A representative of the Gesnerian family and a native of the warm countries, the epicion possesses all the advantages of indoor flowers at the same time: simplicity in care and the ability to preserve the freshness of the green all year round, and yet this bright spectacular flowering.
Episode - description
The plant came to us from the shores of Brazil, Colombia and Guinea. In those places, the epic is not an indoor flower, it spreads on the earth according to the type of grasses, choosing dark areas under the trees. Its leaves are recognizable: they are as if covered in down, their color is rich from pink-brown to green. Flowers resemble small gramophones, against the background of foliage look particularly impressive. Depending on the variety, the plant is covered with yellow, orange, red or pink flowers, there are varieties with blue and white flowers.
At home, flower growers paid attention to the epicure for its long flowering and the rapid growth of green mass. From spring and until late autumn on the windowsill there will be a riot of colors. In the pot, the seedling starts to grow vertically, but after a while it gradually slopes downwards and turns into an ampel culture. As the growth and formation of the hanging shoots give the lateral, which makes the bush lush and spectacular.
Episode - Species
Each of the plant species came to us from our country. All of them have characteristic features, each has its own strengths:
- Epiphytic clavicle is also called alsobia. This species came to us from Mexico, you can learn it from small sheets and the transition of a shade of green from light to dark. Blossoms this species with white flowers, inside they are covered with purple dots. This species gave a lot of decorative varieties.
- Lover of the shadow is a kind of copper-red. He comes from Colombia and Brazil. The plant is much larger than the previous species, leaflets are more like hearts. Blossoms in different shades of red, on the dark reddish sheet in the middle there is a green strip.
- From Suriname and Guinea, we got the kind of epizooty creeping. It is more suitable for ampel growth than others.
Episode - home care
Like all people from warm countries, the flower's epilation is moisture and thermophilic, but it's relatively easy to take care of it. This is an excellent solution for decorating terrariums or growing in small decorative greenhouses. Even beginning flower growers cope if they learn to observe the main recommendations in time. The main wisdom of growing is the observance of watering and humidity.
Flower of the Episode - watering rules
Proper watering is an important part of the care. For an episode, home care is reduced to maintaining the soil condition:
- when everything in flowers, every three days the root system needs a new portion of moisture, between watering it is impossible to let the soil dry up completely;
- while carefully monitoring that the tray is not filled with excess water, because this is a direct path to decaying roots;
- always fill the watering can with warm and soft water, tap water is inadmissible;
- with the arrival of the heating season, the plant does not need such a quantity of water, but it does not transfer the dryness, so we wait for the drying of the upper layer and the next day we moisten it;
- at any time the water should fall only on the soil, it is needed by the roots and at the same time harmful to the fluffy leaves of the plant.
Primer for epicure
The plant often releases an underground mustache, which determines the quality of the soil - it should be very light, if not fluffy. The fact is that all species of this plant need air for roots, as a result, the following requirements have appeared to the soil:
- The primer should be with additives to ensure its looseness. The access of oxygen to the roots is the determining factor in the flowering and quality of the green mass: a lot of air for the root system, a lot of the aboveground part.
- Stagnant water is not only the cause of decay of roots, but also a hindrance to the passage of oxygen. Heavy soil during watering delays the water between the particles, as a result, the flower simply suffocates.
- In shops sell so-called easy soil, the ground for violets will quite approach also. Even better, if you add hardwood to the ready land, the epic will be grateful to you.
Flowerpot
The root system needs the right pot to the same degree as the proper watering. Houseplant epicia feels well in a shallow and wide flowerpot, where the roots will not go too deep. This form of the flowerpot is usually called a bowl or a bowl. As the growth grows, the vase is moved to a suspended plantation so that the shoots can hang freely. It is not bad to give a flower of space, so that it does not encroach on other pots: it is not a problem to take root in a neighboring pot.
Episode transplantation
Change of place for a plant is always stressful, even when a transplant is absolutely necessary for it. However, the new pot and the preparation of the soil in the question of how to care for the epic is not in the last place. This procedure has its own characteristics and recommendations:
- For an adult plant, the need for a new flowerpot appears every two years, young animals are transplanted annually. The ideal time for this is spring.
- All species grow rapidly, therefore, each new vase should be about 4 cm wider than the previous one, then the root system will have enough space. We remember the correct composition of the soil, the quality drainage . An important point: the sides of the pot should not be too high, because you need to hang the ampel. The pot itself is washed with soap and water and boiled water.
- For half an hour we water or tap a pot to simplify the process of extracting the flower. Roots are freed from the old land.
- For any plant, it is appropriate to clean the root system of rotten areas with a knife and cauterize the crushed coal. The problem is that the thin roots are very fragile, will have to be extremely accurate.
- Then you can put the plant on the laid drainage, pre-sprinkled it with earth. Watered after planting a flower abundantly, so that water poured out of the drainage hole. After a while, the water is drained from the pallet.
- We send the pot to the penumbra for restoration of the plant's forces. In the penumbra it will hold about a week.
Why does not the flowers bloom?
For any houseplant, the flowering period is hard work, because it is not so easy to form a bud and open it without proper care on the part of the florist. For the flower of the epicure, such care is in a successful arrangement. Lack of light will lead to the absence of buds. Confirm the conjecture of long naked stems and small sheets. Sometimes without additional feeding the plant does not want to throw out buds. The vegetative period must be carried out with mineral fertilizers every two weeks.
Episode - reproduction
All species can be perfectly multiplied by three classical methods: seeds, cuttings and leaf separation. Whichever version for reproduction of the episode at home you choose, it is important to do everything with utmost care and only with clean tools. This will protect new plants from diseases and pests. It is best to choose the spring period, when the active movement of substances begins in the shoots.
Seed Episode
Seed method refers to the least simple, and it does not guarantee the preservation of all varietal features. However, experienced flower growers say that when you buy from trusted suppliers, you will get the desired result. What do we need to know about seed cultivation, and care for planting:
- mix three glasses of leaf land with a glass of river clean sand and pour into boxes;
- the landing is classic and is reduced to scattering seeds on the surface of the soil, moistening by spraying water, covering with a transparent film;
- in the future, planting water from a spray or pour water in a pallet, it is especially important to keep the soil moist after germination;
- in order to achieve good results, it is important to ensure 100% humidity under the film, daily aerate, and keep the room temperature of about 25 ° C.
After 25-40 days, under the conditions created, shoots will appear. The seedlings must be dived in the first eight weeks after 14 days. When they reach the age of 12 weeks, you need to remove the cotyledons and plant them slightly deeper. Fertilize with half the concentration seven days after the transplant. But even such titanic efforts will not give a guarantee that you will get the same color of leaf or flower.
Episza - leaf reproduction
Hothouse conditions - a guarantee of successful rooting for a given plant. If you cut off a leaf from a bush, place it in a light moist substrate and cover with a jar, in time it will necessarily take root. The main thing is to keep the temperature at 25 ° C, because the reproduction of the epicure will be possible only with warm air in the room. Instead of one sheet, you can take an entire outlet and use the same methods to root it, take a jar of water instead of soil.
Episode - reproduction by cuttings
Ideally, if the stem is a rosette, it will be possible to place it in the properly prepared soil: first we pour the claydite into the container, then a layer of fine sand, and on top a mixture of leaf land and moss. In such conditions the stem will take root faster. But really the simplest option, how to grow an epic, is simply to drop the rosette without separating it from the mother's bush.