Features Of Keeping Tropical And Subtropical Cultures In An Apartment

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

With the end of the summer season, absolutely all gardeners switch their inexhaustible love of plants to caring for indoor plants. Caring for them is just as much fun as gardening. The success of growing plants in rooms depends on the correct selection and proper care of them.

Most of our indoor plants come from tropical and subtropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and America, and the range of plants with beautiful flowers or leaves has become very rich and varied in the last decade. The variety is endless! Moreover, each of the species requires certain conditions for growth and development. Plants belonging to the families of begonia, arrowroot, Gesneriaceae and Euphorbiaceae, which have beautiful flowers and leaves, are in great demand among florists. Green rosettes of bromeliads, openwork foliage of ferns, luxurious greenery of palm trees are very decorative. Amaryllis and orchids delight lovers of indoor plants with magnificent flowers. Roots, which include citrus fruit trees, are of interest for their bright fruits.

It must be remembered that each family needs specific care, as they relate differently to the main factors of growth and development. It is heat, light, water, soil. In addition, a number of plants have a dormant period and they need to provide it. Representatives of the bromeliad family, which includes such plants as Vriezia, Gusmania, Cryptantus, Blue Tillandsia, Echmeya, Annance, do not require special care. But during the flowering period it is necessary to maintain the air temperature within 25 … 28 ° С. In other cases, the temperature should be less high, but not lower than 12 ° C. Most bromeliads require bright, but diffused lighting. For their normal development, good drainage is necessary; overmoistening of the substrate should be avoided. Water as the soil dries up. To create it, leafy earth, humus,crushed pine bark and coarse sand in a ratio of 4: 2: 1: 1. For feeding, use only those fertilizers that do not contain calcium. Typically, bromeliads grow indoors in small, perforated pots.

A large group is made up of cacti. As a rule, the stems of plants belonging to this family are succulent and fleshy, spherical, cylindrical, articulated-flattened. As indoor plants spread: echinocactus, ceflocereus, acantokallicium. In summer, cacti need a temperature of 18 … 20 ° C. In winter, plants are best kept in a cool room with an air temperature of around 10 ° C. Otherwise, the cactus will not bloom. In winter, they especially need bright light and fresh air.

The plants are watered sparingly during the winter months. In the period from May to September, more abundant moisture is required, but from watering to watering, the soil must dry out. Mineral fertilizers are required every 15 days. No organic fertilizers are applied. A third of coarse sand or crushed stone is added to ordinary soil.

Plants of the begonia family are very popular. Indoors they can be kept at a temperature of 13 … 22 ° C. The relative humidity must not fall below 60%. Watering these plants should be moderate. In winter, the soil is moistened only after it is completely dry. A mixture of leaf and humus soil, turf, peat and sand (3: 0.5: 0.25: 1.5: 1) is used as a substrate. Begonias with aboveground or underground rhizomes are dormant from October to February. In tuber begonias, to create rest, remove wilted leaves and reduce watering. The tubers are kept for two months in a dark place at a temperature of 10 … 12 ° C. They should be watered from below, i.e. pour water into the pan. Begonia needs fresh air. Avoid sudden temperature changes. During the period of active vegetation of plants, a one-time feeding with complex mineral fertilizers is made. Begonias do not tolerate air temperatures above 20 ° C. They need a lot of light, in winter they can be exposed to direct sunlight for several hours a day.

Palm trees - large, spreading plants with decorative foliage give the interior a unique charm. In indoor conditions, only some species of this family can grow (chrysalidocarpus, hamerops, trachycarpus, sabal, rapis, mascarena, areca). Palm trees love bright light. It is recommended to keep these plants at a temperature of 18 … 20 ° C. In winter, it is better to move palms from the windowsill to separate stands. Avoid seasonal temperature drops of more than 5-8 ° C. Watering should be moderate in winter and abundant in summer. The increased humidity is created by spraying the plants with warm water. The soil is created from garden or turf soil and coarse sand (1: 1). Once a month, the leaf blades are wiped with a damp sponge. In the summer, every week they are fed with flower fertilizer, in the winter they are fed every other week.

The Gesneriaceae family is represented by such plants as Uzumbar violet, streptocarpus, gloxinia, etc. Plants are very demanding to care for. They need bright lighting, but should avoid direct sunlight. They should be placed on windows with a west or north orientation. During the growing season in the room where the Gesneriaceae are located, it is necessary to maintain the temperature within 22 … 25 ° С, at other times it should be lowered by 5-7 ° С.

For the normal growth and development of Gesneriaceae, high air humidity is required. To increase it, the culture is sprayed in the summer twice a day, in the cold season - once every 2-3 days. The substrate should consist of leafy, humus or coniferous soil, peat and sand (4: 4: 1: 1). During the growing season, fertilizer must be applied once every two weeks. Orchids are considered to be the most beautiful plants on earth. To successfully grow orchids in a room culture, high humidity is required. This is achieved by the device of special greenhouses with a moist substrate, placed between the windows.

In cool weather, orchids are removed from the greenhouses and placed on the windowsill. The water temperature must be at least 20 … 25 ° С. Mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil every three waterings. All orchids require bright lighting with careful shading from direct sunlight. In winter, when the sunlight is not so intense, a fluorescent lamp should be placed over the orchids. The temperature requirements for each species are different. So, phalaenopsis needs an air temperature of 20 … 26 ° C, catlea is kept at 21 ° C in summer, and at 15 … 18 ° C in winter. Cymbidium requires a cool content (in winter 7 … 12 ° С, in summer 12 … 16 ° С). The substrate intended for epiphytic orchids should consist mainly of sphagnum and crushed fern roots, for terrestrial ones - from fibrous sod land. Coarse sand and charcoal are added to them. It is necessary to switch to rest mode in a timely manner: lower the temperature, reduce watering, stop feeding, otherwise they will not bloom. The most unpretentious species of the family are cattleya, papiopedilum, onicidium and phalaenopsis.

A widespread family is amaryllidaceae, represented by hippeastrum, hemantus, vallota, zephyranthes, krinum, etc. These are mainly bulbous plants. During the dormant period, amaryllis should be kept in a cool room with an air temperature of 8 … 12 ° C. In other cases, the temperature in the room can be around 20 ° C. Watering is required in moderation. During flowering, it is slightly increased, and reduced in autumn. In summer, fertilizing is done with mineral fertilizers once every two weeks. Flowers of the aroid family are constantly registered in our apartments - amorphophallus, monstera, calla, anthurium, spathiphyllum, dieffenbachia. What can we do for them to achieve the extraordinary color and shape of leaves and bright bracts? Most aroids prefer a bright, but not sunny place,some (philodendron) thrive even in the shade. All members of the family are heat-loving plants, during the year it is necessary to create temperature conditions - 15 … 20 ° С. Air humidity does not matter for aroids. Only Dieffenbachia needs special hydration. Watering is required in moderation. During the period of active growth, from spring to autumn, plants need feeding once every two weeks. Plant leaves should be regularly wiped from dust. Plant leaves should be regularly wiped from dust. Plant leaves should be regularly wiped from dust.

Many apartments are decorated with akalifa, milkweed, pedilanthus and, of course, codiaum with its magnificent reddish-greenish leaves. All of them are representatives of the Euphorbia family. Plants generally do not require complex maintenance. In spring and summer they are watered abundantly, in winter watering is reduced. To increase air humidity, plants are regularly sprayed. The location for the euphorbia is chosen light. In rooms, the air temperature should be kept at about 16 ° C. During the period of active growth, it is necessary to feed once a week. It is difficult to find a room with most conservatory lovers where there are no ferns. Fern leaves are unusually beautiful. To create comfort for them, they should choose a substrate that has a slightly acidic reaction and spray constantly. But watering is often not recommended, especially in winter. For the growth and development of ferns, poor lighting and low air temperatures are required. From time to time, the pot with the plant needs to be immersed in water for a short time to maintain the necessary soil moisture.

Plants of the arrowroot family are widespread in indoor floriculture. They are popularly called prayer plants for their ability to lift and fold leaves at night and before rain. These are arrowroot, calathea, ktenat, stromant. These plants prefer shading from direct sunlight, moist air, and do not tolerate drafts. The minimum winter temperature for them should be 12 ° С, for the rest - 18 ° С. Sudden temperature changes can lead to plant death. Arrowroots develop well under artificial lighting. The water is used without chlorine and lime. The soil should not dry out between waterings. They are good for spraying. They are fed once every two weeks. Wide, low pots are most convenient for these plants.

I left many families aside from any recommendations, these are rue, balsamic, moraine, nightshade, verbena, heather and others. It must be remembered that in winter they are all in a dormant period, when all vegetation processes have a seasonal pause. During the dormant period, the plant must be placed in a cool place, reducing watering and excluding feeding, create artificial supplementary lighting. Steam heating in apartments leads to the fact that in winter the air humidity is greatly reduced, so for most plants it is necessary to use special air humidifiers. Excessive heat causes them to grow prematurely.

From a lack of light, roses, pelargoniums, fuchsias and others stretch out, forming frail, long shoots with rare, pitiful leaves that drain the plant. As a result, pruning has to be done in the spring, and in the future these plants still bloom worse than those that overwintered in a cool place. That is why during the rest period it is important to decide where your pets will spend the winter. They carry dry air - bilbergia, dracaena, geranium, grevillea, zebrina, succulents, oleander, palm trees, pelargonium, peperonia, chlorophytum, echmea.

In a dark and cold place, high aspidistra, red-leaved begonia, drooping bilbergia, sepal bryophyllum, ligustrum, drymiopsis, sansevieria, indoor ivy, tradescantia, hamerops palm, i.e. all plants that have leathery, firm, smooth leaves with a lot of chlorophyll. Feijoa, agave, araucarpia, anisodenteya, strawberry tree, callistemon, bush chrysanthemum, laurel, oleander can easily tolerate winter in a bright and cold place.

Araucaria, aspidistra, beloperone, hydrangea, all types of succulents, clivia, saxifrage, streptocarpus, fatsia, chlorophytum, cyclamen, cineraria also perfectly perceive the low temperature in winter. Abutilon, bougainvillea, cassia, cestrum, lemon, kufea, fuchsia, hibiscus, lantana are required for winter maintenance in a bright place with moderate temperatures. By winter, watering is gradually reduced: resting evergreens are rarely watered, after almost complete drying of the earthen coma, i.e. about once a week. It is enough to water cacti after 2-3 weeks or less, and only if the stems begin to wrinkle. In general, overdrying is less harmful in winter than waterlogging. The water should be at room temperature. Excessive dampness of the ground in cool rooms can cause harmful acidification of the soil. In order for thermophilic tropical plants to endure winter time, they must be kept in a warm and bright place.

Dare, and success to you!