2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Dudleya - a rather rare plant, which is a representative of the Tolstyankovye family and is very similar to an asterisk when viewed from above.
Description
Dudleya is a spectacular undersized succulent, endowed with funny elongated leaves, which are characterized by an almost cylindrical shape (in general, it can be very diverse). As a rule, the height of this plant almost never exceeds fifteen centimeters.
The stems and leaves of the Doodlea are covered with a powdery waxy coating - such a moisture-repellent "coating" perfectly helps them to retain liquid. The short stalks can be both branching and woody, and the shape of the leaves varies from fleshy short "sausages" to elongated and resilient feathers resembling the blades of a sword.
In the process of flowering, the Doodle produces rather powerful articular peduncles, the height of which can reach one meter. On each of them, you can see several paniculate apical inflorescences. The flowers of the bell-shaped Dudleya are usually pinkish-white or pure white. By the way, they have no smell at all.
One of the most common varieties of Doodlei is the dense-flowered Doodlea. In total, science knows about forty species of this plant, while some of them are already on the verge of destruction. And in culture, mainly rosette varieties of Doodle are grown.
Where grows
Dudleya lives mainly in the southwestern United States and Mexico, and it usually grows in desert arid regions.
Usage
Doodle is most often planted in group compositions along with other succulent plants.
Growing and caring
Dudleya is an unpretentious plant, but it is best to place it in fairly cold rooms, but at the same time on the southern windows: it is so photophilous that it feels great even in direct sunlight. As for the soil, the most suitable option for planting this plant will be a soil mixture consisting of a mixture of charcoal with sand (three parts of sand are taken for two parts of charcoal) and sod land. The above mixture and sod land should be taken in equal parts. Another option is to purchase a ready-made soil mixture specially designed for succulents.
Doodle should be watered sparingly, one might even say sparingly (no more than once or at least twice a week) - it is quite enough for this plant to prevent the earthen coma from drying out (excessive waterlogging can cause the stems to rot, and if it is combined with cool temperatures, then plants may die altogether). For irrigation, you should take extremely warm filtered and settled water. And he doesn't need spraying of a doodle at all! If the plant has not been transplanted (and the Doodle is able to do without transplants for a long time), then in the spring you can pamper it with dressings a couple of times - ideally, for these purposes, you should take fertilizers specially designed for succulents, if there are no such fertilizers on sale, ordinary fertilizers are used only at half dosage.
The winter temperature of the content of the Doodle should be lower than the summer one, however, even in this case, the thermometer should not fall below twelve degrees. In general, this plant requires minimal care. And it reproduces most often by cuttings of shoots or seeds. However, to achieve flowering Doodle in an apartment is an almost unrealistic task.
Of the pests, aphids or mealybugs can attack the Doodle, but this happens extremely rarely.
