2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
A herbaceous perennial plant with the name "Gusmania", which came to our homes from the tropics of America, surprised me with a number of its features. Living in the wild, many of them are "epiphytes", and the flowers of certain plant species are characterized by "cleistogamy". If someone is unfamiliar with these words, do not be alarmed. Now we will deal with them
Epiphytic plants
For those who grow orchids, the word "epiphytes" is familiar. Epiphytic plants are like fragile women, for whom it is very important to have a friendly shoulder, a strong support that you can rely on in life.
Moreover, they do not parasitize on the support, but only rely on it. They do not take food and moisture from the support plant, but extract them themselves, using carbon dioxide, sunlight and heavenly rain moisture.
When growing such plants indoors, they forget about their natural inclinations and grow like all other plants.
Cleistogamy
Particularly inquisitive gardeners are probably familiar with this mysterious word. After all, the phenomenon called "cleistogamy" is characteristic of plants familiar to us. These are beans and peas, peanuts, peanuts, a beloved by many herb "Violet".
All these plants are united by an amazing type of self-pollination. Namely, the fact that pollination takes place without the help of hardworking bees or other toiling insects, it is carried out in closed flowers. This type of self-pollination is called the nice-sounding word "cleistogamy". Plants try to protect their genetics in this way.
Valuable ornamental houseplant
Having moved from the hot tropics to our homes, Gusmania has changed some of its life rules and grows well in pots filled with soil, periodically fed with fertilizers.
The plant owes its decorative effect to bright glossy bracts and leathery elongated leaves. The inconspicuousness of white or yellow flowers, which do not stay long on the plant, is compensated by the bright shades of the bracts (from intense orange to red). Leaves can be green or with brown or white stripes on the surface.
Known plant species
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Guzmania reed (Guzmania lingulata) - leaves collected in a rosette are bright green with light longitudinal stripes. Glossy bracts shimmer in several colors. On the inside, they are red, the central part of the lower side with an orange tint and a yellow border. Gusmania reed has 2 varieties: undersized "Gusmania Malaya" and "Gusmania Purple".
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Gusmania mosaic (Guzmania musaica) - differs in the multicolor leaves. Their green surface is mottled with transverse red-brown or dark green stripes, and the underside is colored reddish. Bracts are red-orange.
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Gusmania blood red (Guzmania sanguinea) - its lanceolate leaves with yellow and red bloom are collected in a compact rosette and bent outward.
Growing
The plant loves light places, but without direct sunlight, which can cause burns on the leaves. The growing process is simple and does not require any special skills. It is only advisable to observe the temperature regime, which should be in the range from plus 16 to plus 28 degrees.
During the active growing season, in the spring-summer, you should feed the plant with fertilizer 2 times a month (nitrogen and phosphorus in 1 part, potassium in 2 parts), adding 10 grams of fertilizer per 10 liters of water when watering.
Water for irrigation should not be cold. In winter, watering is minimal, in the hot season - plentiful. When watering, do not forget to "water" the leaf outlet.
The soil should be loose, consisting of large peat and soddy-leaf land with an acidity of 5, 5-6 pH.
Leaves are cleaned of dust with a damp cloth. Dried leaves are removed along with the petioles.
Reproduction
Gusmania seeds are propagated by professionals, since the process is troublesome and lengthy. At home, the rarely formed side shoots are separated.
When purchasing a plant in a store, pay attention to the intensity of the color and shine of the leaves and bracts. The juicier they are, the better the specimen.
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