Often in the collection of gardeners you can find such an unusual plant as fatsia. Home care requires special attention. The name of the plant is of Japanese origin. This is due to the fact that the flower is common in Japan, as well as on the island of Taiwan. It is there that there is a fashion for small trees - bonsai. It is quite troublesome for a plant like Fatsia. Care at home provides flowering rarely.
How Fatsia Blossoms
Small umbrella-shaped inflorescences have a greenish-yellow hue without any decorative value. The flowers exude a delicate fragrant aroma. The berries of this plant are dark blue, not suitable for consumption. Although it is not necessary to take care of a flower as complex as fatsia, it is hardly possible to make a photo of a flowering plant at home, since it rarely blooms at home.
Appearance
Fatsia is a woody plant. It has quite large shiny leaves that are horizontally standing on long petioles. Green leaves, large (up to thirty-five centimeters), have a dissected pointed shape.
Fatsia, care
At home, this plant adapts to any conditions. It would be preferable to cool the temperature of its content. She loves bright diffused light and fresh air, so it is recommended to place the flower on the east, west or south window with a shade from direct sunlight.
Ventilate the room in which Fatsia is located, should be regularly. In winter, the temperature of the content should range from six to ten degrees. For the variegated form of Fatsia, it is necessary to maintain a warm climate even in winter. The average temperature during this period is 16 degrees.
The plant is developing rapidly. If we talk about such a flower as fatsia, leaving at home reviews leaves only positive. Indeed, no special content criteria are required for it. If you buy a small plant, then under optimal conditions in two or three years it will reach one and a half meters in height. In nature, this evergreen beauty reaches four meters. For rapid development, the free placement of Fatsia next to other plants is recommended. Those who do not like bulky flowers should put Fatsia in the shade. In this case, it will grow very slowly and for a long time please the owner with its compact appearance.
Watering
You need to be very careful with watering this plant. In order not to fall off the leaves of Fatsia, home care requires compliance with certain rules. First of all, remember that you can not fill the plant. From this, the leaves will become soft and lethargic, may turn yellow. Even a single overdry of the soil can lead to lifeless drooping of leaves. In this case, you can straighten them by tying them on special struts to the previous horizontal position. From insufficient watering or dry air, the leaves wrinkle and their tips turn yellow. In this regard, from spring to autumn should abundantly water the plant and often spray it. In winter, during dormancy, watering should be moderate.
Possible difficulties
In order for fatsia to develop well, home care should prevent the disease. The most common pests that cause disturbances in the development of the plant are a spider mite, scutellum, aphid, mealybug. When there are signs of pests, the plants are treated with fungicides. The most effective drug from most of them is Actellic. To achieve a greater effect, the treatment is performed up to three times.
The most unpleasant disease that affects fatsia is botritis, or gray rot. It occurs under conditions of detention in a damp and cool place. The stem of the infected plant acquires a brown color, begins to rot and becomes covered with a gray tint. In the end, the diseased flower rots completely.
In order not to die of fatsia, home care should include a set of timely measures to eliminate gray rot. To do this, carefully remove the damaged parts of the trunk, and put the plant in a well-ventilated place with low humidity.
If the plant has wrinkled leaves, you should pay attention to air humidity. When it is dry, daily spraying will help. If the plant is located in direct sunlight, the cause of the wrinkling of the leaves is a sunburn. It is recommended to shade fatsia in the summer.
If the leaves turn white, spots appear on them, and the tips become brown and brittle, the reason is insufficient watering. As a rule, adult plants need regular intake of water into the root system. In this regard, one should not forget to water large specimens more often. In order to transform Fatsia into summer heat, home care should include a weekly shower.
The leaves of Fatsia became soft, lethargic - the overmoistening of the earth coma is to blame. Brittle leaves are the result of dry air.
Transfer
Every year in spring, young specimens are transplanted into fresh soil. A mixture for plants is prepared on the basis of the following proportions: turf land - 2 parts, humus - 1, peat - 1, sand - 1 part. A third of the pot must be filled with drainage from broken shards or expanded clay. Older instances of Fatsia are transplanted every three years. The largest specimens do not need a transplant. For them, just change the topsoil to fresh.
Thus, Fatsiya can rightly be called one of the most unpretentious house plants. The only thing she can suffer from is improper watering. For this reason, not every flower lover can meet this exotic guest.