2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Aeschynanthus (lat. Aeschynanthus) - a flowering and decorative deciduous plant of the Gesnerievye family. Under natural conditions, it grows in the tropical forests of Southeast and South Asia, as well as on the islands of the Malay Archipelago. The plant got its name for the unusual shape of the flower: from the ancient Greek language "aischyneia" is translated as distorted, and "anthos" is a flower. Currently, there are about 190 species.
Characteristics of culture
Aeschinanthus is an epiphytic or polyepiphytic plant with drooping shoots, growing in nature on snags, trees and crumpled stones. Leaves are leathery, fleshy, bright green, 3-10 cm long, opposite on short petioles. The flowers are orange or bright red, irregular, tubular, collected in 5-12 corymbose inflorescences, formed in the leaf axils or at the tips of the shoots. The corolla has a curved tube and a two-lipped limb, often green-yellow or brown.
Conditions of detention
Eschinanthus is a light-loving plant, prefers rooms with good illumination, does not tolerate direct sunlight. The culture grows and develops well on windows of any orientation, but in the summer at noon it needs shading. The optimum temperature for keeping is 20-25C in summer, 15-18C in winter. While maintaining the optimum temperature during the dormant period of the aeschinanthus, the buds are laid in February-March.
The plant has a negative attitude towards drafts, therefore it is not recommended to place it near open windows and vents. Aeschinanthuses are demanding on high air humidity. It is advisable to spray the plants several times a day or humidify the air in other ways. The substrate for growing a crop should consist of light leafy earth, peat, humus and sand (2: 1: 1: 1). Often a little crushed charcoal or chopped sphagnum moss is added to the substrate.
Reproduction and transplantation
Aeschinanthus transplant is carried out every 2-3 years in the spring. Since the plant begins to shed its leaves over time and, as a result, loses its decorative effect, the escinanthus is renewed by cuttings. A pot for growing a culture is chosen a few centimeters larger than the previous one (literally 2-3 cm), and a thick layer of drainage in the form of pebbles or rubble is placed on its bottom.
Aeschinanthus is propagated by seeds and cuttings. The seeds of the culture are very small, they are poured onto a sheet of white paper and, tapping on the sheet, are sown in seedling boxes filled with a moistened substrate, with pallets. Do not cover seeds with soil. Crops are covered with plastic wrap or glass until shoots appear. Watering is done through a pallet. Seedlings dive 1-1, 5 months after sowing, planting 4-5 pieces in a pot. Young Aeschinanthus bloom next year.
Cut the plant in spring or summer. Cuttings are cut from long, healthy shoots with a sharp knife. Each cutting should have 4-5 knots. To accelerate the rooting of cuttings, they are treated in a solution of phytohormonal powder. Cuttings are planted in a loose substrate consisting of peat and sand (or perlite expanded clay). The cuttings are buried 2 cm, watered and covered with a glass container or film. The room temperature should be around 26-28C. To stimulate branching, pinch the tops of the cuttings.
Care
Eschinanthus is a moisture-loving plant that needs regular watering. Watering is carried out as the soil dries up; in no case should it be brought to dryness, in fact, as well as excessively waterlogging. Water for irrigation is used warm and settled. Top dressing is carried out twice a month with liquid mineral fertilizers during the period of active crop growth, or rather from March to September.
Pest control
Most often, escinanthus are affected by spider mites, aphids and mealybugs. When attacked by aphids, the leaves of the plant turn pale, the buds do not bloom, and the shoots are strongly curved. To combat the pest, it is recommended to wash the escinanthus with soap or alcohol solution, or spray it with Actellik.
A spider mite appears on plants at low air humidity, its colonies settle on the back of the leaves and cause them to discolor and fall off. To get rid of this pest, use the drugs "Decis" or "Actellik".
