2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The leaves of a houseplant that came to us from the American tropics are skillfully painted by nature, giving the plant a unique decorative look. And the name, being a feminine word, when translated into a language we understand, sounds completely unexpected
Afelandra - "a simple man"
Hearing the word "Afelandra", you imagine some medieval beauty, conquering men's hearts indiscriminately. Although the amazing picturesqueness of the plant really conquers both male and female hearts, the name conceals a completely different meaning. It contains two Greek words, which in translation mean "a simple man." Sex reassignment, which is gaining popularity among people, has nothing to do with it. Botanists have christened the plant with this name for its simple unicellular anthers. And the fact that some words in one language belong to the masculine gender, and in another - to the feminine, are to blame for those who invented these languages.
The genus of Afelandre
Of the two hundred species of evergreen plants of the genus Aphelandra, only a few have received the attention of a person who has moved them to their homes.
In nature, the plant can be a grass, a half-shrub, or a one-two-meter shrub with large shiny leaves with a well-defined middle vein of light color. The decorativeness of the leaves is complemented by bright inflorescences, spike-shaped or pineal.
The most popular among many species is the protruding Afelandra.
Varieties in culture
•
Afelandra protruding (Aphelandra squarrosa) - oval large leaves sit on an almost non-branching rounded thickened stem on short petioles. They have flirtatious pointed noses and colorful coloration. The dark green surface of the leaf is dissected by stripes along the veins and painted in ivory. The length of the leaves (up to 30 cm) sometimes coincides with the height of the plant, which varies from 30 to 60 cm. Yellow, orange, red tubular flowers are hidden behind the bright bracts of spike-shaped inflorescences.
•
Afelandra orange or golden (Aphelandra aurantiaca) - The oval leaves of this species have a wavy edge and white-gray stripes along the veins. Inflorescences are formed by orange flowers. The "Retzla" variety has inflorescences of green bracts and orange-scarlet flowers, and the oval leaves are green with a silvery sheen.
•
Afelandra tetrahedral (Aphelandra tetragona) is a shrub that can grow up to a meter in height. Its large (up to 30 cm long and up to 15 cm wide) oval-elliptical leaves are green in color. Inflorescences-ears of scarlet tubular flowers and green bracts.
Growing
The tropical beauty does not like drafts, but loves the warmth enveloping from all sides, familiar to those who happened to stroll through the evening Sochi. Direct sunlight throws it out of balance, and therefore it is necessary to provide the plant with diffused light, creating an imitation of the native tropics.
The soil for it is made from a mixture of peat substrate with humus, leafy soil and sand. The prepared mixture is fertilized by adding a complex mineral fertilizer during planting, containing trace elements necessary for growth. In the summer, they continue to feed the plant, adding liquid fertilizer to the water for irrigation once a week. The soil should always be in a moderately moist state, even in winter.
Appearance maintenance and transplant
The appearance of an exotic plant is maintained by removing wilted inflorescences, clearing shiny leaves from annoying dust.
In indoor conditions, old plants like to stretch their shoots, breaking harmony. Therefore, those who value Afelandra's decorativeness grow it every year from cuttings, getting rid of old specimens.
Plants are transplanted in March using small pots, the diameter of which is within 15 cm.
Reproduction
Most often, apical cuttings are used for reproduction, which are cut in spring or summer, rooting them in a peat-sand mixture, maintaining a temperature of 22-24 degrees and high humidity.
Enemies
Afelandra has many enemies. Roots like to eat gall nematodes, and leaves - strawberry mite, nasty worms and the ubiquitous aphid. Control measures are standard.
Recommended:
Calathea Striped
Calathea striped is one of the plants of the family called arrowroots, in Latin the name of this plant sounds like this: Calathea zebrina. As for the name of the family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Marantaceae. Description of striped calathea For the favorable cultivation of this plant, it will be necessary to provide either a light shade mode or a partial shade mode.
Inconspicuous Fruit Striped Moth
Fruit striped moth from year to year feasts on cherries and cherries, as well as juicy apricots and fleshy plums. Nevertheless, in addition to stone fruit crops, it sometimes damages apple trees. Entering the fruit, the voracious caterpillars of pests begin to actively eat away at the pulp, reaching the very bones. The result of such attacks is the manifestation of gum flow in the damaged areas (most often near the peduncles)
Gluttonous Striped Bread Flea
The striped bread beetle lives almost everywhere and is a big lover of grasses, corn, rye, barley, millet and wheat. It feeds mainly on leaves of young plants and grass seedlings, scraping off the parenchyma of leaves in the form of oblong specks and transparent stripes. The first leaves are especially damaged. Young plants, attacked by a striped grain flea, turn yellow, oppressed and dry out. The main harm is done mainly by the bugs of this
Striped Haworthia
Perennial Haworthia is a representative of the amazing world of succulent plants. Their ability to store up moisture and nutrients for future use in conditions almost incompatible with life is so close to people who grew up in an era of eternal deficiencies
Striped Root Weevil - Small Pest
The striped root weevil is almost ubiquitous. It causes damage to both annual and perennial crops: beans with peas, as well as perennials from the legume family. Moreover, the larvae of these scoundrels and the beetles are equally harmful. Beetles are especially famous for the so-called "figured eating" of leaves - along their edges, parasites gnaw small oval-shaped particles. The most serious consequences occur when the growth point and cotyledon leaves are damaged. Destructive
