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The world of ferns is unusually extensive, and many varieties are successfully grown as indoor crops. Among the most enduring and grateful people are nephrolepys, whose nursing and rearing is on the shoulder even for a beginner in floriculture.
To the genus nephrolepas, which unites about 40 independent species, there are both terrestrial ferns and real epiphytes. Most of the plants originate from the subtropical and tropical regions of the western and eastern hemispheres. Creating conditions for this flower in the apartment, you need to consider its natural preferences and habits.
Lighting for nephrolepis
Ferns are the indigenous inhabitants of the forest, which shelter them safely from the scorching sun. When caring for nephrolepis at home, plants are protected from direct sunlight, for example, on east or west windows. In the warm season, the flower will not feel uncomfortable even on the north side. Only in winter, the plant may need a small backlight.
But on the south side, the lighting for nephrolepis is clearly inappropriate. Its excess leads to yellowing and drying of the leaves, the fern looks oppressed, the available Vayi slows growth, very rarely new ones appear.
If there is no alternative to the southern window, a pot with nephrolepis is best placed deep into the room or put a shading screen between the fern and the glass.
Temperature and humidity for nephrolepis
Nephrolepis does not tolerate dry air and a long stay in the cool at temperatures below +12 ° C. Most plants in humid subtropical forests and tropics could not comfortably triple in a city apartment. However, this genus of ferns is very hardy. If the artificial humidity is maintained artificially, the temperature for nephrolepis can be + 16-25 ° C. In the hotter air, the plant looks depressed, but comes alive if it regularly sprinkles or sprinkles the crown.
In winter, when the growth activity falls, the temperature is lowered and the pot must be removed from the radiators and other sources of heat. A big enemy of the fern is a draft. To care for nephroepsis was not in vain, do not put the plant under an open transom or a balcony door.
Like in summer, in the winter for a fern regularly arrange a warm shower with soft water. Before "water procedures" the ground is covered with a film or other waterproof material.
Watering nephrolepis
When growing nephrolepis at home, flower care is impossible without properly organized irrigation. On the one hand, the fern is a culture that requires constant moistening of the soil. But on the other hand, excess moisture is the right way to develop rot, spread pests, lose decorativeness and destroy the plant.
The root system of most species of this fern does not penetrate deep into the soil, but it forms a dense lump beneath the soil surface itself. To exclude a dangerous drying out to the culture and prevent soil from sinking due to stagnant moisture, it is better to use watering the nephrolepis from the pallet. Save water in the soil will help mulch the surface with dry sphagnum or small expanded clay. Good help in combating the drying up of the soil and the entire flower using household air humidifiers.
When caring for nephrolepis, whether watering or spraying, you need to take a soft, durable or filtered water. Its temperature should be slightly above room temperature.
In winter, it is especially important not to allow the accumulation of moisture in the pot and the pan under it. If the soil under the nephroepisis is still sour, it is better to carry out an unscheduled transplant and replace the spoiled soil.
Soil for nephrolepis and fern feeding
Under normal conditions, transplantation is carried out in the spring and often combines with fern breeding by dividing rhizomes. In order for the specimen transferred to a new pot to acclimatize quickly and go into growth, they get ready ground for ferns or prepare the mixture themselves.
The plant feels comfortable in a weakly acidic or neutral substrate, which perfectly passes water, air and does not interfere with the development of the root system. If the soil when taking care of nephrolepasis and growing it at home is done by oneself, in it are added in equal parts:
- fertile garden land;
- peat moss;
- well-washed river sand;
- soil from under coniferous crops.
A useful component can be chopped sphagnum and chopped charcoal. These additives not only structure the substrate, but also protect the plant from bacterial flora and decay.
If the acidity of the soil for nephrolepis goes beyond pH, units, it is necessary to apply dolomite flour.
From spring to autumn, the fern is fed twice a month using complex fertilizers for ornamental and deciduous crops. In winter, the frequency of feeding is reduced to once a month.
Difficulty in caring for nephrolepis
The main symptom, signaling problems - yellowing, drying and loss of complex-pinnate elongated wai. There can be many reasons for this. What are the main difficulties in caring for nephrolife waiting for the florist?
Most often a lover of indoor plants have to deal with the natural process of renewing the green part of the plant. In place of the obsolete vyayam appear young. At the same time, the crown is not bare, it looks elastic, lively and healthy. In this case, dry vayi is carefully removed and cleaned up under the flower.
Another thing is the loss of decorativeness due to the disruption of care for nephrolithiasis. To the loss of leaves leads:
- systematic drying of the earth coma;
- excess watering, which caused the appearance of root rot;
- an incorrectly chosen place for a flower on which the plant suffers from excess light or a draft.
Slowing growth is usually associated with low temperatures, lack of nutrition or free meta in the pot. The last two cases of difficulty in caring for nephroepisis are solved by transplanting or adjusting the feeding regime.
The frequent error of the florist is the refusal of sterilization or disinfection of the soil before planting a houseplant. On the dense leathery ferns of the fern, only spider mites, annoying with excessively dry air, or brought from the garden of the scabbard can settle. But the number of soil pests is much greater. Nephrolepis is threatened by putrefactive bacteria and pathogenic fungi, mealybugs, thrips. Complex treatment with insecticides and fungicides will help to cope with them. If in the ground there is a nematode, then the flower inevitably perishes.
