Crassula is an unusual houseplant, originating from the subtropical forests of South Africa. It is a perennial succulent, reaching natural heights of 3-4 meters. In apartments, it often grows in the form of a compact bush or tree. Caring for a fat woman at home does not require too much investment, although some points still have to be taken into account.
Material Content:
Crassula: home care
The people call this plant a money tree for small thick leaves of a rounded shape, and among botanists it is called a rosula. According to the ancient Chinese teachings of Feng Shui, it is the fat girl who attracts luck, wealth and prosperity to the house.
Temperature features, lighting, humidity
The fat girl is photophilous, but it is better not to bear it in direct sunlight. The best option is east, west, southeast or southwest windows. You can shade it with mesh material or a very thin fabric. The fat woman will respond well to moving it to the open ground. They put it in a half-shaded place where direct sunlight falls only in the early morning or evening.
They bring a money tree into the house with the onset of cool August nights (usually this is the middle of the month).
- The red rosin overwinters in a cool, bright room with an air temperature of 10-15 degrees. The minimum duration of a cold winter is 1.5 months. If it fails to provide such conditions, then in the future we can expect a slow growth, and sometimes falling leaves.To avoid the loss of green mass during a warm winter, the fat girl, at a minimum, needs to be set aside away from heating batteries, as well as humidify the air.
- In summer, humidity is uncritical for a fat woman, because it is a succulent that accumulates water in its fleshy leaves and trunks. Over the summer period, one can expect intensive growth of shoots, and often even flowering!
And yet, if possible, it is better to put around the pot containers with water and other indoor plants, the leaves of which evaporate moisture. On the hottest July days, it is recommended that the fat girl is additionally sprayed and washed under a warm shower. At the same time, they try not to flood the earthball.
Soil requirements
Domestic manufacturers produce special soil for succulents, suitable for money tree. Unless you can add a little ordinary garden soil and coarse sand to it. If desired, you can make the soil mixture yourself.
To do this, take:
- leaf soil - 1 part,
- turf - 4 parts,
- humus - 1 part,
- coarse sand - 1 part.
It is recommended to choose a pot clay, although succulents grow well in plastic. The main thing is that there is a drainage hole at the bottom, because stagnation of moisture is detrimental to the money tree. Before filling the soil, a layer of pebbles, expanded clay or at least small stones is laid at 1/5 of the height. The plant is placed in a pot with straightened roots and carefully covered with soil on the root neck.
Watering and feeding the money tree
To water a fat woman has special conditions. Its root system easily rots from excessive moisture in the soil, so watering is carried out only as the earth coma dries. Moreover, it’s better to underfill than to overfill: wait for the earthen coma to dry to a depth of 2-4 cm.
In winter, watering becomes very rare. During cold wintering, it is enough to moisten the substrate 1-2 times a month, depending on the temperature and rate of moisture evaporation.
Too often feeding a fat girl is contraindicated. Enough once every 1-2 months in the warm season to make special fertilizers for succulents. You can periodically change the topsoil, replacing it with a new, fertile one.
In winter, any feeding stops.
Cropping and shaping the crown
At home, a hoody is usually formed as a shrub or small tree. Crown formation begins at an early age. With a fine blade, with jewelry precision, it is necessary to remove the growth point of a young seedling after the appearance of 3-5 pairs of leaves. Soon the money tree will give branches of the first order. They also pinch the tops when they grow 3-4 pairs of leaves. Do the same with the following branching orders. With this approach, a compact spherical crown is formed.
Plant transplant
Fat transplantation is not performed as often as in the case of many other and indoor exotics. The root system of the money tree should fully cover the earthen lump. But once every two years it is usually transplanted into a slightly larger pot. Extraordinary transshipment can be carried out if the roots are clearly cramped in the current capacity: the earthen lump is completely braided, and the roots are visible through the drainage hole.
Flowering Crassula
Zealous flower growers can achieve flowering of the fat woman even at home and see with their own eyes its white or light blue flowers collected in umbrella inflorescences. The key to success is proper care of the money tree, infrequent top dressing and a cool wintering.
The surest way to wait for the first buds is to plant a fat woman in open ground in early summer.
Propagation of a houseplant
The easiest way to propagate a fat girl is by cuttings, which are easily rooted even in water. A little faster, they take root in coarse sand, perlite or light sandy soil. The best time for this is the first half of spring.Having performed the procedure in March-April, there is hope to wait for the first flowering already in the current season.
The length of the cuttings can be from 5 to 15 cm. To accelerate root formation, the cuttings are kept in a weak “Kornevin” solution for 24 hours, and after planting in the substrate they are covered with a transparent bag or a plastic cup. Although, even without these tricks, the probability of success tends to 100%. Cuttings are planted in pots with soil when the roots reach a length of 2-3 cm.
The seed path is somewhat more complicated and already requires skills and adherence to technology. Shallow dishes with drainage holes are filled with light soil with a sand content of 50-70%. Seeds are sown on the surface of the soil and moistened with a spray bottle. The container is covered with glass or plastic film, placed in a room with room temperature and wait for seedlings.
They appear in two weeks, after which the film is gradually removed. Humidification is carried out by spraying. After 2-3 months, the seedlings will grow, get stronger and become suitable for diving into small pots.
Pests and Diseases of the Crassula
The houseplant flower is rarely affected by pests.
But sometimes they attack her:
- mealybugs;
- scale insects;
- spider mites.
Against these uninvited guests, industry produces a ton of money. One of them is Aktara, which expels scabbards and mealybugs. The drug is first sprayed with leaves, then water the soil. Scrap remnants can be carefully scraped off with a knife.
The spider mite is more difficult to remove. In addition, it is a rather subtle pest. People with poor eyesight are likely to find it only when it has time to cause significant damage to the plant: the affected leaves are covered with small pale dots that form patterns.
Insects look like small red balls, which, when sprayed from a spray gun, begin to move along the surface of the leaves. Of the widespread inexpensive drugs, nothing takes it except the Fitoverm. Only treatment should be carried out twice with an interval of a week, and sometimes thrice.
If after two procedures the tick continues to appear, then the dose recommended by the manufacturer must be exceeded by 2 times.
It is especially worth noting that no folk methods against red ticks are effective! Do not waste time on this!
What problems can a flower grower face?
- The most common misfortune awaiting gardeners is the decay of the roots of the money tree. Most often, this occurs due to excessive watering, but sometimes the cause is too cold water. If this happens, you need to remove the plant from the pot, clean it from the ground, cut off the rotted roots with scissors and plant it in a light permeable substrate. But often a problem is noticed only when the root system is already in a terrible state. In order to save the species, you can immediately cut off several cuttings from it and put on rooting.
- With insufficient light, the stems of the Crassula elongate, become thin, and the internodes increase. Remember that in the back of the room, almost any plant will suffer from a lack of light, even shade tolerant. For green pets, only window sills are suitable!
- Dryness of the air is indicated by drying and wilting of the leaves. In order to resuscitate, you can tightly put a plastic bag on the crown for several days, ventilating the rosula once a day, and in the future it is necessary to ensure sufficient humidity of the external environment.
In general, the fat woman among all houseplants occupies an intermediate position in the degree of unpretentiousness. Nevertheless, it is such an unusual plant that every second florist grows it. Many strive to achieve its flowering even simply out of sports interest, and if desired, everyone can do it. You just have to try a little, and the money tree will actually bring good luck!
