Maidenhair (Venus Hair)

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Maidenhair can be safely called the most refined and delicate plant of all ferns. Very often, Venus hair leaves are used to create beautiful sophisticated wedding bouquets. However, one very important feature of the maidenhair should be noted: its leaves wither very quickly after being cut.

The maidenhair is a perennial fern that reaches a height of sixty centimeters. The plant has a short creeping rhizome, covered with narrow black scales. The petioles of the leaves are rather high, they are black-brown in color and rather thin. The leaf blade is colored in light green tones. In Russia, this plant can be seen only in the North Caucasus. Maidenhair is widespread in Western Europe, Central Asia, Africa and America.

Growing

This plant is located near the banks of mountain rivers, in cracks in rocks, near water and waterfalls. However, this plant can be grown quite easily at home.

In terms of lighting, direct sunlight is not required for this plant. It will be optimal to grow maidenhair on the windowsills of windows located on the north side. If you grow this plant in a greenhouse, then there they grow just fine.

The temperature regime is not very important: you should not allow temperatures below ten degrees Celsius, and at temperatures above twenty degrees, the high humidity of the plant is very important. Actually maidenhair is able to adapt to almost any conditions, many varieties are intended for growing on the streets.

High humidity is important for this plant, but water should not be allowed to accumulate in the trays. In the summer, the plant should be watered twice a week; rainwater is recommended. But in winter, watering can be done once a week, but the soil should also not be allowed to dry out.

There are several varieties that lose their leaves in the winter, but these are extremely rare on the market as indoor plants.

As for dressings, in the summer period it will take every two weeks to add liquid fertilizers to the water, while they should be taken exactly half of the dose indicated on the package.

As already mentioned, the plant prefers high humidity. The best solution would be to place the plant pot on a pallet with wet pebbles. You can also place the pot in a container that will be filled with wet moss or peat. During the heating season, the plant will have to be sprayed with water every day to prevent it from drying out. In addition, such spraying will allow and keep the leaves of the plant completely clean.

The plant needs a potting mix based on peat. Such a mixture is easy to prepare on your own, for this you will need to combine fibrous peat, turf soil and fine white sand in equal parts. A little more fertilizer should be added to this mixture.

Maidenhair requires pots that grow in pots that are somewhat cramped for the plant. The plant should be transplanted in the spring, while very strong soil compaction is not allowed.

Damaged leaves should be removed regularly. In the event that the maidenhair is already dry, then all the leaves should be removed and sprayed twice a day. After that, new leaves will reappear on the plant.

Diseases and pests of the maidenhair

In very dry air, the plant can attack the so-called spider mite: cobwebs will become noticeable on the stems, and the leaves will begin to wither, fall off and turn yellow. In this case, you have to remove the cobweb and wash the plant with warm water.

Various types of aphids attack the leaves from the underside: the leaves lose color, sometimes turn yellow, curl and fall off. In this case, spraying with appropriate preparations should be performed, otherwise the plant may die.