Previously, they could be seen in almost every house. In revolutionary times they were called a symbol of philistinism and began to get rid of them. Now they are regaining their well-deserved popularity. We are talking about plants called ficus elastica - a little demanding, a little capricious, but always unusually beautiful.
Familiar strangers
There are about 2000
species of ficus. At home, about 20 of them are grown. Ficus elastic - the most popular and most common. "Elasticity" is a Latin word. In Russian, these plants are called rubber-bearing, because rubber was previously extracted from their juice. Many flower growers love ficus and willingly deal with them, but not everyone knows what amazing properties they possess. People say that ficuses bring prosperity and prosperity. Scientists say that they better than any other
indoor plants purify the air and enrich it with oxygen. Feng Shui adherents assure that ficus helps to think correctly and make the right decisions, bring peace and harmony. In the living room they create an atmosphere for intimate conversations, in the office - for the conclusion of profitable deals, in the kitchen they attract money, in the bedroom they relieve insomnia and even help conceive children for those who have problems with this.
In nature and at home
The birthplace of ficus is the tropic zone: Burma, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Java, Northeast India. There they grow lush trees up to 40 meters or more. Many species for additional nutrition and breathing have dozens of powerful enough, air roots falling to the ground . In India, they even create suspension bridges. In their native expanses, all ficuses bloom and bear fruit. The fruits of some are edible. Indoor ficuses bloom in rare cases, only if they are provided with all the conditions, and most importantly, provided enough space. But you should not be upset about this, since the flowers (siconia) of most of them are nondescript pear-shaped formations with a hole similar to figs. Fruits have approximately the same appearance.
In our apartments, ficus elastic does not grow enormous and not all branch. This genus of plants has many species and varieties, outwardly significantly different. Some are scattered, others not. In some, the leaves are green, large or very small, in others variegated. Only the conditions of detention for all these species are approximately the same.
Care Features
Caring for ficus is simple, but requires compliance with certain rules. There are only six of them:
1. Lighting . All ficuses love him, but they can’t stand direct sunlight. From this, spots of burns appear on their leaves. The best option is to put a flower pot near a window covered with a light curtain. The window itself should also be closed, because drafts are not like ficus. Once in the blown place, the plants begin to lose foliage.
2. The temperature . Despite the fact that ficus elastica are southerners, they cannot stand the heat. The optimum temperature for them is +22 ... +25 in the summer and +14 ... +16 in the winter. At lower values, plants begin to discard foliage.
3. Watering . It is required regular but moderate. It is not necessary to fill the plants, but the lump of the earth should be moist (except when the ficus is kept at an air temperature below + 12 degrees). Water for irrigation must be defended.
4. Humidity . All ficus elastic love spraying with warm boiled water. If the room is hot, you need to do this daily. In winter, spraying is not carried out. But to wipe the leaves from dust is required all year round.
5. Feeding . In order for plants to please with beauty, it is advisable to feed them with complex fertilizers 2 times a month . A break is made only in winter, when plant growth stops.
6. Constancy . Ficuses do not like the changes in their lives, that is, turning the pot or moving to a new place. They respond to these actions with leaf fall.
Ficus transplant at home
Since all varieties of ficus grow quickly, they need to be transplanted from time to time. It is impossible to place a small plant only brought from the store immediately into a large pot. So his roots will begin to grow rapidly to the detriment of the ground part. If there is a need for a transplant, a new pot is chosen only 5 cm wider and 6 cm deeper than the previous one. Drainage is necessarily poured to the bottom. Soil is either bought special for ficus, or they are prepared themselves. For this, equal proportions of sand, humus, turf and peat land are mixed. In rare cases, a ficus transplant at home is replaced by adding soil from above to the pot. If a white coating appears on the earthen crust around the plant, it must be cut off and add the same soil to the pot as is taken during transplantation.
Breeding
Ficus elastic is propagated in two ways.
1. Cuttings . You need to cut the stem with several leaves, rinse under running water until the whitish juice stops flowing, and put it in water or stick it in moist ground. In the latter case, it is desirable to cover it with a package. In this way, plants with green leaves are better propagated, for example, ficus elastic Robusta.
2. Air layering. On the stalk you like, you need to make an incision (no more than 1/3 of the thickness), wrap it with moss sphagnum and a bag or film. When the roots appear, the stem must be cut and planted. This method is used to propagate variegated ficuses.
Pests and diseases
Scalp, thrips and spider mite attack elastic ficus. You can fight them with special drugs ("Aktara") or folk remedies. The most effective is to wipe the leaves and stem of the diseased plant with a soap solution, which should be washed off after half an hour. Some gardeners advise spraying the earth in a pot with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. All other problems with ficuses (falling, twisting, yellowing of leaves, too long bare stalk) are caused by non-observance of the rules for caring for the plant.
Ficus with green leaves
The most popular among gardeners is the ficus elastica Robusta. In most cases, it has one straight stem extending to the very ceiling. Its leaves are large, oval, up to 30 cm long and about 15 cm wide, saturated green, smooth, glossy, very dense, with a bent tip. It is difficult to force it to grow a bush. If you cut off the top of this ficus, several lateral buds begin to come to life, but usually only one grows, giving the same single stem. The remaining buds or their young shoots freeze. But the ficus Robusta among its brothers is considered the most patient and undemanding. You can force it to release lateral shoots, not only cutting the top, but also tilting the stem. Then the upper kidney will begin to develop. When several leaves appear on it, the stem is straightened. Some gardeners make needle punctures on the stem (approximately 1/3 of the thickness). It stimulates kidney growth.
Another popular type of ficus elastic plant is Abidjan. Outwardly, it looks like Robusta, only its leaves are much darker, and their tip is pointed, but not bent. If you provide Abidjan with the right lighting, the color of the foliage becomes dark beetroot with red veins. This type of ficus is also quite unpretentious and undemanding.
Ficus elastic Melanie (pictured above) perfectly branches without human effort. The leaves are smaller than the two previous species. In length they grow up to 15 cm, and in width - up to 7. Their tip is bent. The plant looks very beautiful, since on the branches the leaves are compact. If you look after him correctly, you get a neat, lush bush. This species is a bit capricious, likes regular spraying, requires fertilizing with nitrogen, does not tolerate drafts, permutations and dust on the leaves.
Variegated Ficus
These include species Belize, Brazil, Tineque. These ficuses are quite demanding creatures. They need proper lighting, warmth and frequent spraying. Without satisfactory conditions, they discard foliage or lose their colorful colors. Ficus elastic Tineke has rather large, up to 25 cm long and 15 cm wide, oval leaves. Closer to the central vein (pink or cream) they are green, and along the edges are white, cream or other light colors. Belize is also a very spectacular view. Its leaves have a more pronounced spotting and red central vein. The edges are white, pink and cream.
Brazilian ficus leaves are also variegated, but there are more bright spots on them. Their color is white, yellow, cream, salad, and the central vein is light. The plant can grow a bush and looks unusually beautiful. In the photo above - ficus Tineke.
Ficus "mix"
The word "mix" in this case means that the seeds were sown not of one variety, but several. The most common ficus is the elastic “mix” Benjamin. This species has many varieties, among which there are representatives with both variegated and green leaves. Some of them, for example, green Danielle, Exotica, have leaves up to 6 cm in length, and Kinki, Esther leaves grow up to 4-5 cm only. Monique and Golden Monique varieties look very beautiful, with the edges of the leaves being highly corrugated.
All varieties look like a small tree with a dense crown. “Mixes” Benjamins basically require the same care as all ficuses: they like spraying, heat, light, they hate drafts, permutations and excessive moistening of the earth coma.