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Euphorbia Or Euphorbia: Species, Planting And Reproduction
Euphorbia Or Euphorbia: Species, Planting And Reproduction

Video: Euphorbia Or Euphorbia: Species, Planting And Reproduction

Video: Euphorbia Or Euphorbia: Species, Planting And Reproduction
Video: SUCCULENT IDENTIFICATION 50 TYPES OF EUPHORBIA 2024, March
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Beautiful and unapproachable "Africans"

Spurge or Euphorbia (Euphorbia) - large genus of plants of the family Euphorbiaceae, living in different climatic conditions and has about 2,000 species of monoecious and dioecious plants. These are herbaceous plants, semi-shrubs, shrubs and trees, succulents, very similar to cacti. By the way, among succulents in terms of the number of milkweeds, they take the third place - about 290 species.

Euphorbia brilliant or Euphorbia Milli (Euphorbia Milli)
Euphorbia brilliant or Euphorbia Milli (Euphorbia Milli)

Its name is the genus Euphorbiais indebted to the physician Euphorb, who was the first to determine the medicinal properties of the milkweed Euphorbia resinifera, from the milk juice of which a medicine was made for a long time. Most of the succulent milkweed originate from South Africa, Ethiopia, Congo, from the island of Madagascar. There they are planted alongside houses as hedges. Thorny shrubs with thin branches or ribbed, erect shoots grow up to 10 m and serve both as protection and decoration of the home. In indoor floriculture, euphorbia, of course, does not reach such sizes. A characteristic feature of all milkweed is milky juice, which is abundantly secreted at the slightest damage to the plant. The juice contains rubber, resins, amino acids, stearin, essential oils, saponins, and sugars. There is also a poisonous substance - euphorin, which can cause burns, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose,dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, you should always be careful when planting and breeding milkweed.

Euphorbiaceae form unisexual flowers, consisting of single stamens and pistils without a perianth. Nondescript flowers are surrounded by nectar glands or bright leaves. The fruit is a three-celled capsule with seeds; after ripening, they shoot out of the capsule in different directions at a distance of up to 1 m and germinate quickly.

General content features

The milkweed loves a sunny place all year round. And only in extreme heat it is necessary to shade them to avoid sunburn. Water should be little by little, it is better to underfill than overflow! Only leafy milkweed needs quite abundant watering in summer. In winter, careful watering is required to dry out the soil. In spring and summer, they are fed with fertilizers, taking into account the specific type of milkweed.

Euphorbia is thermophilic, in winter the temperature should not drop below 16 … 18 ° С.

With age, some milkweed at the base of the stem, the skin becomes corky. This is a normal process.

Planting and breeding

Milkweed is planted in containers with obligatory drainage holes and laid on the bottom of the drainage layer. Planting in pots without a drainage hole is unacceptable: due to one improper watering, the plant can die from root and stem rot.

The earthen mixture is composed of clay-sod, leafy earth or peat and sand with the addition of pieces of charcoal. Young plants need an annual transplant into fresh soil, adults are transplanted less often - after 2-3 years, in spring.

Milkweed is propagated mainly by cuttings, except for spherical forms (they are propagated by seeds). Cuttings are harvested in the summer in June-July. Having cut off the stalk, you need to let the milky juice drain off by immersing the cut for a short time in warm water. Then it is sprinkled with crushed coal. Within 2-3 days, the cutting is left to dry, then planted in a sand-peat mixture for rooting. The optimum temperature for rooting is 20 ° C.

Possible problems

Yellowing and shedding of leaves - this occurs when the conditions of detention are violated: with a lack of light in winter, from excessive or insufficient watering, when the room temperature is too low for the plant.

Of the pests, milkweed are affected by spider mites, aphids, thrips, and scabies. With excessive moisture, fungal diseases develop.

Types of milkweed

Consider some of the most common types of euphorbia in indoor floriculture. In particular, in my home collection of flowers there is euphorbia, milly, trigona and poinsettia. Moreover, the poinsettia has been growing for many years in the form of a bush, which I periodically cut off strongly, and it quickly grows overgrown with young shoots.

White-veined spurge (Euphorbia leuconeura)
White-veined spurge (Euphorbia leuconeura)

White-veined spurge (Eu. Leuconeura). Perhaps this is the most popular of all the milkweed. A juicy trunk of 4-5 ribs, more thickened at the top. Fringed stipules are located along the edges of the ribs. Emerald green leaves with white veins on long reddish petioles are 10-20 cm long and 5 cm wide.

When the leaves fall off, noticeable marks remain on the trunk. As the stem grows, the leaves fall off, and the young ones grow only at the crown. In appearance, an adult spurge resembles an exotic palm tree. It is typical for it to have leaves only at the top of the trunk. Already in the middle of autumn, he can throw off the leaves, but in the spring they will grow back. For even development, you should sometimes turn it the other side to the light.

The white-veined euphorbia blooms with inconspicuous flowers: thin white threads of flowers peep out of the hard scales of the bract. Inflorescences are almost sessile, sticky with nectar, do not have bright bracts. This spurge is very unpretentious in culture, grows rapidly, easily reproduces by self-seeding.

Black seeds shoot out of a ripe boll and fly into neighboring pots, where they germinate surprisingly easily. It propagates only by seeds or lateral processes that appear on the main stem. The fallen seeds are collected and sown into moist soil, slightly pressed. Before emergence, crops should be covered with glass or plastic wrap.

You need to water the spurge with settled water at room temperature. From spring to autumn, it must be fed once a month with fertilizers for cacti. In winter, watering only after the soil dries out. Low temperatures and heavy watering can kill the plant. Therefore, in winter it is kept in a fairly warm room. Euphorbia perfectly tolerates the dry air of our apartments, even in winter. Does not need spraying.

The soil mixture is made up of leafy earth, peat and sand in equal parts. The pot should be shallow, but wide, because the root system of this milkweed is weak. After the milkweed reaches an impressive size, it is advisable to put a couple of heavy stones on the bottom of the pot to give it stability.

Euphorbia (Eu. Lophogona). This species of milkweed is strikingly similar to the white-veined milkweed, it is almost impossible to distinguish them, and therefore they are often confused. But there is one difference - in milkweed crested inflorescences are not sessile, but are located on a peduncle 4-5 cm long and have white or red bracts.

Spurge brilliant or Euphorbia Milli (Euphorbia Milli)
Spurge brilliant or Euphorbia Milli (Euphorbia Milli)

Spurge brilliant or spurge Milli (Euphorbia Milli). Widely spreading, highly branched shrub with fancifully curving branches up to 1 m long. It is also called indoor blackthorn. Stems are rounded, brownish-gray, covered with numerous strong and very sharp thorns up to 2 cm long. Green oblong leaves, slightly pointed at the top, are located between the thorns.

Umbellate inflorescences of 2-4 flowers appear from the leaf axils, usually on the young growing part of the shoot. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, but surrounded by bright two-lobed bracts, painted in bright red, orange or yellow. Inflorescences are located on a long sticky peduncle. When placed on a southern window, this spurge blooms almost all year round. Partially sheds leaves for the winter.

Euphorbia Milli is very photophilous and requires direct sunlight. In winter, the air temperature is preferred around 16 ° C. Watering in the summer needs plentiful, spraying is useful, in winter watering is moderate. In the summer, it is fed 1-2 times a month with fertilizer for cacti.

For better branching, pinch the tops. Young growing shoots can be tied to a support, giving them a bizarre curvature. After lignification of the shoots, the supports are removed.

An annual milkweed transplant is not required. The soil mixture is composed of equal parts of clay-sod, leafy soil and sand. It propagates easily by cuttings and dividing the bush.

Euphorbia trigona, euphorbia triangular
Euphorbia trigona, euphorbia triangular

Triangular spurge (Eu. Trigona). This species of milkweed looks like a branching cactus. It has a thick triangular stem, on the edges of which there are small straight spines and oval bright green leaves 3-5 cm long. It has a very fast growth, especially if it grows in fertile soil. If you do not pinch the crown, it can grow to the ceiling. This is one of the most unpretentious species. It grows easily in full sun and partial shade. In the summer, it requires abundant watering and fertilizing for cacti 1-2 times a month.

It does not particularly suffer from overdrying the soil, it only discards the leaves, which grow back with the resumption of abundant watering. In winter, watering is limited.

Triangular spurge is easily propagated by lateral cuttings. The soil mixture is made up of equal parts of leaf or sod land, peat and sand. Considering that it has shallow roots, a small but wide pot is chosen. Heavy stones are placed on the bottom to give stability.

The most beautiful spurge, poinsettia (Eu. Pulcherrima). In nature, it is a shrub, reaching a height of 2.5-3 m. Leaves 10-15 cm long are ovate-elliptical with a pointed tip on long reddish cuttings.

At the ends of annual shoots, complex umbellate inflorescences with small nondescript flowers are formed, surrounded by bright bracts, most often red. Currently, through the efforts of breeders, varieties with bracts are white, cream, or having different shades of red. Poinsettia blooms in December-January, so it is also called "Christmas Star".

Euphorbia most beautiful, poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)
Euphorbia most beautiful, poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

Poinsettia loves a lot of light, you need to place it in a well-lit place, avoid too hot sun in summer. The temperature is better moderate 16 … 20 ° С, this plant can withstand coolness, but not lower than 10 … 12 ° С. This must be borne in mind when buying a plant.

With sharp fluctuations in temperature, its leaves turn yellow and fall off. Drafts and proximity to heating devices should be avoided. Watering should be moderate, especially in winter: water only after the topsoil dries out so that the roots do not rot. For irrigation, use settled water at room temperature.

After flowering and falling off of beautiful bracts, poinsettia begins a period of rest, which lasts one and a half to two months. Watering at this time is sharply reduced. After the foliage wilted, pruning is done, leaving shoots 10-15 cm long and removing excess shoots, leaving only 4-5 to form a lush crown.

Cut shoots can be used for propagation. A pot with a trimmed plant is placed in a dry, cool place with diffused lighting for a dormant period, almost no watering. Around the beginning of May, the poinsettia should be watered well and transplanted into new soil in a larger pot, keeping a clod of soil on the roots.

After that, you need regular watering and feeding twice a month with potash fertilizers for flowers. Poinsettia loves regular spraying, especially during the heating season. In very dry air, the plant begins to shed leaves and flowers.

To get a flowering plant for Christmas, from the end of September, poinsettia is prepared for flowering. To do this, within eight weeks, it is necessary to artificially shorten the day, covering the plant with something for 12-14 hours a day. Then the plant is not darkened, it already blooms. Poinsettia blooms only with a short daylight hours and usually blooms without artificial shading at the end of winter.

Poinsettia is propagated by apical cuttings from spring to autumn. The stalk should have five internodes. Cutting off the stalk, remove the lower leaves and place it in warm water for 15-20 minutes. If this is not done, the milky juice will clog the vessels, and the stalk will most likely not take root. Then the cuttings are placed in a wet mixture of sand and peat, deeply buried and covered with a film, and placed in a warm place (up to 24 ° C). After rooting, they are transplanted into a fertile soil mixture consisting of leafy, soddy soil, peat and sand (1: 1: 1: 1). Make good drainage in the pot. When the plants start to grow, pinch the top.

At home, you can easily grow a large bush or tree from a poinsettia. To do this, after flowering, they do not cut it off, transplant it into a large pot and, by trimming excess shoots, form the desired crown.

Euphorbia large-horned, Euphorbia grandicornis
Euphorbia large-horned, Euphorbia grandicornis

Large-horned spurge (Eu. Grandicornis) is a succulent plant up to 2 m high, similar to a columnar cactus with three raised curved ribs. Stems are fleshy, juicy, up to 20 cm thick, triangular in cross section, ribbed. Ribs unevenly cut. Along their edges, large, fast-falling leaves (up to 7 cm) with brown or gray sharp hard spines are located in pairs. Complex corymbose inflorescences of small yellow flowers are located on the ribs. The fruits are coral red. The plant is light-requiring, requires moderate watering in summer and extremely careful in winter. Propagated by cuttings.

Euphorbia tirucalli (Eu. Tirucalli) is a shrub species with an unusually branched, thin dark green stem with small leaves, which are located only at the top. The leaves fall off rather quickly. In another way it is also called "rubber spurge", tk. it was previously used to make rubber.

In room conditions, a fairly large tree can be obtained from this milkweed. Propagated by cuttings and practically does not bloom in indoor conditions. The milky juice of this milkweed is very poisonous, it is necessary to work with it with gloves, if it comes into contact with the skin, the juice must be immediately washed off with water.

Swollen spurge, Euphorbia obesa
Swollen spurge, Euphorbia obesa

Swollen spurge (Eu. Obesa) - outwardly very similar to a cactus and is a bluish ball with transverse white stripes up to 10 cm in diameter. It has 8-10 ribs with even rows of paired thorns. Small whitish dots are visible on the ribs. It is more light-loving and drought-resistant than other types of milkweed. It should be watered carefully even in summer. In general, caring for him is similar to caring for cacti.

The plant is dioecious. At the top of the stem, inflorescences appear with either male or female yellow flowers. Each pod contains only 2-3 large seeds after maturation. It is propagated only by seeds. The soil mixture is made up of equal parts of leafy soil, peat and sand.

Euphorbia multifaceted, Euphorbia polygona
Euphorbia multifaceted, Euphorbia polygona

Polyhedral spurge (Eu. Polygona) is a succulent shrub up to 1.7 m high with fleshy rounded ribbed stems up to 7-10 cm in diameter. It has from 7 to 20 sharp wavy ribs about 1.5 cm high. On the edges of the ribs there are brownish warty outgrowths and violet-black single spines. Right from the base, it branches abundantly, forming a bush of several shoots. The flowers are small yellow with two dark red bracts, collected in a complex corymbose inflorescence.

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