Flowers in the house create a warm and harmonious atmosphere, cheer up and improve a person’s emotional state. Creating a green corner, you need to choose the right plants so that they are not only beautiful, but also safe. These qualities are possessed by one of the most popular indoor plants - cordilin. Care at home for cordilina is not difficult if you create a favorable climate.
The tree of fortune, as they say, is a relative of dracaena. The presence of beautiful long and linear leaves makes it look like a palm tree, cordilina is called a false palm tree, although these are completely different plants.
Description and features of cordilina
Cordilina is a bright representative of the Asparagaceae (Asparagus) family, grows in tropical, subtropical and moderately warm zones of the planet. In the world there are more than twenty species of cordilina, these are evergreen shrubs, shrubs and even trees. The plant lives on different continents, it is found in Eurasia, Africa, Australia, in the Americas. The original look and beauty of the cordilina won the international love of gardeners.
Provide cordiline care at home. This will help to grow a real beauty. The young plant has a short trunk with long, narrow leaves, grows up to two meters. Like a palm tree, cordilina has a fluffy crown, along the green leaves colored stripes appear, burgundy, red or yellow. Unlike variously colored leaves, the flower of the plant looks dull and uninteresting. Delicate, small flowers of white, pale lilac or pink color are combined into inflorescences resembling panicles. At home, cordilina rarely blooms.
Reproduction of cordilina
Cordylin is propagated by dividing the bush, cuttings, seeds and layering. Each grower chooses the best option at his discretion. In order to finally get a healthy and beautiful plant, you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of growing cordilina. Home care, plant propagation are subject to certain rules:
- Cuttings. First you need to separate the upper cuttings with a sharp knife, without damaging the plants. The petiole should be six centimeters long. In order for the stem to take root, it is dipped in sand or in water with coal. If the place is warm and shaded, the first roots will appear after fourteen days. Then the petiole must be planted in a pot. Expanded clay, pebbles or broken bricks are covered at the bottom of the pot, this will allow the roots to breathe. The soil for planting the sprout should be mixed, the sand is mixed with peat and humus. Plant a seedling carefully, without damaging the roots.
- Reproduction by layering. When the stem of the cordiline becomes stiff, a piece of bark is cut from it. The slice is treated with a biostimulant and wrapped with moistened moss and film. As the moss dries, moisten it with water. The appearance of the roots indicates that it is time to separate the layers from the kiwi cordilina. Home care requires ongoing monitoring of layering conditions.
- Reproduction by root offspring. Often young shoots sprout from the roots of cordilina. Transplanting an adult plant, the shoots are carefully cut and placed in a nutrient medium.
Landing and transplanting
Transplantation is stress for any plant, including cordilina. If the flower grows and develops well, there is no need to transplant it. But there are times when a transplant is the only way to preserve cordilina, for example:
- Rotting of the roots.
- Moshkara and parasites.
- Mass yellowing of leaves.
- Roots sticking out of drainage holes.
A transplant pot needs to be selected high, with drainage holes. If it is not possible to buy special soil, try to make it yourself:
- turf land;
- peat;
- sand;
- humus;
- chopped moss.
Before planting, the drainage layer and soil must be removed from the fungus, parasites by sterilization. Following the recommendations, you will grow on your window a healthy cordilina. Home care is simple, since this plant is not one of the too picky ones.
Transshipment plants
The most sparing method of transplantation is transshipment. If the cordiline old pot has become small, you must do the following:
- Do not water the plant five days before transplanting.
- Prepare a transplant container, soil, and drainage in advance.
- Put drainage at the bottom.
- Gently remove the flower from the pot without damaging the roots, and place it in the center of the new container. Important for cordilina home care after transshipment.
- Pour the soil gradually and evenly, slightly crushing with your fingers.
It is necessary to observe the condition of cordilina for a week when leaving at home. The photo illustrates how a healthy flower looks.
Cordilina Care Tips
Let us consider in more detail how to properly care for the cordilin flower. Home care is as follows:
- Watering and top dressing. Cordilina needs frequent watering, especially during the hot season. Water consumption depends on the temperature and shape of the leaves. Broadleaf varieties must be watered more often and more abundantly than plants with narrow leaves. Excessive moisture leads to suppuration of the root system, it is better to water less, but more often. In spring and summer, the flower must be maintained by feeding fertilizer.
- Peace and lighting. Like most ornamental plants, cordiline does not grow in winter. To prevent the plant from being cold, it must be protected from low temperatures. In winter, air humidity rises, so it is better to limit watering. Lack of sunlight leads to loss of color, so this does not happen, use LED lamps.
- Formation. As cordilin grows, it gradually loses the lower foliage, and this is a normal phenomenon. For the development of lateral kidneys, the tip of the cordilina is recommended to be trimmed.
Lush foliage, growth and flowering depend on care at home for cordilina and consist in constant watering, loosening the earth, sprinkling leaves and stable harvesting.
Conditions for growing cordilina
Cordilina apical, home care for which is demanding, is a tropical guest who does not tolerate changes in temperature and humidity. More hardy subtropical varieties of cordilina flower. Growing conditions vary due to different climatic zones.
In spring and summer, the growing conditions are the same. Cordilina does not tolerate direct sunlight, so in the house you need to choose a shaded place. Colorful plants like bright, moderate and diffused light. High humidity is required, it is necessary to spray and rinse the plant. The optimum temperature for cordilina is 24 degrees, it is advisable to keep the flower in the air.
Species and varieties
The genus cordilina has about fifteen species of plants. At home, only low-growing varieties are grown, elongated plants are suitable for growing in greenhouses and gardens.
A striking representative of indoor gardening is cordilina kiwi. Caring for a cordilina flower at home is simple. Cordilina kiwi has yellowish stripes on wide leaves.
Cordilina artisanal (apical) is a shrub, dense foliage, oval-elongated. This variety requires careful maintenance and bright lighting.
Small cordilina is an interesting plant, the crown is like a ball with a bunch of bluish long leaves. It is rarely grown at home.
Fruticosis has a thin trunk, a width of one and a half or two centimeters, and is characterized as a miniature plant variety. Cordilina fruticosis, home care for which requires constant monitoring of the plant, is an amazingly beautiful flower with grooved leaves.
Possible growing problems
The poor appearance of the plant, various manifestations on the leaves is an alarming signal that indicates problems. Mistakes during cultivation lead to the death of the plant. To prevent this from happening, you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of care and problem solving:
- Yellowing and dying leaves indicate low humidity and lack of nutrients. Regular top dressing and humidification will solve this problem.
- When cordilin suffers from home care, the leaves of the plant dry. The reason is dry air, draft, lack of moisture. It is necessary to regularly water the plant, protect it from temperature changes and drafts, and spray the leaves more often.
- Loss of elasticity, lethargy - this is the effect of low temperature. It is worth remembering that cordilina is a heat-loving plant, so the temperature in the room should not be lower than +15 degrees.
Cordilina Diseases and Pests
Improper care is not the only cause of death of the flower. Pests, parasites and diseases often annoy the plant. Most often, aphids, scale insects, mealybug, thrips and fungus annoy the leaves and young shoots. Small yellow and brown spots, drying, the appearance of white sticky lumps indicate the appearance of uninvited guests.
To help the plant and prevent the death of the flower, the affected leaves must be removed and treated with cordilin insecticide and other specialized means. When the roots are affected by rot, the plant must be removed from the pot, remove damaged areas and treated with fungicide.
Florarium and cordilina
Tropical varieties of cordilina love high humidity and warmth, so they are often grown in the florarium. A special enclosed, glass terrarium for plants is designed to contain plants. In a confined space, a certain humidity and temperature is created, so the florarium is used to grow tropical plants. Tall cordilines cannot fit in an aquarium garden. For example, kiwi cordilina care at home in the florarium simply because of its small size.
Cordilina is a bright and picky plant. Variegated, multi-colored leaves with proper care will delight for a long time with their beauty and unusualness. With the acquisition of cordilina, the house will become cozy and beautiful. In addition, green plants in the interior are not only beautiful, but also useful, and some of them can even absorb negative energy.