Eschinanthus flower: care, instructions for growing, species

The article presents the Eschinanthus flower: care, a complete guide to growing, breeding features, species.

Aeschiatnus - in ancient Greek it means a distorted flower. Probably due to its unusual inverted shape. People also call it a fondant flower because of the saturated colors in which the buds of this plant are painted. It belongs to the Gesneriaceae family.

Eschinanthus: description

Eschinanthus

Aeschinanthus belongs to the group of epiphytic plants that adorn the trunks of trees, forophytes with their flowers. However, they do not receive nutrition from these phorophytes. The Southeast and South regions of Asian countries became the birthplace of the flower. Branches that remain green throughout the year reach 90 centimeters, but may not exceed 30 centimeters.

This is a semi-shrub or climbing plants pollinated in their natural habitat by birds of suntarium, which have a long and thinnest beak. The branches are covered with fleshy leaves attached with short petioles.

These flowers have received great success among gardeners due to the spectacular foliage painted in rich green colors and bright orange or deep red beautiful flowers. They are oval in shape, but their tip is pointed at the top. These juicy, bright leaves grow up to 10 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide. The formation of flowering shoots occurs at the tops of the stems and inflorescences in the form of brushes appear there. The tube changes its color starting from a yellow base and smoothly turns to red along the edge of the petals.

With full disclosure of the flower, you can see a snow-white ovary protruding from the middle.

Eschinanthus: features of care

Eschinanthus

In order for the eschinanthus to become a decoration of the house, it is necessary to figure out how to properly care for it. It should be noted that growing it at home requires certain strength and skills, especially if you want to see flowering. For the development to be correct, it is necessary to create the appropriate conditions for the plant. This species can be a good decoration for home and office.

To get a lush bush, whose branches will gracefully hang down, you need to place cuttings in pairs in one pot. The planter for eschinanthus is literally created, as it looks the most impressive in it. For a regular and bright flowering, the plant must be properly looked after and the conditions necessary for it must be created.

Eschinanthus at home: lighting and temperature

Eschinanthus at home

Aeschinanthus likes to grow in a well-lit place, but not in the open sun. The west or east side of the house is ideal for growing it. If this is not possible and the plant can be located only in the south, then it will be necessary to create a shade for it that will protect it from the sun's rays; this can be done with the help of a curtain. If this is not done, then the plant will suffer from burns on the foliage. If it is possible to grow a plant only in the northern part of the house, then it is worth thinking about whether it makes sense to do this at all, because there it will never begin to bloom. The room in which the plant is grown must be constantly ventilated, but drafts must not be allowed.

For lush and abundant flowering, it is necessary to create conditions under which sudden temperature changes will not occur.The best temperature conditions for him will be from +20 to +25 degrees. For a beautiful, spectacular spring bloom, at the onset of the autumn season, it is necessary to transfer the plant to where the thermometer will not show above +18 and below +15 degrees, but the lighting should remain good. Please note that if the thermometer drops below the +15 mark, leaves will begin to fall. With the right approach and ensuring the right conditions, already in the first spring days, you can see the formed buds, after which it will be time to return the plant to its previous conditions from +20 to +25 degrees.

Watering requirements, humidity level

Watering and maintaining optimal indoor humidity is a very important part of proper plant care. Watering activities are carried out after the top layer of the earthen mixture has dried to a depth of several centimeters. The liquid that forms in the trays must be discarded. It is important not to let the earthy coma dry out, as this leads to the falling of flowers and buds. When sending plants for a cool winter, you need to reduce the frequency of watering. It is impossible to overflow the plant and allow moisture to stagnate in the soil, this will cause the development of rot of yellowing of the leaves. For irrigation, use only settled warm water. To make it softer, add a few drops of lemon juice to a container of water.

Eschinanthus has the property of accumulating water for storage, so it is not afraid of low humidity in the room. But with the onset of the summer season, it is necessary to spray twice a day, protecting the flowers from moisture. For these purposes, water is also used, as during irrigation. If necessary, you can pour over the plant from a warm shower, but only during the warm season. During the winter cold season, spraying is not necessary. In the case of too dry indoor air, it is enough to place the pot on a pallet with damp small stone.

Fertilization, pruning, replanting

With the arrival of spring and until the first autumn days, Echianthus needs regular feeding. Complex fertilizers are suitable for them, which are used for plants in bloom. They must be brought in half as much as indicated in the instructions and with interruptions of one week. The procedure must be carried out in conjunction with watering.

With the development and growth of the plant, leaves begin to crumble from the tops of the branches, which has a bad effect on the appearance. In order to maintain the aesthetic appearance, it is necessary to regularly prune before flowering begins or after it has ended. During the procedure, it is necessary to cut off excessively elongated stems by a third and clean all the rest of dried leaves. Pinching the upper parts of the shoots is possible, but not necessary.

The transplant is carried out by the transshipment method, before the beginning of flowering or after its end. When choosing a container for a transplant, pay attention that its diameter is 2 centimeters larger than that of the previous one. To protect the plant from moisture stagnation, a drainage layer must be laid on the bottom.
At a young age, the transplant should take place every year, then only when there is a need for it, for example, the roots will become cramped and they will begin to be seen from the holes of the pot. In close quarters, the plant has a lush, bright and abundant flowering.

Soil requirements

Aeschinanthus prefers to grow in loose, light, nutritious and well-permeable soil. A ready-made universal earthen mixture sold in all specialized stores is well suited. To make it even looser, you can add a little perlite or vermiculite there. You can prepare an earthen mixture yourself using peat, sphagnum, river sand and leaf humus. All these substances are mixed in a ratio of 2x1x1x2 and poured on top of the drainage layer in the pot.This mixture will give the plant everything it needs for healthy growth. You can supplement the earthen mixture with ground bark or charcoal. The pot in which the eschinanthus will be grown should not be tall, but it should be voluminous.

Details about reproduction

After several years, the decorativeness of the plant begins to be lost, for this reason it must be systematically renewed. The plant lives from 3 to 5 years, after which it ceases to please with its beauty and it must be thrown away and a new young bush must be grown.

Propagation using stem and leaf cuttings

Aeschinanthus grafting method is especially popular among flower lovers. In this case, it is possible to use stem and leaf cuttings.

In the first case, it is necessary to cut off the upper part of the shoot by 10 centimeters in length, leaving three pairs of nodes on it. Cutting should be done before buds begin to form or after the plant has bloomed and the period of active wakefulness has ended. Having cut off the cuttings, it is necessary to clear the lower part of the leaves and plant it in the sand mixed with peat in equal amounts. The containers must be covered with foil, creating a greenhouse effect. For faster rooting, cuttings can be treated with growth stimulants and for preventive purposes with charcoal at the cut site. The container must be placed in conditions where the temperature will be kept at around +25 degrees. The emergence of roots should be expected within three weeks.

For propagation with the help of leaf cuttings, it is necessary to cut off the leaf and the bud together, process the cut, plant it in a container prepared and filled with an earthen mixture and cover with film or glass. As soon as the cuttings give roots, they must be planted in separate pots. To get a more lush bush, you need to plant a couple or more cuttings in one pot. A drainage layer is laid out on the bottom of the pot, on top of it is an earthen mixture, for which you need turf, peat and river sand, mixed in equal proportions, and a thin layer of sand is poured over the mixture.

Seed reproduction

It is extremely rare for flower growers to resort to seed reproduction. You can collect the seeds yourself from the fruit-boxes, shaking them out first on a newspaper, and then, evenly, on the surface of the soil in a container. After sowing, the container must be covered, creating a greenhouse effect. As soon as the sprouts that have hatched grow up, they will need to be transplanted into separate pots. Flowering will come in a year.

Possible troubles

Various diseases and harmful insects can only arise if the plant is improperly taken care of. The problems that arise most often will be discussed below.

If the foliage begins to fall off during the autumn-winter period, then the temperature where the plant is located at this time has dropped below +15 degrees. If this is the summer period, then the reason may be that the earthen lump was overheard, the roots were injured, or the plant was indoors in a strong draft. The first thing to do is to resume proper watering. If there are too few leaves left on the branches, then they must be cut off and covered with polyethylene for a while.

If the plant does not bloom, then most likely it was wintering at temperatures above + 18 degrees. During the winter period, the flower needs to be in a cool room for at least a month.

The flowers begin to darken and sometimes crumble due to a change in its position, too dry air in the room, or if, during spraying, the buds were not protected from the ingress of liquid on them. The situation can be corrected only by eliminating all the shortcomings.

The leaves are covered with brown spots if watering is carried out with low temperature water. The water should always be warm, within 20 degrees.

Yellowness appears on the tips of the leaves and they begin to dry out, most likely the reason is too much heat and dryness in the air. If we fix this, then the situation will improve.

Blackening of the leaves occurs due to stagnation of moisture in the ground. It is necessary to carry out watering measures only after the topsoil has dried out.

Leaves begin to curl if the plant is placed next to heating devices. In the hot summer period, it must be sprayed.

Diseases and pests

Aeschinanthus can get sick with gray rot. This is a fungal disease that can be identified by the spots that cover the leaves and stems and later lose their elasticity. The cause of the disease is stagnation of moisture in the ground, the temperature is below a possible minimum and the presence of drafts. To cope with the disease, you need to use fungicides, and then begin to properly care for.

Another disease that can begin to develop with high humidity and low temperatures in the room is powdery mildew. You can determine it by the white bloom on the leaves, after which they begin to dry out and fall off. At the first manifestations of the disease, it is necessary to spray with potassium permanganate, diluting 2.5 grams in a bucket of water. If the disease is detected at a late stage, then all damaged areas must be removed and treated with fungicides. When processing, it is important to follow the instructions in the instructions. As a preventive measure, it is worth spraying by mixing water, soap and soda ash in a proportion of 1 liter. x 4 gr. x 5 gr.

Aphids cause yellowing of foliage and its flying around. With a small amount of them, you can do with laundry soap, treating it with foam, or you can use black hot pepper. To prepare a mixture of black pepper, you need to grind, and then mix 200 grams with a small amount of water, boil for an hour, let it brew for 24 hours, filter and distribute in glass jars, tightly closing with a lid. Store such a product in a dark room. Before processing, it is necessary to mix soap with cooked pepper extract with water in proportions of 5g. x 10 gr. x 1 l. In case of severe damage to the bush, it is necessary to resort to insecticides.

When the scabbard appears on the plant, brown bulges appear, and after a while the leaves turn yellow and dry. With a small number of insects, the plant can be treated with garlic infusion. To do this, chop the garlic and mix 1 teaspoon with 500 grams of water. After that, let the solution brew for 24 hours, strain and process the plant. In case of a large lesion, insecticidal preparations must be applied.

Due to the appearance of a mealybug, a plaque similar to cotton is formed on the surface of the stems and in the axils of the leaves. The flower begins to wilt and then to die. When you find the first signs of the appearance of these harmful insects, you must immediately wipe the plant with alcohol or soapy foam. With a large lesion of the bush, treatment should be carried out using insecticides.

Prevention

As a prophylaxis against pests, you can periodically carry out treatment with a solution, which can be done by mixing eucalyptus oil and ox in a proportion of 10 drops per 1 liter.
It is important to know that in order to cope with pests, a one-time treatment will not be enough. Spraying should be done 2 to 4 times, taking a break of 14-18 days.

Variety of species

In their natural habitat, there are about 190 species, but only 15 of them are suitable for growing in an apartment. Among these plants, there are those eschinatus that are most actively grown by flower growers.

Marble

- the foliage of this species is especially interesting, it is painted on the outside with irregular white stripes, and the inside of the leaf is painted in chestnut color, which makes them very effective. Their length is about 10 centimeters. Ideal for hanging planters as it looks great there. In this species, the flowering is rather inconspicuous and does not increase the decorative effect of the plant. They are colored green and covered with brown spots.

Nice

- the flower most beloved by flower growers. This is a semi-shrub plant with stems up to half a meter long. They are covered with fleshy oblong 10 cm leaves of emerald color. When the plant begins to bloom, it is covered with red flowers gathering in a dozen racemose inflorescences. Corolla is colored orange with a red tint. Its tube at the top is somewhat curved and divided into 5 parts, in appearance it looks like blades. Each crescent-shaped bend is covered with a speck of reddish with a shade of brown.

Beautiful - the similarity between aeschianthus beautiful and aeschianthus beautiful only in name, although some flower growers take them for one species. In fact, they differ significantly from each other. Lovely has foliage with red edging along the edge and smaller in size. The stems are colored in a shade of pale red. The flower with a diameter of 6 centimeters is painted in a deep red color, and the corolla is pink.

Twister

- its curved stems are covered with the same curved leaves. They are curly, as if a stylist has worked with them. Dark green leaves have a glossy surface and are covered with wax. When flowering begins, the bush is covered with bright orange flowers with a red tint.

Mona lisa

- an unpretentious beauty, which is easier to care for than any other species. It has hanging branches covered with dark green foliage with a pronounced median vein. The formation of inflorescences in the form of brushes occurs at the tips of the branches. They are made up of flowers of deep red color.

Lobba

- Java Island became the birthplace of this species. Its flexible red stems are covered with small dark green oval leaves. The outer and inner sides are slightly different in shades of green. Inflorescences in the form of brushes appear at the tops of branches and are collected from flowers of deep red color with a bright yellow corolla.

Eschinanthus