The most favorite type of houseplants by many gardeners is ficus. These representatives of the flora have long become a kind of symbol of home warmth and the special comfort of childhood, which is often remembered subsequently for many years.
This article will tell you about the features of caring for these pets, in particular about how to water ficus, the moisturizing technique and its frequency.
Common species
For the most part, ficuses are evergreens, but deciduous ones are among them. A huge number of very different species and subspecies (of the order of eight hundred) amazes with a variety of shapes and colors. We will focus on the most famous and popular of them - Benjamin's ficus and its rubber-bearing brethren - elastic ficus.
Of the whole complex of caring events, we select only one of them and learn how to water ficus at home.
Ficus Benjamin
Coming from the humid tropics of Asian countries, the ficus, named after the famous biologist Benjamin D. Jackson, has become a hit in home floriculture, combining perfectly with many plant species that adorn the modern interior. This is an evergreen small tree from the mulberry family with a real trunk covered with gray-beige bark, a branched crown and dense, glossy, elegant leaves with a characteristic pointedness of the peaks. There are three varieties of this ficus: large-leaved, with medium-sized leaves and small-leaved, or dwarf. In each subspecies there are up to thirty varieties of plants that differ in color and shape of the leaves. The publication topic - how to water ficus at home, is somewhat narrow, and we will consider it as an aspect in the overall complex of caring events.
Care Features
Ficus tissue contains aggressive milky juice, which can irritate the skin upon contact.
It is impossible to achieve flowering at home, but the flower growers do not set such goals, since the plant is quite decorative and appreciated precisely by its luxurious crown, which can tolerate pruning and shaping in accordance with the owner's wishes. Widespread in the home interior, Benjamin's ficus is very capricious, so it is important to know the features of caring for it, in particular how to water the ficus.
Photophilous, but not tolerating direct sunlight, the ficus does not like drafts, sudden cooling and frequent rearrangements, can lose leaves. Therefore, choose a permanent place for the plant should be initially. A native of tropical rainforests, Benjamin's ficus has transferred his addictions to home flower growing. It is hygrophilous, but also sensitive to excessive moisture, fatal if it is permanent.
Watering Rules
Particularly flower growers focus on how to water Benjamin's ficus, since moderate watering is one of the main conditions, the correct implementation of which is the key to the successful development of the plant.
What matters here is not regularity, but the emergence of conditions for its implementation. Therefore, they moisturize the ficus as necessary, usually focusing on the state of the topsoil in the container. Its drying to a depth of 1-2 cm, and for bulk containers with large plants - 4-5 cm, signals a beginning lack of moisture and requires watering. Serious problems in a plant can cause both overdrying and excessive moisture. An indicator of violations is the state of the leaves of the plant. With excessive watering, the soil layer practically does not dry out, the apical shoots die off, the leaves fade and fall off, an unpleasant smell from the soil appears. With insufficient moisture, the leaves curl up, dry out and fall off, the shoots become brittle and fragile, and the soil moves away from the walls of the container.
Water quality requirements
Ideal for irrigation consider melt or rain water, impeccable in softness and other key indicators. For these purposes, a well-settled water pipe is also suitable. The water temperature should vary between 23-25 ° C, since cold can cause various putrefactive processes in the root system.
How to water Benjamin's ficus at home
Let's talk about irrigation technology. Moisten a lump of earth should be evenly, without eroding the soil in one place, after which the soil is carefully loosened, being careful not to damage the roots.
In summer, in hot weather, the plant is watered 2-3 times a week. With the advent of autumn, the intensity of moisture is gradually reduced. How to water Benjamin's ficus at home in winter? When there is a dormant period, usually this procedure is included in the weekly watering schedule no more than 1 time. However, it is necessary to monitor the state of the soil, and if necessary, adjustments are made to the proposed schedule.
Dry air is another factor that should not be tolerated, since it can provoke not only leaf fall, but also an attack of a spider mite. Both that and another - very unpleasant phenomenon, nullifying decorative culture. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a sufficiently high level of humidity in the room by spraying the tree daily, and with the onset of the hot season several times a day.
Transplants and subsequent watering
Young plants grow rapidly, and transplant them every year, doing this in the spring. From the age of four, transplants are performed every 2 years, adding fresh soil, nutritious and loose, to the container with the plant, if necessary. The condition of the soil signals the need for transplantation: if the earth in the container dries quickly, it means that the roots lack space and nutrition, therefore, it is time to transplant the plant. Before this, the culture is watered intensively so that it is easier to extract from the pot. Then the ficus is transplanted into a new container with fresh soil. How to water Benjamin's ficus after a transplant? After the plant is "relocated", it is watered again and left alone until the top layer dries.
Rubber: how to water ficus
The second name for this home culture is ficus elastica. In terms of polarity, it is hardly inferior to Benjamin's ficus, decorating modern houses and successfully competing with the most popular ornamental plants.
The unusually decorative ficus is also completely unpretentious in care. The dense leathery leaves of
rubbery ficuses are usually dark green, but there are also variegated specimens whose leaves are decorated with a yellow border. The noticeably greater simplicity of the ficus elastic in comparison with the ficus of Benjamin does not affect the features of care. He is transplanted with the same regularity, he monitors the state of the soil, periodically feeds, i.e., carry out the necessary operations required by all species. How to water ficus? At home, in winter,
ficus elastica begins a dormant period, when all processes in the plant tissues slow down. At this time, it is especially important not to flood the culture, so close attention to the condition of the soil is necessary. As already indicated, the drying of the topsoil is a signal to watering. By the beginning of summer, the frequency of hydration is adjusted to 2-3 times a week.