2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
No flower garden is complete without annuals, which are somewhat more troublesome than perennials. But the combination of the words "indoor annual" is not often heard. Although there are such, for example, a compact graceful plant with fragrant small flowers from the genus Exakum
Rod Exacum
Of more than four dozen plant species of the genus
Exakum (Exacum) only one species has taken root on our windowsills, Exakum related (Exacum affine).
Although the name of the plant was not given by Russian botanists, they were able to see in a modest compact bush with small fragrant flowers notes akin to the Russian soul. It's a joke, of course, but the plant is very much in tune with our soul, although it was born in Socotra, an archipelago that, due to the inaccessibility of humans, managed to preserve unique plants on its territory that cannot be seen in other lands.
We already remembered the amazing island of Socotra when we got acquainted with the Dracaena plant, which knows how to bring happiness to people. Among the "compatriots" of a large plant, Dracaena, you will not immediately notice the Exacum related, towering only 30 centimeters above the earth's surface.
However, the attentive pathfinders of the plant kingdom of the Earth managed not only to see the compact plant, but also to deliver it to Europe, where flower growers liked it.
Oval small glossy leaves of a dark green color, with the arrival of summer heat, are covered with fragrant flowers, the size of which matches the size of the leaves, reaching a maximum of 1.5 cm in diameter. The petals are modest and color, which is white, blue or purple. Yellow stamens vigorously rise above the flattened receptacle.
The life of single flowers is short, but their abundance is supported by mutual assistance, when new ones come to replace a wilted flower every day. This continues until late autumn.
Growing
Growing Exakum related is not an easy task.
Firstly, in its homeland, the plant is perennial. In indoor conditions, it is easier to arrange spring sowing of seeds every year than to maintain an old bush from year to year.
SecondlyExakum is a finicky creature who loves good lighting, but is afraid of direct sunlight, so in hot summer it is much more comfortable in a shaded place. The finickyness does not end there.
The soil for an elegant handsome man needs a fertile soil, consisting of garden soil with the addition of peat, leaf humus and sand. To prevent stagnation of water in the soil, which must be kept moist at all times, you need to take care of an effective drainage system at the bottom of the flower pot. In the spring, when the plant is just getting ready for abundant summer flowering, watering is combined with mineral feeding every two weeks. Although, such conditions are loved by many indoor plants. Therefore, as a rule, such difficulties do not frighten lovers of living beauty.
To prevent the summer heat from destroying the plant, causing the leaves and flowers to fall off, the room is periodically ventilated. If the faded plant is not thrown away, but left for the winter, then the air temperature should be maintained around plus 15 degrees.
Reproduction
Some growers leave the plant for the winter in order to use the leaves as propagation material in the spring. But, more often, they use a method invented by nature itself, through sowing seeds.
Sowing is carried out in spring or summer. The seeds are not buried in the soil because they need light to germinate. Therefore, they are scattered on the surface of loose soil. For watering and maintaining air humidity, they resort to using a pallet, which is filled with moisture, and from above the container is covered with glass, arranging a mini greenhouse.
The grown seedlings are planted in personal pots. For decorativeness, several specimens are planted in one pot with different colors of flower petals.
Enemies
At
excess moisture the plant can be affected by fungal diseases.
Exakum does not bypass the gluttonous side
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