breeding the next. Seed is sown in March or late February - after harvest. For seeds, a good substrate consisting of sand and leaf land is selected. In the greenhouse necessarily maintain a favorable temperature (22 ° C) and humidity. When propagating with leaf cuttings, a well developed leaf with an axillary bud is used. It is rooted in a mixture of sand and peat under a glass cap.