Myrtle family. Homeland - tropical and subtropical areas, mainly coastal areas of Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, the Philippines, etc. About 50 species of evergreen trees or shrubs are common in nature.
Metrosideros polymorpha Polymorph metrosideros is a wide, branched shrub, the trunk is smooth light gray at a young age, darkens with age. Leaves are oval in shape, up to 7-8 cm long and 5-6 cm wide, stiff, dark green in color, gray-blue below. It blooms mainly from spring to late summer. The flowers are usually bright red, can be orange-red, salmon, pink. Homeland - Hawaii.
Metrosideros excelsa Metrosideros is tall - a tall tree that grows up to 23 m tall in nature. Leaves are elliptic in shape, about 10 cm long and 5 cm wide, stiff, dark green, pointed at the end. The stems and underside of the leaves are covered with dense whitish pubescence. The flowers are usually orange-red, collected in multi-flowered inflorescences. Homeland - New Zealand.
Metrosideros - care and growing secrets
In nature, metrosideros grow in coastal forests on well-drained soils of medium lightness - loamy or sandy loam. At home, these plants develop well only in bright and well-ventilated rooms. In general, the care is simple - timely watering and transplanting, loosening of the soil after abundant watering, accurate formation of the crown - you need to remove branches growing inside the crown to avoid thickening. When salinizing the soil, change the top layer of the earth.
Temperature
Normal in summer, in extreme heat, remove the pot from the windowsill to a cooler place or keep the windows constantly open. In winter, cool content is necessary at temperatures between 8-12 ° C. Keep the metrosideros on the glazed balcony as much as conditions allow, if it's very cold, place the pot in a cardboard box, pour around dry sawdust and cover with another box. So you can keep the plant without watering in dry soil at a temperature of + 2-4 ° C for a month or two.
Lighting
Full solar lighting. No shading is required.
Watering and humidity
Abundant from spring to autumn, after drying out the top layer of soil. Since autumn, watering is reduced, watered so that the soil does not completely dry out, like all myrtle ones, metrosideros is prone to decay, dropping flowers and leaves with excessive watering. Drying out will also cause massive leaf flying. There is a special subtlety here - you need to focus exclusively on the temperature and drying rate of the soil. The leaves were slightly let down - to water, but not much. Do not allow strong wilting of leaves - such drying can be irreversible, destructive. Water for watering is used only soft!
Ideally, air humidity should not fall below 50%. If there is a hygrometer, focus on its readings, turn on the humidifier.
Fertilizer
From March to August, they are fed with complex fertilizer for ornamental flowering plants. Top dressing every two weeks at the dose recommended by the manufacturer. Well suited Fertica Suite. Metrosideros does not tolerate excess fertilizers - bacterial or fungal infections develop, roots become sensitive to rot. After transplantation, do not feed for 1.5 months.
Flight connections
Mandatory transplantation of young plants annually in the spring - it is necessary to replace the caked soil. Adult plants are replanted after 2 years, but the top layer of the ground is changed annually. Soil: 2 part of sod, 1 part of sheet earth, 1 part of humus, 1 part of sand, 1 part of vermiculite (perlite or expanded clay). The acidity of the soil is slightly acidic, although metrosideros can easily grow on neutral and even alkaline soils, the ideal pH is within 5.5, this is due to the fact that the absorption of most nutrients normally occurs in this range. The seating capacity should be spacious and stable. Drain to the bottom of the pot and be sure to make large holes for water to drain into the tray.
Reproduction
Metrosideros is propagated by cuttings and seeds.
New growth shoots are used for propagation by cuttings, while part of the leaves is cut from strongly leafy cuttings to reduce moisture evaporation by the cuttings. It is best to root cuttings in vermiculite using phytohormones (heteroauxin + zircon). Vermiculite is kept slightly moistened, and containers with cuttings are placed in a room greenhouse. The success of rooting cuttings and growing the plant as a whole directly depends on the high humidity of the surrounding air and moderate soil humidity.
Seed metrosideros
Flooded and supercooled - the tops of the shoots die off- As soon as the fruit becomes brown, it means that the seeds have already ripened and can be collected, if you overexpose the fruit, the box cracks and very small seeds crumble. However, not all fruits produce viable seeds, but only about 20%.
- Seeds quickly lose germination, so if there is a need to store seeds, they are dried and placed in a paper envelope in the refrigerator at 5-10 ° C.
- Seeds are sown into a mixture of sand and peat, without sprinkling with earth, moistened from a sprayer. Cover the top with glass or film .
- Twice a day, you need to ventilate the crops and moisten as the soil dries.
- Seeds germinate in 10-15 days. Immediately after the emergence of seedlings, you need to provide them with a lot of light. If the days are cloudy, turn on the light.
Growing problems
The main problem is the inconsistency of the necessary humidity of the air and soil. Some sources mention metrosideros as a plant resistant to dry air, but this is not the case. In fact, the difference between metrosideros is that its leaves do not tolerate excess moisture in the form of long-drying dew, but at the same time in the homeland the air humidity reaches almost 90%, and not by prolonged rains, but by the proximity of the ocean and fogs.
So it is advisable to constantly moisten the air around the plant not by spraying on the sheet, but by spraying the air around it, or by placing the pot on a tray with water.
Soil moisture should always be in an even state, overflows and overfilling are not allowed. If you check the soil by touch - with your finger, then it should be slightly wet all the time.
Ideally, the ground should be well drained with fine expanded clay or vermiculite in addition to the main drainage to the bottom of the pot. If the soil is snapped in the plant, there may be a deficiency of some elements, for example, potassium, boron, iron, leaves turn yellow in the plant, brown spots form along the edges. Fertilizing only worsens the condition - you need to change the soil.
Of the pests, it is worth fearing aphids, attracted by intensive flowering on plants displayed on the balcony or in the garden and tick .