Home indoor flower Decembrist native to the tropical forests of South America, where it grows in natural conditions. Wild species of this plant were cultivated by humans and have been grown on the windowsill for decades. In nature, the Decembrist blooms with the onset of heat, and when to observe bright flowers of a juicy red or silver-white hue at home, read our article. We will also tell you how to care for this plant. Under artificial conditions, breeders managed to develop Decembrist varieties, pleasing with orange, purple and coral flowers. Each of them is unusually beautiful.
Basic care
The Decembrist has other names. For many, it is better known as a Christmas tree or Schlumbergera zygocactus. This is a typical representative of a group of forest cacti in the tropical zone of South America. In a hot and humid tropical environment, he is faced with many trials that pursue him throughout his life cycle: partial shade, poor soil, high humidity. It would seem that in such an environment the existence of this plant is impossible, but it not only feels great there, but also blossoms unusually magnificent. At home, where there is a more favorable environment for zigocactus, it is not always possible to achieve flowering. So what is the paradox?
It is quite realistic to grow an attractive plant and to achieve flowering at home with proper care of the Decembrist flower. We will talk about this below.
Optimal moisture level
The amount of water and the frequency of irrigation do not differ from the usual scheme, which flower growers are guided when caring for deciduous houseplants. The only detail worth watching is the moderate watering.
Throughout the flowering period, the Christmas tree needs regular irrigation. Do not allow the soil to dry in the pot, try to keep it moist. When the bush blooms, cut back on watering. In summer and spring, the plant is watered only when the soil mixture is almost completely dry. As a rule, it is enough to do this three times a week. With the beginning of the autumn period, the plant is watered extremely rarely and the pot is moved to a cool room where it will remain until the end of November. This month, the plant needs to be returned to the warm and bright windowsill, and the number of waterings should be increased to wake it up and prepare for flowering.
What water to use for irrigation
Decembrist flower care includes the use of only warm and soft water for irrigation. On hot days it is better to spray zigocactus. This will prevent the formation of a strong crust on the surface of the soil. A warm shower will turn out to be pleasant for the Decembrist, before which the surface of the pot must be covered with a film so that the accumulated liquid does not provoke decay of the root system.
Lighting
Keep in mind that keeping the flowerpot with the Christmas tree constantly in the sun is dangerous, since ultraviolet rays can adversely affect its vitality and even kill it. In the summer, it is better to take this plant out onto the street or balcony and keep it in the fresh air, putting it in the shade. The rest of the time, the Decembrist prefers to spend in moderate light and in cool.
Optimum temperature
The unpretentiousness of the plant allows you to successfully grow it at a temperature in the range from + 2 ... + 37 ° C without damage to its life. But it is better not to expose such tests to a green friend and keep him under normal conditions. A comfortable temperature for a Christmas tree is considered to be from +18 o C to +25 o C.
Before flowering, the plant gains strength, therefore, from September to November, it feels great at a temperature of +16 ° C.
During the period of active flowering, provide the Decembrist with a stable temperature of +20 ° C, and after waiting for the end of flowering, return the pot with the plant to a cooler room.
Feeding Features
The plant is not very demanding on fertilizing the soil, but needs additional nutrition for full and harmonious growth. Florists mention that a Christmas tree reacts best to mixtures consisting of:
- Nitrogen
- Potassium.
- Phosphorus
That is, he needs these three components in the form of aqueous solutions. Decembrists are fed once a month. In summer, you can increase fertilizer application up to two times a month. and from September to November do not conduct them at all.
Transfer
Among the basic rules for caring for the flower of the Decembrist, which are recommended to adhere to, the following:
- Provide good drainage by filling 1/3 in the flower pot.
- The care and transplantation of a Decembrist flower includes the selection of a capacity for rooting the plant. Take a shallow but wide pot.
- Transplant the bush when there are no flowers or buds on it, that is, it is at rest.
- Transplant young plants every year, and adults - once every three years.
- Use fertile soil for the Decembrist flower. Home care (including transplanting) includes the correct choice of a soil mixture consisting of peat, sheet soil, brick chips, sand. In addition, you can buy ready-made peat mix in the garden store.
Propagation Features
Basically, a Christmas tree is propagated by cuttings, which are carried out following the instructions:
- Try to carefully separate the segments of the leaves of the plant for seedlings. Never use cutting objects that injure twigs.
- Let the cuttings dry for 72 hours.
- Plant cuttings in prepared soil, but do not immerse the tips too deep. Make a semblance of a greenhouse by covering the rooting patterns on top with foil.
- Drop a pot with a young Decembrist.
- Care for the propagation of the Decembrist flower requires maintaining the temperature from +15 o C to +20 o C.
In principle, Decembrists reproduce very easily. Sometimes fragments of its branches themselves for some reason (for example, with inaccurate watering) come off the plant and fall to the ground. Rather, they start roots and give life to a new plant.
Growing Features
To achieve lush flowering, it is necessary to carry out proper care of the Decembrist indoor flower. If you make a mistake, you can recognize this by the following signs:
- Leaf drying - insufficient watering or invasion by pathogens.
- Withering of the plant - excessive lighting, rotting of the roots.
- Burns on the leaves - the negative impact of ultraviolet radiation.
- Shedding buds - moving a pot with a Decembrist or an inappropriate place to grow.
It is worth preparing carefully for the flowering period, guided by the following rules:
- For abundant flowering, transplant the plant into a narrow pot so that it spends all its strength on the buds, and not on the development of the root system.
- The flowering period lasts longer when the Decembrist is kept in a room with a cool microclimate.
- During flowering, do not move the pot with the plant and do not expose the green friend to sudden changes in temperature.
- During the flowering of the Decembrist, it is strictly forbidden to take material for propagation, that is, the separation of cuttings from the mother bush.
- For the Decembrists blooming in the winter, it is worth organizing additional lighting.
- Throughout September, October and the first three weeks of November, it is better to give the plant a rest, completely eliminating the system of room care dressing and spraying, it is desirable to minimize watering.
With proper care at home, a Decembrist flower will delight blooming from December to the end of February. When buying a flowering plant in a store, get ready for some of the flowers to fall as a result of a change of scenery. This is a natural process.
How to promote flowering
It happens that with the onset of the flowering period of buds appears too little. This indicates an unsatisfactory condition of the plant. It can be caused by the following factors:
- The need for a transplant.
- Lack of nutrients in the soil mixture.
- Incorrect watering.
- Poor lighting.
In principle, this plant is a fairly simple care. The Decembrist flower, the photos of which are presented in our article, is ideal for those gardeners who do not have time to deal with their green pets living on potted windowsill. It is also suitable for those whose windows do not face south. Christmas can be grown both in the house and in the office. This is a very beautiful and unpretentious plant.
How the Christmas tree blooms
In most cases, flowering occurs only in the winter, especially on Christmas Eve. Although, providing the plant a harmonious and harmonious care system, it is realistic to achieve up to 3 blossoms per year.
In summer, the Decembrist, as a rule, is not as attractive as during flowering. However, its juicy twigs, consisting of modified stems, as if growing from one another, also attract the eye. In order not to spoil the appearance of your Decembrist, you need to regularly clean the dust on it. This is done with a damp rag on both sides of leaf twigs.
With careful care at home, the Decembrist indoor flower will delight you with its pretty appearance all year round.
Diseases
Mostly Christmas parties suffer from fungal diseases:
- Fusarium
- Fitium.
- Late blight.
- Rot of the treasure.
- Soft rot (bacterial disease).
The Christmas tree is affected by these diseases through wounds on the surface of stems and roots.
Fight fungal diseases with fungicides. Most often, "Fundazole" or Bordeaux mixture is used. Drugs should be sprayed with bushes, diluting the working solution according to the attached instructions. For the duration of the disease, the affected plants must be kept separate from others.
A bacterial disease has not been developed.
If the plant had to be destroyed, because it could not be treated, the soil after it can not be used, and the pot must be thoroughly washed and disinfected by boiling. But it’s better to get a new pot.
Pests
A spider mite, thrips, worms and scale insects can attack a Christmas tree. To get rid of them, various contact insecticides and alternative methods are used.
The removal of parasites should be comprehensive and even include the treatment of the windowsill, on the surface of which pest larvae could develop.
In case of lesions with a spider mite, which is recognized by the appearing white spider web, the Christmas tree is treated with "Actellik".
White lumps resembling cotton wool appeared on the surface of the plant? By all accounts, it is a mealybug. It will be possible to fight this parasite using Aktara or analogues of this insecticide and ensuring careful care of the flower to Decembrist at home. Signs of a plant's recovery are the disappearance of symptoms and a healthy full-fledged appearance of the bush.
Other problems associated with the disease state of the plant
Growers when growing a Christmas tree often encounter problems associated with withering flowering, the cause of which is sometimes very difficult to find. This is not only associated with invasion, parasite exposure or infection. The microclimate also plays a significant role in the harmonious development of this beautiful plant.
Improper care
Many gardeners are interested in the question of why the leaves of this beautiful flower suddenly begin to fall. As a rule, this happens with heavy watering. The fact is that Christmas belongs to epiphytic plants. In nature, he spends his life on other plants, therefore, to the abundance of moisture, he has no predisposition at the genetic level. But it often forms small aerial roots.
Another problem that flower growers may encounter is the drying out of its stalk leaves. This condition occurs with insufficient watering and growing plants in the sun. Excess ultraviolet radiation adversely affects the state of the bush, causing severe burns to the leaves, which leads to their complete death.
To prevent this outcome, do not forget about the rules for caring for the plant. Do not put the flower on the windowsill on the south side, and at noon try to cover the bush from the sun whenever possible. On the windowsill, facing east or north, the Decembrist feels best.
In the article we presented a photo of the flower of the Decembrist. Home care for it is not so difficult, so the plant will surely delight you with lush flowering. It is especially pleasant that it begins during the winter holidays, when blizzards and blizzards rage outside the window.
Decembrist flower, home care and omens
It's hard to believe, but folk superstitions are associated with this beautiful flower. Some impressionable citizens are even afraid to grow it in their home.
What are these signs? A Decembrist flower, care for which is carried out according to all the rules at home, may suddenly begin to fade. They say this portends the death of one of the inhabitants of this dwelling.
Another sign is related to the flowering of the Decembrist not in winter, but at any other time of the year. They say this portends failure.
With the help of the Decembrist, you can find out which of the guests who are in the house carries bad energy. It is said that after such people visit the house, the flower begins to hurt.
Most likely, there is no truth in these signs, and all problems with the flower are caused only by improper care. If you believe in them, grow a Christmas in the office. There he will “prompt” you information about his visitors.