How To Grow Clerodendron (Clerodendrum L.) At Home

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Once, back in the last century, they gave me a twig of an unfamiliar plant of extraordinary, downright alien beauty. The twig was small, only fifteen centimeters, and all in strange flowers, but almost without leaves. At the top of the twigs glistened with snow-white swollen, closed cups with a pointed bottom, like small Chinese lanterns.

They hung down on short peduncles, like lanterns. A tier below the white cups have already opened, and from them bright crimson, velvety petals, reminiscent of butterfly wings, have emerged. The lowest flowers appeared in all their glory - with long white filaments of pistil and stamens, which gradually twisted into small rings …

I put the twig in a vase and admired the exotic appearance of the stranger for a long time. Searches for her name in special literature were crowned with success. The plant was called Thomson's clerodendron and belonged to the vervain family. Its origin is tropical Africa. The genus has about 100 species. It turned out that the plants of this family, even in Ancient Rome, were dedicated to Venus, bore different names. Perhaps the "tears of Isis" is just about the clerodendron. It is also called the "tree of fate".

A bouquet of a single clerodendron inflorescence (the twig was a flowering shoot) stood in a vase for several weeks and formed a good bunch of roots. Stem cuttings are usually rooted, but it is amazing that this happens to a peduncle. Having cut off the faded flowers, I planted a small plant in a small pot with nutritious soil and good drainage.

More than twenty years have passed since then, and the "tree of fate" still lives and blooms every year, becoming one of the favorite indoor plants. Of course, during this time, the flower settled with relatives and friends, because it really is a decoration of the house. Over the years of communication, the plant has revealed many of its secrets.

Growth. It turned out that by nature clerodendron is a powerful liana, which during the season (from spring to late autumn) can gradually grow lignified shoots up to 2-2.5 meters long. The leaves are dark green, large, oval-pointed, slightly tied with veins and therefore convex, rough.

Such a liana for a wave can decorate a large window or trellis, support of any shape (ball, pyramid, ladder) in rooms, halls, winter gardens. If you do not limit plant growth by pinching or pruning, it continues in winter, that is, almost around the clock. Clerodendron does not have special antennae or suckers, like ivy, so the shoots must be fixed on supports.

Shine. Like any flowering plant, clerodendron loves good lighting, but it burns the leaves from direct sunlight. To avoid this, in March, you have to arrange shading on the south window: you have to hang openwork small tulle curtains right on the window frame, which create comfortable conditions until September, after which they are removed. Many years of cultivation experience convinced that this vine grows and blooms successfully on the northern windows without any tricks.

Winter content. In winter, clerodendron enters a period of incomplete dormancy and sheds part of the leaves. Watering is reduced, but the earthen lump is not overdried. The optimum air temperature is 10-12 ° C, which happens in winter on window sills.

Watering and water procedures. Clerodendron is a large, well-leafy plant, therefore it evaporates a lot of moisture, especially in summer, and does not like drying out the earth. If this does happen, the leaves will immediately bind and hang. Urgent spraying on the leaves (but not in the sun!) And watering with warm water settled during the day will quickly bring the plant to life.

So, watering should be uniform, abundant in summer, often twice a day, even taking into account the fact that an adult plant grows in a large pot. Spraying the bush is very useful all year round: it humidifies the air around the plant, cleans the leaves of dust, in summer it slightly lowers the temperature air on hot days, that is, creates a comfortable living environment.

Water procedures are also included in the compulsory clerodendron care. As long as the plant is small and can be transferred to the bath, about once a month it is good to arrange a shower for the crown with the obligatory cover of the earth in a pot with a film. In large adult specimens, it is necessary to clean the leaves with a damp sponge and very carefully.

Clean leaves of the plant release more oxygen and moisture, which significantly improves the ecology of our home. So keeping flower plants in rooms and kitchens is not only beautiful, but also good for health. In addition, flowers often become our best friends, who understand and support their owners.

The soil. Nutrient soil with peat and sand (3: 1: 0.5) or ready-made soil for flowering plants is suitable for clerodendron, but always with the addition of coarse river sand or foam chips for better breathability. At the bottom of the pot, drainage is laid with a layer of 2-4 cm from expanded clay, sand, broken brick or shards. When transplanting or transferring a plant into the soil, it is best to add crystals of the complex fertilizer AVA (their amount depends on the volume of the vessel in which the flower will grow - from a few crystals to a teaspoon). In this case, during the season, only regular nitrogen feeding is needed, since AVA does not contain nitrogen (1-2 g of urea per liter of water every 10 days until the end of August).

Fertilizer. If you do not add fertilizer during planting, then after 2-3 weeks you can start feeding with one of the complex fertilizers with microelements (uniflor-growth - 1 cap per 1.5-2 liters of water every 7-10 days from spring to autumn). During flowering, it is better to use the uniflor-bud in the same concentration and sequence.

In recent years, new types of long-acting complete fertilizers for flowers have appeared, in the form of cylindrical sticks. This is the most convenient method for feeding plants, especially large-sized ones: fertilizer sticks are buried in the substrate in the amount that corresponds to the volume of the vessel and the manufacturer's recommendation. Further care will consist only in timely watering. Re-fertilization will be required after three months.

For a long time, my new plant grew, in winter it retained many leaves, and there was no flowering at all, or it was very scarce. The pinching of the shoots growing in spring did not cause bud setting. What was the reason for the lack of flowering?

Bloom. It turns out that clerodendron needs a thorough haircut to bloom in early February. You need to cut off shoots in the lignified part of the stems at a height of 40-50 centimeters above a pair of leaves. Immediately after pruning, the plant is fed with any fertilizer for growth (uniflor-growth - 0.5 caps per 1.5 liters of water). After about two weeks, in the lateral shoots growing from the axils of the leaves, you can notice the outlines of the buds, which rather quickly increase in size.

Blossoms "tree of fate" usually in March-July, but it happens that from January. Flower brushes continue their transformations even after the full disclosure of all flowers. Firstly, flowering lasts quite a long time - until mid-summer. Secondly, at some point, you notice that the snow-white cups become slightly lilac, and later - completely lilac. At the same time, the scarlet part of the flowers darkens noticeably, becoming dark cherry. And then in the lilac cups, large black seeds-nuts are found, which can be sown immediately and give rise to a new generation.

Reproduction. The clerodendron lashes cut in spring are divided into fairly large cuttings (up to 20 centimeters long), making a cut above a pair of leaves and leaving the lower part of the cutting free of them. Only the mature part of the stems is used, the herbaceous tops of the shoots do not take root. There are usually a lot of cuttings, they are placed in a jar of water, covering the place of root formation from light. To do this, wrap the jar with black thick paper or a plastic milk bag. Pretty soon, white roots will appear at the ends of the cuttings.

It is better to plant rooted cuttings 2-3 pieces in a pot with a diameter of 9-12 centimeters. As the clerodendron grows, it will take several transfers into larger containers. Young plants often bloom in the first year.

Clerodendron turned out to be a surprisingly many-sided plant that adorns the house and, probably, fate - it is no coincidence that ancient people called it "the tree of fate".