Araliaceae family. Home to tropical Pacific islands from Polynesia to New Caledonia. The genus Dizygotheca does not exist at the moment, the plant formerly called Dizygotheca elegant Dizygotheca elegantissima currently has the botanical name Scheffler elegant Schefflera elegantissim. It is an evergreen, lightly branching tree-like plant. Leaves on long petioles, palmately complex number of leaves from 4 to 11. The leaflets are long, linear in shape, serrated or serrated along the edge, dark green in color, each leaf 20-40 cm long, about 1 cm wide. The flowers are small and nondescript, collected in apical umbrella inflorescences.
Scheffler's graceful has three varieties that are often seen in flower shops, the seller-supplier is the Netherlands. All of them are medium-sized plants. If the original species has elegant leaflets very thin and long, segments about 8-12, then the variety 'Castor' has leaves only about 7-9 cm long, about 1-1.5 cm wide, green, and in a complex leaf only three leaves. Variety 'Bianca' - the size and shape of the leaves is the same as' Castor ', but with a cream edging along the edge of the leaf. But the variety 'Gemini' is with green leaves, but the leaves are ovoid with serrations along the edge, the length of the leaves is up to 5 cm, the width is 3-4 cm.
Read about other Scheffler species and care details on Scheffler's page
Dizygeka - home care
Temperature: Sheffler is elegant (Dizigotka) heat-loving, the optimal temperature for it is 22-24 ° C, in winter at least 16 ° C. Does not tolerate drafts or sudden temperature changes.
Lighting: bright diffused light in summer, good lighting in winter, including direct sun in the morning or evening hours. Dizigotka, or rather Scheffler's graceful, grows well on the eastern or even southeastern windowsill. On the south and west window it is too hot, shading is required. In winter, you may need to light up with fluorescent lamps.
Watering: plentiful from spring to autumn, moderate in winter. Dizigotka does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil, so before the next irrigation, you need to make sure that the soil has dried up in the upper half of the pot. At the same time, if the soil dries completely, the dizigotek begins to dry the leaves.
Fertilizer: in the period from May to August, feeding with complex fertilizer for ornamental and deciduous plants, every two weeks.
Air humidity: Dizigotka loves moist air, optimally about 50-60%, it needs regular spraying. In winter, the air in the room is too dry, so it is better to place the plant on a tray with wet expanded clay or moss-sphagnum. Remember that the lack of humidity cannot be compensated for by increasing irrigation.
Transplant: Annually in the spring. The soil is a mixture of the 1 part of the sod earth, the 1 part of the sheet and the 1 part of the sand. You can add pieces of birch charcoal, pine bark or vermiculite to the soil. Good drainage to the bottom of the pot is mandatory. It is also possible to prepare a substrate from universal soil (for example, Terra-vita) with the addition of zeolite granules (non-rolling filler for cat toilets, for example, Barsik-standard, sifted to a fraction of 3-5 mm), in a ratio of 3:1.
Reproduction: by seeds and cuttings, which are rooted using root formation stimulants (phytohormones). From my own experience, I can say that rooting cuttings in boiled water (with the addition of an activated carbon tablet) takes an average of 3-4 months. You can plant cuttings when the roots grow 3-4 cm long, since the roots are fragile, when planting, carefully sprinkle with earth, do not press or squeeze the earth around the stem, it is better to fill the soil with sweat when it lies after watering.
Problems of growing dizigotka (schefflers)
In general, all three scheffler varieties are elegant, the plants are unpretentious, with an average growth rate. When wintering in a dry room, where the air temperature is above 21 ° C, the lower part of the stems is gradually exposed, and the lack of light exacerbates the loss of decorativeness. In this case, it remains only to re-root the apical cuttings or make an air branch if the plant is old and has a thick trunk.
Too dry air in the room contributes to the defeat of the plant with a spider mite. You can find the pest on the back of the leaves if you look closely. Outwardly, the tick lesion on the dizigotek manifests itself in the yellowing and drying of the leaves - first the edges turn yellow, spots appear. You can fight the pest with shampoo and hot shower - first thoroughly moisten the leaves on both sides with soap foam, leave for 5 minutes. Then wash off the soap or shampoo with hot water from the shower (the water temperature is such that the hand tolerates). Repeat the procedure twice more with an interval of a week. In the future, just rinse the leaves once a month under a hot shower. This is usually enough to get rid of ticks.