Crassula (Crassula) refers to succulent plants, is able to accumulate food and moisture in dense, thick leaves and stems. It does not require much watering, with high humidity, its roots even begin to rot, so it is ideal for busy people. According to popular belief, Crassula attracts money to the house, so it is also called the money tree.
Material Content:
Crassula: types, varieties and their description
The genus of fatwomen includes more than 200 species of plants. His Latin name Crassula comes from the word "fat," "fleshy." In indoor floriculture, the oval or ovoid (Crassula ovata) is most often grown. This is a tree-like perennial plant with a thick lignified trunk. It has oval dense green leaves with a bluish-gray waxy coating that look very decorative. The maximum height of an adult tree is about one and a half meters.
Popular varieties of oval Crassula:
- Compact (Crosbys Compact) - small foliage, 1.5 cm long and 1 cm wide.
- Minor (Minor) - the leaves are light green with a reddish tint, the plant develops very slowly.
- Sunset (Hummels Sunset) - the leaves are decorated with white and yellow stripes with a red border, with insufficient lighting they turn green.
- Oblique (Oblique) - a natural variety with spiky green leaves and a thicker trunk, which is highly branched.
- Solana (Solana) - yellow stripes are visible on the leaves, the plant requires pinched shoots to create a branched crown.
- Tricolor (Trikolor) - white stripes are visible on green leaves and a red border around.
- Crassula hobbit (Crassula ovata Hobbit) - its leaves resemble the ears of the popular cartoon hero Shrek, they have a bright green color with a crimson hue along the edge.
In addition, other types of plants are bred at room conditions: creeping, groundcover, pluvoid and other thickworms. They can have a diverse shape and color of the leaves, some representatives bloom beautifully, for example, a prothole-headed crassula.
Planting, transplanting and soil requirements
Fat women buy soil for planting in a flower shop. Suitable soil for succulents. You can prepare the earth yourself, then vermiculite is a good addition - a natural ground mineral that has the ability to retain excess moisture. If necessary, he gives it to the roots of the plant and does not allow the soil to be excessively moist, which is very important for fat women.
It is advisable to take a transplant pot not deep, but wide.
It is better if it is ceramic - the roots can breathe and do not rot. There should be a drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. After buying a plant in a store, it is advisable to transship it without disturbing the earthen lump if the specimen is healthy.
Transplant procedure:
- expanded clay is poured at the bottom of the pot for drainage;
- vermiculite is added to the soil for succulents;
- pour it into a flower pot;
- they put a sapling of a fat woman;
- fill the pot with soil completely.
At first, after planting, the plant is not watered.
Read also:Aloe - home care
Optimal conditions for growing rosula
Optimal for the rossula will be similar to the natural conditions of detention. Some of its species come from arid and sunny Arabia, others from South Africa. In any case, with regard to water and nutrition, Crassula is unpretentious. In summer, she needs a lot of heat and fresh air, and in winter - the temperature is below + 15 ° C. But she wintered in a warm room, only it would not bloom in spring.
When growing plants in a pot, preference should be given to land for succulents. The flower of Crassul loves bright light, especially for variegated varieties.
Caring for a fat woman at home
Knowing the characteristics of the plant, it is not difficult to take care of it. Watering should be moderate but regular, and the soil should be loose enough not to retain excess moisture.
The tree-like crassula requires not only proper care, but also formation.
This plastic plant can grow in any desired direction where the owner will direct it. Most often, the crassula is formed in the form of a small tree with a branched trunk or a lush bush, in which the trunk is almost invisible. In one pot, you can plant several seedlings to make the plant more luxuriant.
Flowering money tree
Crassula blooms with small, white-pink flowers collected in a brush. Inflorescences appear in adult plants at the ends of the stems.
In order for the money tree to bloom in room conditions, it needs to create special conditions for this, similar to natural conditions, when the period of rest and active growth alternates.
In winter, Crassula cannot be placed near a battery. During this period, she needs cool air (+10 or + 15 ° C) and a minimum watering of 1 time per month. With the advent of spring, the plant begins to actively water and fertilize. After a cold and dry winter, the crassula should bloom, sensing an abundance of heat and light, moisture and nutrition. It is advisable to put the plant on the terrace, balcony or take it out into the garden for the summer period.
Propagation of a houseplant
The plant is propagated by leaf and stem cuttings or seeds in March or April. You can buy seeds of the Money Tree Mix and other varieties at a flower shop.
Sow the seed in a mixture of universal soil and sand, taken in equal parts. They are very small, so they are laid out on the surface, not sprinkling on top of the ground.Crops are moistened from above with a spray bottle, covered with a film, aired daily and maintain the necessary humidity.
If the seeds are fresh, seedlings will appear after 2 weeks. Using a toothpick, they are seated in separate pots.
With vegetative propagation, getting new plants is much easier. To do this, a leaf or stem cut with a sharp blade is suitable.
- The slice is treated with crushed activated carbon and dried for 3 to 4 hours.
- Then they plant it in a pot filled with a mixture of sand and soil for succulents.
- Humidify as the soil dries from the spray gun.
Pests and diseases - how to treat?
The diseased plant is easy to distinguish in appearance. He stops growing, spots appear on the leaves, sometimes the trunk rots and falls to one side.
The most common problem causing rotting of the trunk and roots is excessive watering. The plant does not like too humid air and soil.
- If fusarium rot appears on the leaves, it forms brown spots.
- Blight usually develops on the root neck of a plant, causing rotting of the trunk.
At the first sign of disease, the fatty woman is treated with fungicide and all rotted parts are cut off. If it is no longer possible to save the tree, its healthy parts are rooted in the soil substrate, and the soil and decayed root are thrown away.
Pests most often settle on weakened plants, and most often it is a root or mealybug. An affected fat woman is treated several times with an insecticide, with an interval of 7 to 8 days.
Useful tips for the grower
Not all growers manage to grow a large money tree and, moreover, make it blossom.
Useful tips will help with this:
- In order to grow a beautiful tree, the branches are cut, then they will begin to branch.
- Turn the plant in different directions to the light so that the leaves grow evenly.
- Fertilize it with complex top dressing for succulents, not only at the root, but also along the leaves.
- They put a money tree on the brightest window in the apartment.
- In winter, he is kept in a cool room and watered very rarely.
Money tree is not only a beautiful ornamental plant, but also medicinal. Its leaves have healing power, they can be chewed with sore throat. If you attach crushed leaves to the wound, it will quickly heal. Therefore, such a green pet in the apartment will definitely not be superfluous.
