It is a perennial plant of the acanthus genus. The flower of the cross-country comes from the tropical forests of the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). For a long time it was considered very moody and was grown in greenhouses. But breeders have significantly improved the nature of the southern beauty and now its amazing buds can be admired at home.
Cross-dress flower - varieties
The plant belongs to tropical herbs, in India it is popular with women. They decorate with such flowers hair when visiting temples. Cross-dresses as houseplants appeared in 1950, while at that time it was possible to invent a hybrid, different from the natural kind of unpretentiousness, stamina and compactness. In nature, there are about 50 of their varieties, but for domestic breeding, a cross-mandrel flower is funnel-shaped and funnel-shaped . The remaining room varieties are obtained from these subspecies.
Houseplant cross-dresser undulating
The plant grows to 50 cm, but can reach a height of 1 m (if it grows for many years). Attracts decorative bright foliage with pointed outlines and wavy edges, located a few blocks, and abundantly branching trunks of green color. Even in winter without juicy bouquets, the plant looks decorative like a lush shrub of dark malachite color.
Crossandra is a juicy indoor flower with large axillary baskets, with petals lowered. Color buds - salmon, pinkish, yellow, at the base - a paler shade. Flowers are distinguished by an original shape - they are asymmetric, with petals facing in the same direction, do not have an odor. Buds blossom quickly, continuously, not simultaneously, but in several pieces. The plant ripens quickly and proceeds to the release of colorful shoots.
Indoor plants - a funnel-shaped cross-dresser
At home, it reaches 90 cm. Stems are erect, branched, green or brownish-violet. Leaves - large, glossy, oblong, dark-bottle color, with sparse hairs. They reach a length of 12 cm. Domestic cross-dress flowers are endowed with tubular bilabial coronals with five petals and a pale core at the base of the bend.
The diameter of the blossoming bud reaches 2.5 cm, they are collected in thick curvy spiky bouquets of bright yellow, orange, white or red hue. Brushes with flowers resemble the shape of corn cobs and reach a length of 10 cm. Buds constantly form new shoots. This they provide the plant with a long flowering - from spring to autumn.
Cross-dress flower - care at home
This plant requires care and continuous monitoring, especially it is sensitive to moisture and lighting . For example, sun rays should not get on the bush, otherwise the leaves will begin to deteriorate. And the lack of lighting stops flowering. If you know how to take care of cross-dressing at home, the tropic woman will delight in lush foliage and bouquets all the time. After each season, the bush is cut off by one-third of the entire length for giving splendor. Cross-dress flower likes:
- good lighting - bright, but diffused;
- environment with other plants;
- high humidity - needs daily spraying;
- temperature regime - 18-27 degrees;
- moderate watering;
- weekly top dressing during the flowering period with complex fertilizers;
- transplantation (in February-March);
- pruning after flowering.
Soil for indoor cross-country
The soil for the bush is preferable to light, nutritious and loose. To plant the cross-dress flower, a mixture of sheet, compost, peat soil and sand in a concentration of 2: 2: 2: 1 is needed. In the pot on the bottom is laid drainage from pebbles. Crossandra - indoor flower, in the care of which you need a transplant . Young plants spend it annually, more adults can be less worried. Transplanting early in the spring in fresh soil, this gives the bush an incentive to bloom.
Room Crosscodes - watering rules
For moistening the land, the settled soft water of the surrounding temperature is used. For home colors of the cashier, care in terms of watering differs in winter and summer. From spring to autumn, the bush is abundantly moistened, if the top layer of the substrate dries up in the pot. It is important to observe the balance - do not fill the soil and do not overdry. As a rule, the bush is watered once a week in the summer. In winter, if the cross-dress does not bloom, the moistening continues, but is moderate. During this period it is recommended to water the earth once in two weeks. It is important to know that too wet soil can cause rotting of the plant.
Crossdress flower - disease
These are houseplants that are not complex in breeding. But tropical origin can cause some problems in a cross-dress flower, care for which is carried out with errors:
- With insufficient moisture, the leaves twist, the tips turn yellow. The daily spraying and optimal watering will solve the problem;
- When excessive moisture on the bush appears mold . Remove the old plates, shorten the watering, twigs and crown are treated with a fungicide;
- Low air temperature or drafts provoke falling of foliage. It is necessary to provide a suitable thermal regime;
- Excessive watering causes decay of the root system, which manifests itself in the yellowing of the leaves and the loss of their elasticity. After such a flower is difficult to save;
- Yellowing of the leaves with their retention of elasticity suggests a lack of nutrition. The plant needs to be fed ;
- Redness of the foliage arises from the direct sunlight on them. The pot must be removed to a place with scattered light;
- If the flower does not bloom, then it lacks the sun. It is necessary to rearrange the pot in a lighter place. Also, the plant can be nibbled - this will lead to increased inflorescence;
- Culture can suffer from spider mites and aphids . The reason is low humidity. The insects are washed off with a stream of water, before that the earth carpet should be wrapped in polyethylene. If this is not enough, insecticides are used. In the future, the humidity should be kept at the optimum level.
How to propagate a cross-country at home?
Grow bush by two methods: cuttings or seeds. The optimal time for rooting is the whole season of spring or summer (when creating optimal conditions). For the cross-dresser, multiplying by propagation by cuttings is used more often. Sowing seeds in the ground is used less often even for experienced florists with experience due to the fact that they appear on the bushes not annually.
Cultivation of a cross-dress from seeds at home
This is a rare method of reproduction. Cross-seed from the seeds at home grows during the season. Fruits on the flower appear after flowering in two-nest boxes. They dry out well, become brown and crack on the leaves, scattering seeds in different directions. Seeds are harvested in advance, are sown in the soil from peat mixture and coarse sand. In order for them to ascend, you need to maintain a temperature of 23 degrees, periodically spray the soil - at first, humidity is needed high. Shoots pop out 2-3 weeks after sowing.
The flower of the cross-tree will germinate faster if the container is covered with polyethylene. After the appearance of several pairs of leaflets (about a month later), the seedlings are placed in disposable cups. We must ensure that the soil is not too wet, otherwise the roots will rot. After that, a month later the shrub is recommended to pinch, so that the shoots give side shoots. As growth grows, the seedlings are transferred to containers, the former large by 5-10 centimeters.
Cutting the cross-country at home
Pieces of a plant 10-15 cm long are neatly cut off in the apical or stem part of the branch. Cuttings of the cross-dress flower for propagation are planted in soil collection from leaf, turf and peat land in equal shares. To improve drainage, sand is added. Roots take root within 3-4 weeks. They need to maintain a temperature regime in the 20-22 degree mode.
The sprout may take root more quickly if it is provided with greenhouse conditions - covered with polyethylene and heated soil. Then they can plant a few seedlings together in a 6-centimeter pot with a substrate, organizing the drainage. A month later they are transferred to a vessel with a larger diameter. Sprouts are picked off for the appearance of a beautiful furry cross-dress.