Brighamia Insignes is a botanical name - Brighamia insignis, a pahicual trunk succulent, belongs to the subfamily of lobelian bell-bellied family (Campanulaceae), growing on the coastal cliffs of the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago.
At home, brigams are rather undemanding and unpretentious, growing up to 1 m in height. They are often called palm trees by the people, for their appearance - a relatively smooth non-woody trunk, evenly tapering upward, crowned with spreading fleshy leaves covered with a waxy coating. By the way, brigamy milky juice can irritate the skin, pinching if it gets to the wound.
Thickened trunk - caudex is able to store enough water to survive quite long droughts. Flowers usually appear light yellow flowers up to 3 cm in diameter with a long tube (8-10 cm) appear in autumn and have a faint vanilla aroma. The fruits are dry two-chamber achenes about 2 cm long (multi-seeded), but artificial pollination (with a brush) is necessary to obtain seeds. Seeds ripen for at least a month and a half, the ripened capsule cracks, and the seeds fall out, they can be sown immediately.
Brigamia cultivation
Temperature: Bigamia is thermophilic, in summer it is optimal about 25-27 ° C in summer, in winter a cooler content is desirable - about 20 ° C, at least + 15 ° C. Does not tolerate root supercooling. For summer, it is better to put it outdoors in the garden or on the balcony, but provide protection from rain and wind.
Lighting: This succulent needs a bright sunny place, it can be safely located on the southern windows. However, the bright sun in spring should be accustomed gradually, because due to the very thin bark, the plant can get burns. And in winter, especially if the central heating works, you need to turn on the lighting in the evening and in the morning, while it is dark outside, otherwise the brigamia begins to lose leaves. Use fluorescent or LED bulbs .
Watering: Water caudex plants moderately so that the soil dries between watering almost completely. In summer, on hot days, they water about once a week, and in winter - once a month. Brigamies are very sensitive to excessive watering, root rot can easily begin from this, so do not plant it in too large a pot and periodically loosen the soil.
Fertilizer: In spring and summer, they are fed with special fertilizer for cacti, adding it to water for irrigation. Top dressing no more than once a month.
Air humidity: Brigamies need high air humidity, so they must be sprayed daily from a fine spray bottle.
Soil: You can use a purchased soil mixture for cacti - "Cactus +," again with the addition of the 1 part of the sand. The pot should be 1 cm (no more) wider than the root system of the plant. Drainage to the bottom of the pot is mandatory. Young plants are transplanted annually, adults over 3 years old are transplanted after a year, but the upper layer of the earth is replaced annually. After transplantation, water is watered no earlier than a week later.
Reproduction: Seeds, cuttings. Before rooting, the cut of the handle must be dried for at least 2 days, then placed in a greenhouse on clean dry sand. The greenhouse must be ventilated daily and the handle sprayed with warm water.
You can propagate brigamy with seeds. To do this, they need to be soaked for a day in water at room temperature, then planted in a mixture of peat and vermiculite (in equal parts). The germination temperature is 25-28 ° C, the plate with crops must be put in a bright place, on the windowsill, and covered with glass. Seeds germinate within 2-3 weeks. As soon as the seedlings reach about three centimeters in height, they can be planted in pots. I advise you to take the smallest 8-10 cm pots .
Difficulties in caring for the brigamie
1. During budding and flowering, the brigamia must not be repositioned relative to lighting to prevent the plant from dropping buds.
For the successful flowering of the brigamy and its full development, in the autumn-winter period it is necessary to provide additional lighting, which will provide 12-hour daylight hours. This can be achieved by turning on the backlight a couple of hours before it brightens outside and with the onset of evening twilight. For these purposes, I use fluorescent lamps using relay timers. Good lighting, even watering and generally correct care are the key to the rapid flowering of the brigamy.
2. Due to the reduced humidity, brigamii are very easily affected by the spider mite. Therefore, in order to prevent, it is necessary to increase the humidity to 50-60 %.
Brighamy responds very well to bathing her under warm (but not hot) shower jets. This should be done once a month, if possible, it is good to arrange a "sauna": fill the shower with steam, put a plant there and leave it for hours on 5-6 (do not turn off the light in the bathroom). Such measures help prevent the appearance of a tick. But if, nevertheless, the pest appeared, you should spray the leaves, especially from below, for example, with the Bona Forte bio-insecticide.
Author of the article: Lyudmila Popova (Buttercup)