Tabernemontana is an amazing evergreen plant with a complex name that sounds in the Russian interpretation as “a mountain monastery”.
The native of tropical and subtropical regions of Southeast Asia, Africa and America was named in his honor by J. T. Tabernemontanus, a German doctor and botanist (16th century), the creator of The New Herbalist.
An ideal plant for indoor cultivation - Tabernemontana
Home care (photo) brings true pleasure to amateur gardeners in handling such an amazing flower.
In indoor conditions, the plant, considered ideal for home cultivation for the complaisant disposition and amazing beauty, can reach a height of up to 1.5 meters. Leaves are oblong, glossy, leathery, green, with pointed tips and intervein bulges. The average sheet size is 6-12 cm.
Tabernemontana, home care for which even beginners in the flower business can afford, is loved by the mistresses for plentiful, almost year-round flowering. Its peak falls on the spring-summer time. White terry flowers resemble bells with corrugated petals, characterized by a pleasant aroma, about 4 cm in diameter, white or cream in color.
Types of Tabernemontana
Tabernemontana divaricata. The most common variety of indoor flower. A tree-like or bush-like plant, strongly branched, with dark green leaves, glossy, located opposite. Transverse veins are clearly visible on the back of the sheet. The branches are horizontal, the fruits are pod-like, sometimes in a bright speck, with juicy orange flesh. The aroma of white double flowers is persistent, sweet, similar to jasmine. Especially tabernemontana, home care for which is not particularly difficult, is fragrant at night.
Tabernemontana is elegant. A well-branching tree, inferior in size to the above described variety of tabernemontana, with a faint aroma. Unpretentious in leaving: it calmly transfers frosts and direct sunshine.
Tabernemontana crowned. The plant is richly branched, has brilliant bright green leaves, reaching a length of 12 cm. In the inflorescence can be up to 15 buds, the opening of which occurs gradually. Flowers with corrugated edges of the petals, up to 5 cm in size, medium-sized, semi-double, are formed at the ends of the shoots. The aroma is exquisitely refined, with the newly opened flowers more tangible.
Lighting
The optimal development of tabernemontana largely depends on proper lighting, which should be bright, but scattered. An ideal option would be to place a flower on the western or eastern side of the home. On the southern windowsill, the plant will need shading. Tabernemontana, home care for which does not require special knowledge, can grow in the shade, but abundant flowering with this arrangement should not be expected. The plant reacts to a lack of light by falling leaves.
Shrub is very useful for fresh air, so in summer the flower can be kept on the balcony or in the garden. Tabernemontana is intolerant, care at home for which is absolutely not difficult, refers to drafts. In the period of laying the buds, it is not recommended to rearrange the plant to another place.
Winter Care
For most plants, winter is a dormant period. With cool room temperature and natural light, you need to reduce watering, spraying and top dressing; if necessary, remove the buds. In other words, before the onset of spring, provide a rest regime.
At a comfortable temperature (+ 18-20 ° C) in the winter period, additional lighting will be required for such an unpretentious and charming plant as tabernemontana. Care in the winter is carried out as usual. Compliance with these conditions will lead to the abundant flowering of a tropical beauty throughout the winter.
Watering and spraying is an important care factor.
Being a native of the subtropical area, tabernemontana, care of which is a real pleasure, needs high humidity, therefore, in urban apartments, where the air is often dry, the plant needs to be regularly moistened. Water must be settled, melt or rain. It should not be allowed to get on the flowers of the plant. Watering in hot weather and plenty of light is preferable to plentiful (immediately after drying of the topsoil) in the summer, in winter - limited. With excessive moisture, the plant discards leaves and ceases to bloom.
For high-quality flower growth requires nutritious soil. A key factor in good plant care is its timely watering and frequent top dressing.
If the edges began to peel off on the leaves, it means that the plant lacks water, nutrition, or salinity of the upper soil layer. You can save the situation by transplanting or updating the upper earth layer.
Top dressing
Like any houseplant, tabernemontana will delight with lush flowering when fertilizing is applied to the soil. Especially their use is relevant during the period of active growth and development of the flower - spring-summer. To do this, it is recommended to use liquid mineral fertilizer for flowering plants, rich in phosphorus and potassium, providing long-term flowering.
Tabernemontana, care, the reproduction of which at home is completely labor-consuming, will delight with lush flowering when a 2 or 3-year-old bird humus is introduced into the soil. Fresh product cannot be used, as it negatively affects the root system. In the summer, twice a month, tabernemontana should be fed with fertilizer for flowering indoor plants.
For the growth of leaves and stems, a mineral fertilizer for green plants is recommended. Fertilizer watering is best done in the evening. Dosage - according to the instructions. It should be remembered that an excess of fertilizer is much more dangerous than its lack.
Breeding
Tabernemontan flower, care for which even an inexperienced person can afford, reproduces at any time of the year. When grafting, an apical or semi-lignified shoot is used, about 10 cm long, having 2-3 internodes. The cut is cut at an oblique angle; the juice released during the slice must be washed in water to prevent stomatal blockage. For guaranteed root growth, the cuttings of the plant are recommended to be kept in a growth stimulator (“Heteroauxin”, “Kornevin” or “Zircon”) for 24 hours.
Cuttings must be planted in small containers, covered with a glass jar or a transparent bag. The temperature of the contents is about 22 ° C, regular ventilation is mandatory. Roots appear after about a month. After they wrap around a clod of earth, the taberne montana needs to be moved to a flower pot by transshipment. The plant develops very quickly and can bloom almost immediately after rooting.
Transfer
Tabernaemontana, the care of which is regular watering and periodic top dressing, needs frequent transplantation of young plants - up to several times a year, adults - once every 2-3 years. The soil for these purposes should pass water well and be loose.
The composition of peat, sand, perlite, leaf and humus soil, combined in equal parts, is best suited. Also, a plant characterized by a well-developed, branched root system requires good drainage. The roots quickly fill the space of the pot, so the flower will have to be replanted quite often. At the same time, the transfer capacity should not be many times larger than the previous one: there will be a gap of 2-3 cm.
Pests and Diseases of Tabernemontan Plant: Care
The leaves turn yellow. This symptom indicates the defeat of the plant by chlorosis, which can be combated by acidifying the substrate, treating the soil with iron chelate or iron sulfate and introducing useful trace elements. Also, the flower often suffers from a scab or a spider mite.
From time to time, tiny white, subsequently yellowing and drying droplets are observed on the underside of the leaves. This is a discharge of leaf glands, not having any relation to pests. Such a sign indicates excessive watering or a sudden temperature drop.
With low humidity in the room and high temperature, one can observe the gluing of buds that have not yet blossomed, which subsequently fall off. In a young specimen, flowers can fall with an abundance of buds.
Pruning
Tabernemontana is characterized by the ability to form a beautiful, symmetrically developing crown, without the need for additional intervention. Pruning, which is best done in spring and summer, may require specimens that have grown from not very high-quality cuttings. Moreover, tabernemontana quite easily tolerates the manipulations and very quickly overgrows. It doesn’t matter which part has been removed: flowers, leaves or trunk.