2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 15:51
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Latin name: Ludisia Family: Orchid Category: Houseplants |
Ludisia (lat. Ludisia) - indoor plant; perennial herb of the Orchid family. Homeland is Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Under natural conditions, ludisia grows in the southern regions of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Sumatra. In floriculture, this plant belongs to the group of "precious orchids", their beauty lies not in the flowers, but in the color of the leaves.
Characteristics of culture
Ludisia is an evergreen plant no more than 15 cm high. The stems are creeping, forming the shape of a miniature bush. The leaves are alternate, velvety, purple or olive in color with light streaks or iridescent silver strokes or stripes, 7 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, collected in rosettes.
The rhizome is red, very thick, strongly branched. Flowers are small, yellowish-white or white, arranged alternately on peduncles, the length of which is about 30 cm. 20-30 flowers grow on one peduncle.
Ludisia multicolored, subspecies
Ludisia multicolored (lat. Ludisia discolor) - the species is represented by a creeping plant with fleshy shoots ending in a short deciduous area containing 3-6 dark green leaves with bright thin veins. The flowers are small, white, slightly beveled to the side on one side. Apical inflorescences, 15-20 cm long.
Ludisia multicolored in several subspecies is presented:
* Ludisia multicolored syn. ordiana - leaves are dark green with golden or silvery veins.
* Ludisia multicolored var. condorensis - fairly large leaves, long peduncles.
* Ludisia multicolored var. dawsoniana - leaves are large, green with a black tint and red veins.
* Ludisia multicolored var. otletae are lanceolate leaves, dark green with red veins located only on the lobar vein.
* Ludisia multicolored var. rubrovenia - leaves are elliptical, bronze with copper-colored veins.
Growing conditions
Ludisia is a shade-loving plant, prefers rooms with diffused light, and has a negative attitude to direct sunlight. It develops well under artificial lighting. With an excess of sunlight, the plants droop and lose their decorative effect, and with a lack of sunlight, they stretch out strongly.
The optimum temperature for keeping ludisia is 20-22C, the minimum limit is 18C. It is desirable that the difference between night and daytime temperatures is about 2-3C. The culture is neutral to dry air, but it needs regular spraying with warm and settled water. Hard water should not be used for these purposes, since salt stains remain after it.
During the period of active growth, the leaves of ludisia need to be doused with warm water, after which the plants are soaked with a paper or cloth napkin.
Reproduction, planting and transplanting
Ludisia is propagated by apical cuttings, dividing the bush and stem segments. The apical cuttings are separated with 3-4 nodes on the stem, air roots and dormant buds, the cuts are sprinkled with charcoal and dried. Cuttings are rooted in a special moderately moist sphagnum, they are buried to the base of the leaf. Rooting in water with dissolved activated carbon is also not prohibited.
Quite often, ludisia is propagated by leafless stem segments. The cut stem should have several internodes. Stem segments are rooted in wet sphagnum, inserting them horizontally, without deepening.
Frequent plant transplants should not be carried out, only if the ludisias grow strongly and the pots become too cramped. It is advisable to transplant in the spring. The pots need to be wide and shallow.
As a substrate, you can use both ordinary garden soil and a mixture with a high proportion of humus and peat content. A suitable substrate consisting of leafy soil, fern roots, peat, pine bark and charcoal. A larger fraction of the substrate must be laid on the bottom of the pot, and fresh sphagnum can be applied to its surface.
Care
The abundance and frequency of watering depends on the temperature of the content of ludisia, and the higher it is, the more watering should be. It is recommended to make sure that the water does not stagnate in the pot and does not accumulate in the pan, as this can lead to rotting of the roots. Water the plants when the soil substrate dries well. Ludisia are fed with complex mineral fertilizers only during the period of active growth and flowering.
