Eschinanthus

 
Эсхинантус

Gesnerium family. Homeland - South and Southeast Asia, islands of the Malay archipelago. About 80 species are common in nature. They are mostly epiphytic or semi-epiphytic herbaceous plants with receding stems.

Aeschinanthus beautiful Aeschynantus speciosus - has long shoots with oblong sessile leaves about 10 cm long and 4 cm wide. The leaves are bare, slightly toothed along the edge. Flowers are collected at the ends of shoots. The flowers themselves are not large two-lipped, with a curved tube and a bright orange limb, the calyx of the flower is yellow-green.

Eschinanthus reverse-conic Aeschynantus obconica - has long shoots with oblong-elliptic sessile leaves about 8 cm long and 5-6 cm wide. The leaves are young, slightly pubescent, then eventually glabrous. Flowers are collected in 5-6 pieces on peduncles. Flowers with a pubescent bard calyx and a pubescent, curved red corolla.

Eschinanthus beautiful Aeschynantus pulcher - with long shoots with oblong sessile leaves about 5-6 cm long and 3-4 cm wide. The leaves are bare, green, reddish along the edge. Flowers are collected on peduncles. Calyx yellow-green at base, reddish above, glabrous, corolla bright red, pink inside, very long.

Эсхинантус

Caring for Aeschinanthus

Temperature: Normal in summer, about 20-25 ° C is optimal for growth. Eschinanthus has a short resting period, which falls in the winter months of November - January, this is due to a natural decrease in illumination, while it is advisable to lower the temperature to 16-18 ° C, the minimum for it is 12 ° C. At this temperature, watering is seriously reduced.

Lighting: Bright diffused light required, with shading from direct sunlight during the hottest hours of March to August. Eschinanthus will grow perfectly on the eastern or southeastern windows, in hanging baskets.

Watering: In summer, watering is plentiful, with drying of the upper part of the soil. In autumn or on cold days in spring-summer watering less often, be sure to let the soil dry out, but do not allow long-term drying! Aeschinanthus also does not like very much when the soil dries up for a long time. After copious watering, loosen the ground in a pot.

Fertilizers: One month after transplantation during the period of active growth, feed with complex fertilizer for flowering plants. Feeding is carried out every 2 weeks, until the end of flowering. During the dormant period, when there is no growth or shoots grow very slowly (from October to February), feeding is not necessary. When choosing a fertilizer, pay attention to the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) in equal shares.

Air humidity: Eschinanthus requires high air humidity, so the plant is sprayed 1-2 times a day, with soft warm water, if the hygrometer reading is below 50%.

Transplantation: Slightly acidic soil and suspended planters are used to grow eschinanthus. Transplanted annually in the spring. Soil: a mixture of leaf (2 part), coniferous (1 part), chopped pine bark (1 part), vermiculite or perlite (1 part). If the surface of the soil is covered with a salt coating (white-red grains), you need to remove about 1.5-2 cm of soil and add fresh.

Reproduction: Upper cuttings, which are better rooted during underheating using phytohormones. In early spring, in March-April, the cuttings of eschinanthus are perfectly rooted in the water in a warm room in a bright place.

Growing problems

Pests and diseases usually rarely disturb this plant. Rather, it may suffer from too dry air or excessive watering in winter. In this case, the lower leaves turn yellow and die. The plant sheds buds and flowers.

Eschinanthus refers to those plants that grow over the years. This is manifested in the fact that the shoots lengthen, and the leaves at their base gradually fly around. In this case, you need to rejuvenate the plant - cut and root the apical cuttings.

Despite the fact that often air roots are formed on the shoots of the eschinanthus, or rather small buds of these very air roots, they take a long time to take root. At the same time, it is better to root either in water or in pure moistened vermiculite. You can put cuttings for rooting in a room greenhouse or under a bag. It is desirable to use bottom heating, in any case, the temperature should be about 25 ° C.

If the stalk, for some reason, does not take root, you can try another way of breeding. Take a long branch of eschinanthus aside to put a pot with a loose substrate under it (you can take chopped sphagnum moss in the same proportions, with vermiculite or perlite and sheet soil) and press the branch a little deeper into the substrate, with a pebble or a wooden stud. Water carefully to prevent decay. After rooting the part of the shoot lowered into the substrate, the branch is cut off, and the cuttings are transplanted into a pot.

Eschinanthus grown from a handle usually blooms in the first year. If the adult plant does not bloom, then this may be due to the following reasons - too radical pruning after the previous flowering, lack of transplantation (the soil is depleted), insufficient amount or frequency of feeding. During abundant flowering, the plant powerfully consumes nutrient reserves from the soil, so annual transplantation and feeding are required. When choosing fertilizers, I advise you to stay at Kemir Lux.