The original flower Decembrist care at home is excellent, in winter it looks extremely elegant, so quickly turned into a favorite houseplant for many people. Problems arise for beginners who are unaware that they are dealing with a species of cactus that is grown by special technology.
Flower Decembrist, how to care at home?
A popular Decembrist vase has several alternative names - a whimberberger, a Christmas tree, a cancer cervix, a zigokactus. It refers to epiphytic forest cacti, which have learned to grow in crevices of rocks or on large trunks of trees in the fork of branches. For this reason, the flower Decembrist loves growing and care completely different than standard cacti. In nature, zigokaktusy have white and red flowers, but breeders have brought out many interesting varieties with yellow, raspberry, purple, pink buds of tubular form.
Features of growing the Decembrist at home:
- In a hot period, the pot can be sprinkled with warm water.
- Do not place pots with Decembrist under direct sunlight.
- In the warm period, care for the flower on the terrace or loggia, under a canopy, in another shady place outdoors.
- It is undesirable to move the pot with the Decembrist around the room during the flowering period.
- Branching of the bush can be stimulated by pruning segments.
Decembrist - transplant and care at home
The question is, when it is possible to transplant a flower the Decembrist, always excites novice flower growers, who want to transfer the quickly expanded vase to a more spacious container. No wonder zigokaktus called Christmas, because with good care, he literally strewn with delicate buds from November to snowy January. In a state of rest, the Decembrist comes about from February to mid-March, so the best time for transplantation is the end of February.
How to properly transplant the flower Decembrist?
The soil can be made from sand and sheet soil, mixing these components in a 1: 1 ratio. The finished mixture should be moderately friable, it is good to let in moisture and air. It is desirable to additionally add a little wood ash and peat to the resulting soil, which will significantly improve the composition of the nutrient substrate. For a young flower of the Decembrist transplant is made annually, and adult pots can be transferred to a new pot less often - once in 2-3 years.
It is undesirable to place the Christmas tree in a spacious container, in this case it will actively develop the green mass and stop pawning new buds. It is recommended to plant in a wide and low pot. The flower is decembrist, home care is best tolerated in a container that is only a couple of centimeters larger than the diameter of the previous container. We necessarily do drainage from expanded clay or stones, we drill in the bottom a hole for a drain of an excess liquid. The drainage height is up to 3 cm.
Care of the Decembrist during flowering
It is noted that this plant reacts to the temperature of the medium by changing the color of the bud. A beautiful saturated color of the petals can be obtained at 18 ° C, stably supporting this mode in a room with pots. Caring for the blossoming Decembrist, try not to rearrange containers with vases in this period to another place, such actions provoke the premature dropping of buds. Pinch off dying tubular flowers with your fingers, this helps to cause branching and abundant laying of new peduncles.
How to feed the Decembrist during flowering?
In the question of how to water a Decembrist during flowering, you need to accurately calculate the amount of liquid used so that the water near the roots does not stagnate. When the temperature of the medium drops to 14 ° C or lower, the humidification is generally stopped. Water is used as a stand-by, at high rigidity it is better to boil and cool beforehand. During rest, top dressing and watering stop.
Top-dressing helps to maintain in good condition, even the old Flower Decaturist flowerpot, proper home care includes the use of complex preparations or Mullein infusion. In the flowering period, nitrogen is excluded, but phosphorus and potassium are introduced, in order to reduce the risk of falling buds. Good results are obtained using wood ash. It is advisable to purchase special ready-made top dressings for cacti or universal fertilizers.
Why the flower does not flower the Decembrist?
A popular question often asked by newcomers: "The flower of the Decembrist does not blossom what to do?" The main reason for this problem is the lack of a full period of rest for the zigokaktusa. Most often this happens in apartments where early heating is switched on and a stable temperature is always maintained. In this case, it is desirable not to regret the Christmas tree, but to arrange for him an artificial stressful situation, provoking the plant's entry into a state of hibernation.
How to call in the home care for the flower Decembrist resting state:
- With the beginning of October, we transfer the Christmas tree to a cool room with a temperature of 10 ° C to 18 ° C.
- It is advisable to remove the pot from a well-lit window and transfer it to the penumbra, reducing the amount of light hours.
- We reduce watering to a minimum.
- Minimally we introduce moisture with easy shrinking of leaves.
- The Schlumberger can carry a short temperature drop down to 3 ° C on a balcony or under a canopy.
- The state of rest ends with the onset of December.
- We put the Decembrist flower in the heat, the care at home during this period consists in carrying out normal watering and potassium-phosphorus fertilizing.
- The optimum day temperature in the room for flowering decembrist is about 19-22 ° C.
Decembrist care after flowering
With the end of flowering, we proceed to the formation of the Christmas tree crown. Beginning pruning Decembrist after flowering, it is desirable to make it by hand, twisting the extra segments with your fingers. We shorten long shoots, leaving no more than two leaves above the branching point. Irrigation is done after flowering until the beginning of the rest period regularly to prevent complete drying of the earthen coma in the pot, fertilizing with mineral components - once a month.
The flower of the Decembrist withers, what should I do?
The question of why a Decembrist flower wilts, it is necessary to start solving with a careful examination of the plant, assessing its general condition. If you notice the destruction of the root neck, then you are dealing with a disease, with simple overmoistening of the soil, deep roots are more likely to suffer. Other signs of infection with pathogenic fungi Phytophthora (Phytophthora) or Pythium (Pythium) - pallor of the segments, the foliage becomes gray, fades and disappears. Rot Drechslera cladophyll - on the leaves of the zigokaktus leaves unpleasant black patches of rounded shape.
Methods of treating Decembrist from diseases:
- Process the flower "Phytosporin", "Maxim", "Fast", "Topaz".
- Observe strictly the humidity, between the irrigations, the earth lump should be slightly dried.
- Remove the plant from the open sun.
- Do not put Christmas near hot batteries.
- The introduction of extra fertilizers can burn roots and destroy the flower Decembrist, care at home should be carried out following the instructions that are attached to the drugs.
Decembrist flower - care and reproduction
A popular Decembrist flower is propagated at home by a predominantly vegetative method. Experienced growers with experience practice the vaccination of the percutaneous species of cactus periksopsis or pereskiyu to get an amazing shtabovoe sapling. This is a delicate procedure that requires certain knowledge and skills. A less complex and quick method of reproduction of zigokaktusov - cuttings green leaves.
How to breed a flower Decembrist?
When you care at home, the Decembrist is very easy to propagate a flower with cuttings , the owner of the flower pot always has a lot of extra segments when pruning plants that are used successfully for this purpose. Sprouting can be done in warm water or a prepared substrate. In the first case, we maintain the segments in the liquid until the formation of thin roots, and then transplant them into the ground.
Cuttings of Decembrist in soil:
- After pruning, the leaves are dried for 2 days.
- The segments are buried in the sandy soil in half.
- Cover the container with a packet or jar.
- Once a day we spend airing.
- Remove the package from the pot after the appearance on the cuttings of young stems.