Maranta is a favorite among flower growers. She is valued for her unpretentious care. Any conditions are suitable for the growth of culture. Maranta has an amazing property: in the evening, the leaves rise up, and in the morning fall again, which is why it is called a “prayer plant”. About how to carry out arrowroot care at home, read the article.
Plant description
The flower got its name in honor of Bartolomeo Maranta. This man was a botanist scientist from Italy, helped people with various ailments using herbs. The value of a flower is the beauty of its leaves. They are a real work of art: their shades, interwoven with each other, create patterns of an unusual shape. Decoration of the plates are double-row or ocular spots, bright stripes. The green leaves are clearly visible burgundy and red streaks. The upper and lower sides differ in tone. The plant blooms with small buds of a white, lilac or cream shade.
Many flower growers do not like inflorescences, so they remove them, preserving the plant's strength for the development of arrowroot leaves. Home care (photo presented for reference) for this unpretentious flower is not difficult. Below in the article this will be described in detail. The culture is a low plant, only 40 cm tall. But this is offset by the expansion in breadth. The flower gained fame due to the fact that if the growing conditions are favorable, the leaf plates are deployed, and if it receives moisture and light in a limited amount, they add up. Maranta is called a “prayer flower,” as already mentioned, but why? This is due to the color of the leaves. The fact is that there are 10 spots and stripes on their surface, so the plant was called the “Ten Lord's Commandments”.
Maranta: types and care at home
In nature, there are 25 species of this plant. They differ in the shape and color of the leaves. In home floriculture, tri-color arrowroot is often grown, which is called “tricolor”, “red-stalked” or “fascinator”. But there are amateur enthusiasts who are engaged in breeding other species. Varieties of arrowroot and home care are described below.
White-veined
Arrowroot of this variety is widespread in indoor floriculture. It is distinguished from other types of leaves with spectacular patterns. They have short petioles, an interesting shape: in the form of an ellipse or oval. On top of the leaf plate is bright green, there are spots of beige or yellow on it. The bottom side has a light green color with a touch of burgundy. There are many inflorescences, but they are small, have the shape of spikelets. Indoor blooms rarely.
The flower propagates by dividing the root. Transplanted regularly with a frequency of one year. Grown in wide, low pots. Caring for the arrowroot at home has a peculiarity - the plant responds well to dressing. Prefers a room with high humidity and shade. He likes plentiful watering and high temperature - 18-25 ° C. It grows well on loose soils, for the preparation of which they mix the earth, sand and needles.
Gibba
Inflorescences are distinguished from other species of arrowroot. Places of growth are Central and South America, Mexico, the island of Trinidad. In inflorescences in the form of a panicle, flowers of a purple hue of special beauty are collected. When they fade, a bed of cells is exposed, similar to a peeled cone. The leaves are oval or ovoid. Maranto care at home is the same as for other types of culture.
Maranta Kerhoeven
This is a low plant, only 25 cm. Sometimes it is confused with a two-colored arrowroot. Oval leaves have short petioles; the green color has many shades. On top of the leaf plate is bright green, large spots in the form of feathers are located on it, their color is dark green or brownish. In the center there is a white strip, on the back of the plate are red or bluish. White flowers are small, they are few in inflorescences, two or three specimens. For this arrowroot, home care is no different from caring for other varieties.
Reed Maranta
This plant with high decorative qualities, its height is one meter. In indoor floriculture is extremely rare. It is characterized by thick tuberous roots. The leaves reach a length of 25 cm, have a dark green color with a shade of grayish color. The shape is oval, the ends are pointed downwards. Small flowers have a white tint. Rhizomes are used to produce a special type of starch. Its use is the same as that of corn. With the help of starch, jelly and puddings are prepared.
Massange
Black arrowroot, as it is also called, is distinguished by the color of the leaves: they are very dark, almost black. This is a kind of white-veined type of culture, but can grow much larger if you provide good growing conditions. Maranta Kerhoven and this species have a similar pattern on the leaves. But the black arrowroot has a darker background, streaks of silver, the stripe in the middle is white and yellow.
Two-colored arrowroot (bicolor)
The plant is considered quite rare. Its main difference from other species is the lack of the ability to form a root system. Another difference is leaves. They are long, 15 cm, but the petioles are short. They have an oval shape and wavy edges. The color of the leaf plates on top is green; brown spots are located on its background. Bottom plate reddish or purple, they are covered with numerous hairs. This species got its name because of the color of the leaves, in which two colors are predominant. Paniculate flowers, their color is white, on the petals there are lilac inclusions. The stems of the bushes are low. The plant propagates with the help of processes and division of the roots.
A two-tone arrowroot requires more care. It is exposed to direct sunlight, dry air and soil. To grow, you need warm places in a room with an air temperature of 20-25 ° C. Needs plentiful watering and artificial humidification, like all varieties.
Arrowroot tricolor
This flower has another name "tricolor". The plant belongs to decorative foliage varieties. In the wild, grows in wetlands. Grows in small bushes, up to 30 cm in height. The leaves are pubescent, their length is 12 cm, the shape is oval. The leaf plates in the center are dark green, at the edges they have a light shade. Stripes from the center are visible well. All veins are characterized by dark red, almost burgundy color.
This culture is very popular and in demand in home floriculture. She is considered the most unpretentious, with high decorative qualities. For the flowering to take place, it requires competent care of the arrowroot at home (photo is presented for review). The buds form inflorescences in the form of spikelets. The flowers themselves are small, nondescript.
Maranta “tricolor fascinator”: home care
When growing a flower, caring for it is simple, if you follow a number of basic rules:
- Pots with flowers should be placed on window sills located on the east or west side. So the plants will be illuminated by bright, but at the same time scattered rays of the sun, and during all periods of vegetation.
- When growing a flower, you can use lighting from artificial sources. It can be a lamp with daylight. They should be directed to plants 16-17 hours out of 24 per day.
- The culture is quite cold-resistant and resistant to heat. However, growing it indoors, indoor should maintain a summer temperature. Optimum for air is considered to be 23-25 ° C, for soil - 18.
- Maranta does not tolerate negative effects: drafts and temperature extremes.
- In spring and summer, the plant needs watering: they must be plentiful and timely. The soil in the pot must be kept in good condition. It should not sour or dry out.
- Decorative culture is intolerant of hypothermia of the root system. Therefore, irrigation procedures should be carried out with water at room temperature, but first it should be defended for several days.
- The humidity level in a room with flowers should always be kept high, so irrigation should be carried out throughout the year.
- Arrowroot grows well if the pot in which it is planted is placed on a pallet with moist expanded clay or pebbles.
- Culture needs to be fed, but infrequently. It is enough to apply mineral or organic fertilizers to the soil once every two weeks.
- The arrowroot is transplanted a year after planting. This must be done early in the spring, the pot and the soil are changing.
- A drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the tank: coarse sand, broken brick, expanded clay. So there will be no stagnation of water in the ground.
- For flower growing, it is important that the substrate is slightly acidic. It is prepared on its own: river sand is mixed in an amount of half of the total volume, peat - one part, soil from the garden - two or three parts. The composition will improve if you add a little charcoal.
How to transplant?
We continue to study what caregiver carer requires at home. Transplantation is mandatory for two years after planting. But according to the experience of gardeners, this is best done in a year, as the roots increase in volume, they do not have enough space in the old pot. The new capacity for the plant should be slightly larger. The fact is that if the earth space is too large, the flower grows worse.
Before starting the transplant, you need to prepare the plant. To do this, get rid of withered, dull leaves and parts of the shoots. All the forces of the plant should go to the growth of new stems. If you want to see the flower stretched up, they cut young shoots growing on the sides. To the plant was lush and sprawling, cut off its tops.
Expanded clay is placed at the bottom of the prepared pot, the soil is poured with a thin layer, but it should have a slight acidity. To achieve this, mix sand with peat and ordinary soil, add a little coal. Then the plant is placed in a pot, and the free space is covered with ordinary soil.
How to feed?
Caring for the arrowroot flower at home will not be burdensome if you perform all the procedures, including top dressing. That the plant has always been beautiful, sprawling and lush, it should be fertilized. It especially needs this when active growth is noted and the flowering period begins. This time falls on spring and summer. Use special complexes, which include mineral additives. They can be bought at flower shops. This must be done every 14 days. It is enough to dissolve a small piece of fertilizer in a liter of water. In the next feeding period, it is not necessary to prepare a new solution, you can use the remaining from the last time. It is important to be careful, as an overabundance of fertilizer is harmful to the plant.
Breeding
What care is needed for a tarantula maranth at home, we sorted out. Now consider how to get planting material. Home care, reproduction of arrowroot, signs associated with it, and much more, we will consider further. For example, it is believed that having this flower in the house is necessary and useful, as it maintains a favorable atmosphere in the family.
Well, now - to reproduction. To do this, use different methods. One of them is the division of the roots. Material for planting is taken during transplantation of the plant. For this, the roots are divided into several parts. It is important that they are all viable. Then they are placed in water or immediately planted in a pot prepared in advance. There is nothing complicated in reproduction of arrowroot.
Home care in the first weeks after planting consists in abundant watering, in the future the development of the flower is included in the usual mode for the plant.
If in the near future the arrowroot does not need a transplant, but it needs to be propagated, this is done by cuttings. Viable shoots 10-12 cm long are cut off from the plant. They can be harvested during forming pruning. Cuttings are placed in water, are in it until the formation of roots. When they appear, the shoot is transplanted into a container with soil, covered with a film on top to create a greenhouse effect. The best survival rate is characterized by cuttings cut from May to September.
Pruning
For a tricolor arrowroot, home care involves a procedure such as bush formation. During its holding, all patients, as well as weak leaves, are removed. This is done with cropping. Slices are made at the very base of the plant, below the nodule. So the flower will have new shoots, and the cut ones will take root better. As a result, the bush grows in volume. Such pruning should be carried out with the onset of spring, because during the cold period some leaves stretch and spoil the appearance of the whole plant. This is a molding pruning, but the sanitary procedure must be carried out regularly, getting rid of sluggish, dry leaves, otherwise young shoots will slow down their development.