Light-loving Alternantera

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

Alternantera came to us from the subtropics and tropical regions of Australia, Asia, as well as Africa and America. Its main decorative value is the leaves painted in the most incredible colors. There are about two hundred species of such an amazing plant, but there is confusion in the specific names to this day. A number of varieties of the wonderful alternantera grow only in water, of great interest to the keen aquarist. The main species, which have all kinds of forms and varieties, have long been used in popular landscape design

Getting to know the plant

Alternantera is a member of the Amaranth family. This perennial plant can be semi-shrub or herbaceous, and its height can reach twenty-five centimeters.

Alternantera stalks are very fragile, and they also branch pretty decently, due to which beautiful spreading bushes are formed. Small opposite leaves have a lanceolate shape, and their color can be extremely varied, and in the light it becomes much more intense and much brighter.

Small and rather inconspicuous flowers of alternantera, located in the axils of the leaves, form spike-shaped or capitate inflorescences.

Among the most recognizable varieties of this beauty are the sedentary, multi-colored, adorable (or cute), jagged and Bettsik alternatives.

Using alternantera

To decorate various areas, this beauty is used mainly as a decorative leafy annual - in this case, there is no need to transplant it for the winter in rather warm rooms.

Alternantera, without any doubt, can be called the most real highlight of carpet floriculture. Her short stature, excellent tolerance for regular haircuts, and an amazing palette of shades make her an excellent option for decorating a variety of figured compositions, alpine slides, quirky floral designs and patterns, colorful borders and bright carpet beds. A well-executed haircut will help to give the alternantera any shape you like - a funny comb-shaped or spherical, egg-shaped, and so on.

The alternantera is also great for decorating small ponds.

How to grow

It is best to plant a wonderful alternantera in areas illuminated by the sun - then the color of its amazing leaves will be as intense as possible. Rather nutritious limestone soils are most preferred for its cultivation, however, neutral soils will also be quite suitable. Watering should be regular and moderate throughout the year. In no case should you pour cold water on a gentle alternantera. But it is completely optional to spray this colorful green pet.

The beauty alternantera, intended for decorating reservoirs, is planted in the summer along swampy shores or on the bottom of reservoirs, having previously picked up relatively shallow areas. A plant species such as sessile alternantera is lowered to the bottom of reservoirs in containers. And the depth of its landing should not exceed half a meter. From time to time, the creeping of a bizarre aquatic inhabitant needs to be limited, and also timely transferred to wintering in rather cool places.

The wondrous alternantera reproduces by small cuttings or by dividing old individuals. When reproducing by division, cutting off excessively long roots is allowed - there will be no harm from this. A newly planted alternant is first kept in warm and bright places. And when propagated by cuttings, it is initially placed in a very warm place under a transparent bag, which can be removed only when the first young leaves begin to appear on the plant.

This amazingly beautiful plant does not tolerate frost at all, so it must be grown in warm areas. Green pets wintering outside, albeit in a rather warm climate, will need shelter anyway. And mother plants growing in our latitudes should be moved to light greenhouses for the winter, in which the temperature is in the range from twelve to sixteen degrees. It is permissible to transplant back into the ground Alternantera only after spring frosts. In the summer, with the onset of sharp nighttime cold snaps, this beauty also needs to be covered.

Perhaps the main activity for the care of the alternantera is a systematic haircut, which is carried out almost every week. Such a procedure makes the plant more bushy, allows it to develop a huge number of additional leaves and acquire an extraordinary decorative effect.

Alternantera is very resistant to diseases and all kinds of pests, but sometimes it can still be affected by whiteflies, voracious spider mites and aphids, as well as extremely unpleasant gray mold.