Areca family (palm). Homeland Mediterranean. The genus includes one species, the squat Chamerops humilis. Their leaves are tough, bluish-green, on long petioles with spines, covered with easily falling gray hairs. Hamerops grows slowly and is quite unpretentious. This, in fact, tuberous plant should ideally be carried out in the summer to fresh air, and in winter they are kept in a light cool room. Drafts should be avoided. It is essentially a greenhouse plant.
Sometimes hamerops are confused with another fan palm - Livistona. The difference is that Hamerops has deeply dissected leaves, while Livistona has only tips.
Hamerops - Care and Cultivation
Temperature: Hamerops loves moderate temperatures, in summer it does not tolerate heat (when the room is stuffy, rare ventilation). In winter, the heating season is poorly tolerated, ideal conditions for it are 8-14 ° С, at least 5 ° С. You can grow on an insulated balcony, but the pot can be additionally wrapped with a foam roller or tied with a woolen scarf .
Lighting: Bright place, with some direct sun. If the palm tree is removed in size to the windowsill - fine, if not, then in the room only on the table near the window. In autumn and winter, lamps (daylight, LED) must be turned on in a warm room.
Watering: Moderate in summer, with drying at the top of the ground. In winter, limited, but watering directly depends on the air temperature, for example, when kept in a cool room in winter - about 5-7 ° C, they do not water at all, at 10-12 ° C - very rarely or watering is replaced by spraying. The earth should never be damp .
From May, 1.5-2 months after transplantation, until August, you can feed every two weeks with fertilizer for palm trees or any complex fertilizer for deciduous plants. Fertilizer application rate according to the instructions.
Air humidity: Hamerops are sprayed periodically.
The main methods of caring for hamerops include periodic wiping of leaves from dust, loosening the top layer of the earth after heavy watering, and replacing the top layer of the earth if the soil is too saline.
Transplant: Hamerops does not like transplants very much, so they transplant only when the roots fill the entire pot or tub and begin to crawl out of the container. When transplanting, part of the roots forming the felt layer is cut with a sharp knife so that the plant fits in a new pot or old one. The soil is 2 part light turf, 2 part leaf, 1 part rotted compost, 1 part sand and some charcoal.
Reproduction: Hamerops are grown from seeds, but this is quite problematic, seeds germinate reluctantly, often rot. Germination is carried out at an ordinary room temperature of 25 ° C, sown in February-March. It can be propagated by dividing old plants. For more on palm cultivation and cultivation, see Palm trees
