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Over the past few decades, this decorative leafy flower has gained immense popularity among gardeners all over the world. Care Schefflera at home is simple. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of the plant among amateur flower growers.
Flower Description
At home, most often grown tree varieties. Among the 600 species are liana and shrub specimens, both with green and variegated leaves. It is the bizarre shape of the plates that attracts everyone's attention to the sheffler. Each leaf consists of several( from 3 to 12) palmar slices on thin long petioles, which, due to their location, resemble an open umbrella.
The homeland of shefflera is the tropical forests of Australia, New Zealand, and also Southeast Asia, the Malay Archipelago, and Indonesia.
In its natural environment, the plant settles on the trunks of large trees so as to be as close as possible to the light.
Many people are wondering whether the chefleur blooms at home? On this occasion, it is worth saying that there is practically no budding in the room. But in nature it produces inflorescences in the form of huge panicles or brushes resembling tentacles. For this feature, it is often called a tree octopus.
Even without Scheffler flowers, it is a real decoration for any private collection.
Caring for a homemaker at home: light and temperature
At all times of the year, a lot of bright light is needed. But direct sunlight will burn the leaves. Best suited windows facing east or west. If you put the pot on the south side, take care of the curtains from the sun. To preserve the decorativeness of the leaves on cloudy autumn and winter days, illuminate the plant with fluorescent lamps.
The variegated look requires more light, and varieties with solid green leaves are not as sensitive to shading. Analyze this fact if the sheffler is not growing, and you no longer know what to do.
As a tropical plant, this flower reacts poorly to elevated air temperature. Best of all, she feels with a thermometer of + 18 - 22 in the summer and + 13 - 16 in the winter. If the temperature rises above + 23 °, sheffler wood slows in growth. Hypothermia occurs at rates below + 12 °.Therefore, it should be very attentive to such parameters. Drafts are also contraindicated.
When looking after a homemaker at home, care must be taken to keep the plant pot away from batteries, radiators, air conditioners, and fans.
Strict irrigation mode
It is necessary to closely monitor the condition of the soil in the pot. Shefflera acutely reacts to the slightest waterlogging of an earthen clod. Root rot is very easy to form. However, it is also impossible to overdry the flower. We saw that the top layer of soil dries out - water the plant a little.
To care for a homemaker at home, use separated water slightly warmer than room temperature.
On particularly hot days, more intensive watering may be required. The rates range from once every 5 days to once every 2 to 3 days( for a hot summer).Remember that everything is purely individual, and depends on the degree of evaporation of moisture and ambient temperature. After irrigation, be sure to drain excess water from the pan.
It is not recommended to replant the Scheffler immediately after purchase.
It is necessary that the plant is accustomed to new conditions. If you want to change the flower ground, wait at least a month.
This culture is a big fan of high humidity. To help her survive the summer and heating season without loss, often spray leaves with water( separated from the same temperature as for irrigation).It is also useful to periodically wipe the plates with a damp cloth. So you not only provide the necessary moisture, but also remove excess dust, which will facilitate breathing to the plant.
If you do not have time for daily spraying, replace it with a warm shower every two weeks.
Soil selection and
transplant features. It is best for shefflers to take a nutrient-rich soil with a weakly acid reaction. If there is an opportunity to prepare the soil mixture by yourself, use it.
The following compounds are considered most useful:
- Add humus and sand to the mixture of leaf and sod land.
- Mix in equal proportions of leaf and sod land, as well as peat, humus and sand.
- Also suitable for growing shefflera substrate for palm trees and roses.
Transplant depends on the age of your plant. The young specimen needs to change the land every spring, since the shiffler grows rapidly at this age. An adult flower growing in a big tub can not be replanted at all. It is enough to replace the top layer of the earth once a year. This should be done carefully so as not to harm the roots.
Increase the size of the pot gradually. During each transplant, take a capacity of approximately 5 cm more than the previous one.
An unnecessarily huge pot will require more water when watering. So you risk to pour in a sheffler.
Feed scheme
For a flower like a sheffler, home care must include fertilizers. Most of all she needs it during active growth. Usually this period falls on the end of March and lasts the whole of September. The frequency of fertilizing - 1-2 times a month. To do this, use mineral fertilizers, organics( weak solution) and humates. They can be added to water for irrigation, or, after irrigation, to be applied to still wet soil.
The accumulation of fertilizers in the soil is much more dangerous than their lack. The soil turns sour, and the roots gradually die off.
First, the smallest roots, and then the whole root.
Of organic matter, cow manure has a beneficial effect. Also use infused weed tops. Both products are filled with water( 1 part organic to 3 parts water), then left to ferment for 5 to 10 days. The finished infusion is again diluted with liquid not less than 10 times. But bird dung fertilizer is used extremely rarely. It needs to be diluted even more carefully( at least 40 times).
Choosing your method of reproduction
Reproduces the plant by seed, cuttings and rooting of air layering. How to care in the house for seedlings shefflera can be seen in the photo.
Seeds
It is rare for anyone to bring this plant to flowering and collect seeds at home. But to grow it from purchased grains is not as difficult as it seems. Sow seeds no later than January or February. They are pre-soaked in zircon solution.
Earth is usually taken the same as for the adult specimen. When the seeds are located, moisten the substrate with a spray bottle. You can sow directly in small pots or cups, so you do not spend time diving. Each container put in a bag and tie it. From time to time, air your improvised greenhouse for a few minutes.
Shanks
Planting material is taken only from completely healthy plants. Find a sufficiently stiff twig and cut it with a knife with a sharp blade( the tool must be pre-treated with an antibacterial agent).Next, put the cut runaway into a glass with a stimulator solution for approximately 5 to 7 hours. Then transfer to the prepared substrate. Provide greenhouse conditions and frequent airing. Photos of this stage of home care for cheffleroi can be seen above.
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In the spring, a small incision is made on the stem. Moss should be soaked in a solution of universal fertilizer and carefully close the incision. Over sphagnum wound film. Moss is constantly kept wet. The first roots will appear no earlier than six months. Then they wait about a couple more months until they get stronger. Then cut the top along with the roots and put in the ground. The remaining stem is removed almost at the root. Watering does not stop. Over time, new shoots are formed.
Important! The juice of the flower is poisonous. Avoid contact with the skin and mucous membranes of the eyes. When shaping and trimming shiffler, all operations are best carried out with rubber gloves.
Possible difficulties in growing:
- Yellow leaf color is a sign of a lack of nutrients in the soil. Urgently feed the plant.
- Falling leaves, shefflera does not grow - the temperature regime is broken, the pot stands in a draft or watering errors are made.
- Twisted, blackened leaves, emergence of dropsy( the reverse side of the plate is covered with pimples) - the ground between the waterings does not have time to dry out, or the non-settled water was used.
If you do not monitor the humidity of the air and the purity of the plant, you can receive aphid, spider mite, or scythe.
Without interference, this plant practically does not branch. At home, to form the crown shefflery is not difficult.
Photo, how to do it can be seen above.
This plant will be a real gift for any flower lover. In addition, it not only pleases the eye, but also cleans the air from nicotine and toxic tar. And her colorful umbrellas will become a reliable shelter from the blues at any time of the year.
