Proper care for sundew in the home

Perennial herbs of the Rosyankov family are grown as ornamental plants. They are valued by florists for their unusual appearance and ability to feed on insects. Caring for sundew in the home is fairly simple if you can reproduce the natural habitat.

It should be borne in mind that the halo of the dewdrops is large, from the rainforests to the marshes of the temperate climatic zone. Each species is adapted to certain modes of temperature and humidity. Rosyanka growing in a territory with a cold climate, need a period of rest with low temperatures, and tropical varieties are able to do without it all year round.

External signs and features of the plant

Depending on the halo of the habitat, the plants differ in height and size of the bush, the shape and color of the leaves. The natives of South America, New Zealand, and Africa have a flower stem with a height of up to 60 cm, and the inhabitants of the marshes of the middle band do not exceed 8-15 cm.

Species signs

Despite the diversity of species, the structure of sundew has common features.

1. Leaves rounded or oblong in shape are assembled in a basal rosette, have a length of 50 mm to a meter, depending on the variety. On the surface of the leaf there are hairs, at the ends of which accumulate a drop of sticky secret, resembling dew.
2. The root system is fragile, of short length, since in a natural environment the plant exists on poor soils that are unable to supply it with a full set of nutrients.
3. The plant throws out high flower stalks so that insects can pollinate them without risk of dying. Flowers are tied on a stalk over the leaves-traps in early spring. Coloring can take a pink, purple or cream shade.
4. Fruits are formed after the end of the flowering period and the fall of the petals. Seeds of sundew are under a thin layer of peel, there is no flesh.

In the process of evolution, the plants learned to extract additional food from insects, which are caught in an unusual way.

On whom and how the sundew hunts

Carnivorous plants have developed ways to lure and kill their victims with the help of the leaves of traps. The larger the leaf, the larger the insect it is capable of capturing. These can be small midges, moths, mosquitoes, flies, and in some cases dragonflies or butterflies. Just in order to observe how the sundew hunting, it is worthwhile to have an unusual flower.

The plant develops a dense secret that attracts insects. Drops of paralytic substances accumulate at the tips of glandular hairs, abundantly covering the edges and the upper surface of the leaves. The victim, caught in captivity, gets stuck in a sticky substance and has no chance to escape.

The sheet folds. With the help of food enzymes, the plant dissolves the chitinous surface of the victim's body, splits up to the simplest substances. So sundew extract the vital nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium.

Rosyanka grows well on acidic soils. For its cultivation it is not desirable to use ceramic pots, which eventually promote soil alkalinization.

Growing conditions

Rosyanka is an unusual plant that has developed adaptive mechanisms for survival under rather harsh conditions. These are depleted soils, often high humidity, limited lighting. It is necessary to take into account the needs of the plant and create an appropriate habitat.

The soil

It is not recommended to use traditional flower grounds for sundew. The most suitable is depleted substrate with acid reaction. Soil for sundew must be very light, it is good to retain moisture. These requirements correspond to the peat "Fasco TP Pelgorskoe (Morris Green, pH, ), "Agrobalt-B".

Self-prepared formulations are also suitable:

• large sand mixed with peat, taken in equal parts;
• peat, connected with granules of sericum;
• The best option is moss sphagnum.

To avoid gradual soil alkalization, a pot of glass or plastic is selected, excluding ceramics.

Humidity

Moisture, which is necessary sundry, should be at least 60%. To do this, the pot with the plant is immersed in a deep pan in which the water level should be at least 1 cm of water. To moisten the soil use distilled or suspended rain water.

If possible, the sardine room is grown in an aquarium of the terrarium type, the bottom of which is lined with moss.

It should be borne in mind that prolonged waterlogging of the soil leads to decay of the roots. To avoid this, the drainage material is not clay, but large quartz sand.

When there is a lack of lighting, the sundew stops the dew and slows down the growth.

Lighting

The plant is exacting to the length of daylight, in summer the duration should be at least 12 hours, in winter - 8 hours. The bright sun transfers the plant badly, which burns the leaves, drying the nectar that attracts insects. And in the absence of light, the plant quickly dies.

Therefore, the best option, how to plant sundew, will be placing the pot with the plant on a window located on the east or west, where the sunlight falls in the morning or evening. In cloudy weather or in winter use additional lighting.

Temperature

The range of comfort temperature for a plant is from 5-6 degrees in winter, to 30 degrees in summer. Deviation from this amplitude in one direction or another leads to the attenuation of growth and rapid death of the plant.

For tropical species, during the vegetation period, a temperature of +30 is permissible, in the winter period, 14-16 degrees. For plants from the temperate climate zone, the favorable temperature in the warm season is 22-25 degrees, in winter - 7-12 degrees.

The balance of humidity and temperature is the main condition under which heat exchange is maintained in plants.

Food

You can decide that caring for sundance at home can not be full in the absence of insects. But it is not so. The plant will not die, but will only slow growth. But even thus it is necessary to refuse traditionally accepted ways of additional dressings.

In summer it is better to put sundew in the open air, where she can hunt. In winter, additional food sources for sundew in the home can serve as gnats, living in pots with indoor flowers. If the growth slowdown is particularly noticeable, then you can feed the house predator with dried flies from the pet store.

Invasion of aphids can not even be repulsed by a predatory plant. When a colony of pests is found, the affected areas must be immediately treated with an insecticide.

Care for sundew in the home

In the absence of experience, it is better to choose a variety that does not require a too delicate approach. The most problem-free is Cape sundew, which tolerates dry air in apartments with central heating. Most varieties are more demanding on the rules of cultivation. The result depends only on how to care for sundance at home:

1. Because of the weak root system, the plant has enough capacity of 10 cm in depth. The best option is an aquarium / terrarium. On the surface of the soil it is desirable to lay the litter of moss, to retain moisture.
2. Packaging with the plant is placed outside direct sunlight, and in the winter, away from central heating batteries. It is necessary to monitor compliance with the temperature regime, sufficient air flow.
3. Watering is carried out regularly, constantly keeping the soil moist. Use only distilled or distilled water. Sprinkle homemade sundew under the root, not allowing the flow of water to the leaves.
4. Under insufficient illumination, the plants are lightened. In summer, on the contrary, they shade from too bright sun rays.
5. It is inadmissible to water the sundew with tap water, or to apply liquid fertilizing to the ground. Lack of nutrition is replenished with the help of dried insects.
6. The only insect that the sundew can not handle is aphids. Affected areas, should be treated with the drug "Fitoverm which in a volume of 5 ml is diluted in 1 liter of water. The plant is sprayed and isolated for 24 hours using a plastic bag.
7. Rosyanka lives on average in a 3-year-old premises. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of the separation of young shoots in advance to form new shrubs.
8. For pollination of plants without the participation of insects, the peduncles should be rubbed among themselves, or the pollen transferred by means of a brush. Some types of sundew pollination produce on their own.

Determine the presence of problems can be by changing the color of parts of the plant and the disappearance of transparent drops from the surface of the leaves.

With a strong over-wetting, an unscheduled transplant is performed to prevent rotting of the roots. All affected processes are removed.

Transplant and breeding

Plant transplantation is recommended to be done every 2 years in the spring, when the sundew is entering a phase of active growth. After the transplant, it is better to remove the peduncles so that the weakened plant does not expend additional forces on their development.

You can propagate sundew in several ways:

1. Seedling from seeds at home is grown from own seed or acquired in a greenhouse. This method is the most time consuming and time consuming. Seeds are planted directly in moss, covered with film or glass and kept at a temperature of at least 25 degrees for about a month. After the appearance of several leaves, a transplant is made to a permanent place. Within four months, the plant begins to form a stem. Breeding sundew seeds only under the power of experienced gardeners.
2. A healthy bush can be multiplied by division. The lateral sprouts are carefully separated from the main stem together with the roots and placed in separate small containers with water or moss. After rooting, they can be transplanted into a pot or terrarium for full development. The division is recommended to be carried out at the planned transplantation, in order not to injure the plant once again.
3. When cuttings from the trunk cut a few centimeters and put the resulting seedling in water or moss until the roots. It is necessary to carefully monitor that the root in the water does not begin to rot. Then the seedling is transplanted into the soil.

Following the above recommendations will allow you to grow sundew from the seeds, and multiply the already existing bush with cuttings or shoots. If you follow the basic rules and maintain the temperature, lighting and humidity at the proper level, then the plant will not cause much trouble.

Video about sundew forms and care rules