Bright colorful splendor can be contemplated by planting such a plant as hypoesthes. Home care is simple, just a little attention is enough. Then the flower will retain its shape and beautiful color for a long time.
Hypoestes: description
And home care, which we will discuss later, should be of high quality, despite the unpretentiousness of the flower. Hypoesthes refers to deciduous plants. This is a shrub with a height of not more than half a meter. Its decorative function is performed by leaves - burgundy, purple, pink, with greenish veins or small specks. Their oval shape resembles an egg, the length usually does not exceed 7-8 cm. Depending on the variety, the edges can be smooth or jagged. Pretty modest small single flowers have a purple color on the plant with red or pink leaves, and white - on varieties with white leaves.
Many varieties and shapes of these flowers are known. Two species are especially popular - Hypoestes sanguinolenta Hook (blood-red hypoesthes) and Hypoestes phyllostachya Baker (leaf-stalk hypoesthes).
Home Care
So that the plant does not lose its unique leaf color, it needs to provide sufficient lighting, top dressing and watering. Hypoesthesia needs good lighting, but it should be slightly diffused. In winter, it is also worth organizing the illumination of the plant with a fluorescent lamp. With a lack of light, leaves can lose their piquant color forever.
In the warm season, the plant needs abundant watering. Drying of the soil leads to leaf falling. High humidity is another condition for the proper development and growth of such a flower as hypoesthes. Care and cultivation is carried out with the obligatory daily spraying of leaves with distilled water.
Mineral fertilizers are applied in spring and summer periodically after 3-4 weeks. In winter, this can be done once a month. To improve the color of the leaves, it is advisable to do potassium top dressing. As organics, a shredded mullein is suitable, which is simply sprinkled in a flower pot. To preserve the decorative form of the plant, pinching is recommended.
Soil and plant transplant
In order to provide hypoesthes care to the plant at home, you must first properly prepare the soil mixture. The soil should be fertile and at the same time light. To do this, take compost, sheet land, peat and river sand in equal parts. At the bottom of a shallow container, a drainage layer is preliminarily laid.
A plant transplant is carried out every spring. It is necessary to prepare for this a pot one and a half times the size of the previous one. The shape is usually selected shallow, but wide enough. In such a spacious vessel you can plant several varieties of a plant such as hypoesthes, care at home for which is no different. This allows you to get very interesting and original compositions.
When transplanting, the bush is divided into several parts, leaving 2-3 nodes in each. Thanks to this procedure, the plant will not lose its attractiveness for many years.
Breeding
Hypoesthes propagates by cuttings and seeds. The second method is the most popular. In early spring, seeds are sown in prepared peat-sandy soil, covered with a jar or film on top. This will keep heat and accelerate the emergence of seedlings. After sprouts appear on the surface, the plants are moved to a place well-lit by the sun. When the hypoesthesia grows up and real leaflets appear, it is transplanted into a more spacious permanent container. It acquires the appearance of an adult plant after 2-3 months.
The propagation method by cuttings is used less frequently, although it has some advantages. For example, planting a process can be done immediately in the soil prepared for an adult plant. First, it is covered with a jar, which can be removed in a week. Before planting, cuttings 8-10 cm long must be separated from the adult flower and put them in water. In this case, you can add a growth accelerator. A transplant into the pot is made when small roots appear.
Plant Care Issues
It is necessary to carefully monitor the appearance of hypoesthesia in time to come to his aid. Sometimes you can observe the drying of the leaves along the edges. This is caused by a lack of moisture in the air, so daily spraying of the plant with water will help to cope with the problem.
Leaves fall due to drafts or lower temperatures. Excessive watering can lead to yellowing of the plant. With an excess of nitrogen in the soil, the spots on the leaves can become too light and lose their decorative effect. Lack of lighting often leads to a complete loss of spotting. This is especially noticeable on the leaves of some varieties, in which they are covered with white or yellow strokes, as in the hypoesthes mix.
Home care for these generally non-whimsical flowers is uncomplicated. All that is required is to follow the basic recommendations outlined above.