Ampelee, climbing plants and creepers are those plants that have soft, usually long branches that need support. If there is none, then they just hang down freely. Actually, creepers differ from ampel plants in general in that their shoots are directed upward, and air roots (like philodendrons, syngonium) or special devices - antennae (like passiflora) help to keep them in a raised state.
Some plants simply climb up, invariably releasing a mustache that twists around any surface, they are able to wrap around the branch of a neighboring plant, and even sprout through the tulle curtain, while the shoots are always directed towards the world.
In other plants, antennae grow, but less often and cling to each other more than they perform a holding function, shoots hang freely from the pot.
In terms of indoor floriculture, ampella plants are distinguished by the fact that they are rarely placed on windowsills, more often they decorate walls and decorative stands and tables. I would say that the main goal of ampelny is to decorate the room itself, the walls. Based on this, it is more correct to divide all ampel plants into groups. Blooming and "non-blooming," photophilous - shade-tolerant.
This is quite important, because placing a photophilous plant in a room, at a certain distance from the window, it will need additional lighting, and this cannot always be organized, and someone simply does not have a desire to do additional light, without which the plant will bald and wither early. It should be noted right away that all blooming ampeles are photophilous! This does not mean that they need a south window - not at all, even cacti and succulents require shading at noon, but when placed in a room, you may need additional light, and in the autumn-winter months it is simply necessary.
| Deciduous (non-flowering) | Blossoming | |
|---|---|---|
| photophilous | shade-enduring | |
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All variegated varieties of ampella plants:
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The table shows not only vines and climbing plants, but also shrubs and plants with creeping shoots that are grown as ampeles (asparagus, some cacti, etc.) and as ordinary potted plants.
What light-loving means:
- For decorative and deciduous - this means bright diffused light - in the immediate vicinity of the window, right next to the tulle curtain, no further than 20 cm.
- For decorative blooms, this means a certain amount of direct sun in the morning or evening, i.e. east or west window.
Placing photophilous (flowering or variegated) in the room, sooner or later there is a question with additional light, otherwise the plants refuse to bloom, lose their variegation, are exposed from one side (on the side farther from the light), the shoots stretch out and the leaves become smaller.
So, hypocorta naked, eschinanthus, hoyi can bloom in winter and summer, but if you provide enough light. To do this, you will have to place daylight lamps no further than 20 cm from the plant (incandescent lamps and sodium lamps are also used, about this on the forum Home Master and Winter Garden). You can do without lamps only with a south window, not shaded by anything from the street. At the same time, plants can safely overwinter without stretching shoots and without disfiguring leaves, without losing the diversity and density of foliage, but some ampella and creepers may not wait for flowering without having a bright sun.
It is comforting that many flowering plants are good without flowers, even with pure green leaves.
If you place the planter on a shelf on a wall or on a rack, assuming that the branches will hang down, then the pot should be light first, preferably plastic, second, not pressed close to the wall, otherwise the crown may form lopsided. High drainage should be done, because it is not always possible to look at the shelf in the pot, if re-drying can still be experienced in most cases, then overflow is usually fatal for plants. Do not forget to take the plant off the shelf once a month and inspect the ground - remove the top layer if it is known and whitened, loosen, remove dried leaves. In addition, the higher the plant is placed, the drier the air around it, so periodic spraying or warm showers (carefully cover the soil in the pot with polyethylene) will not hurt.
However, flowering and plants in the budding phase cannot be touched! Otherwise, you will lose buds and flowers, for example, hoya bella reacts very sensitively even to the turn of the pot.
Arranging additional lighting for plants on the shelf is quite simple - you can simply put the lamp next to it, fix it vertically with a clove and wire, etc.
If you place plants in a hanging planter that can be attached to the ceiling, wall, garden, then of course, make sure first that being watered (i.e. heavy), the pot will not fall on your head, the chains or strings that hold the planter will not break (there were such cases), the height on which the pot is suspended allows you to get and touch the ground with your hands (some are suspended so that you can only water by reaching the spout of the watering can, and not being able to check the condition of the soil). Leaves of hanging plants should not be in close contact with the crown of other plants. A tick, for example, can be found on a plant suspended under the ceiling only when the leaves begin to crumble, in which case it will safely crawl over to neighboring plants.
In this case, the placement of additional lighting may not be needed - if the helmet is suspended directly opposite the window, in the immediate vicinity (and scattered rays of light fall on it).
If the planter is suspended further than 20 cm from the window, then you may have to figure out how to place an additional light source. Alternatively, it can be a powerful lamp from the wall, in some cases lighting from a chandelier is enough, as well as placing the lamp directly above the plant.
It should be noted that in the matter of additional illumination, it is important not only the lighting power, but also the duration of daylight hours. If you turn on the chandelier for 3-4 hours in the evenings after work and expect that the plants located 2 meters from it are well lit - a misconception.
If you tie ampel plants and vines to the support, then you need to pay attention to the fact that the structure is easily disassembled, i.e. the branches are easily untangled, the pot is stable on the shelf, table, windowsill, i.e. in this case, a clay heavy pot is preferable.
For many plants with aerial roots, the issue of high humidity is important, in this case the tube with moss helps out, or spraying. There is a very important point here: drops of water will flow directly into the pot from the sprayed plant, which means that the soil will dry out much more slowly, there will be increased humidity above the surface of the earth. I.e. if the plant is often sprayed (forces the heating season), then watering should be much less frequent. Or rather, the rule applies here - it is better to spray once again, but not water!
The other side of the coin is increased air humidity, especially with increased soil moisture - a favorable environment for the development of fungi and bacteria, aggravated by the fact that the branches are very crowded, often and tightly tied to the support. Therefore, for plants that love humid air and require spraying, add Phytosporin, Trichodermin, etc. to the water.