Pachistachis is a very beautiful flower. It is impossible to pass this plant at the moment when it blooms. It seems that it is very difficult to grow such beauty at home. Any florist will refute this assertion and say that even a novice can easily contain pachistachis.
What does pachistachis look like. A photo. Care
Pachistachis is a tropical plant. It grows in the southern and central parts of America and eastern India. On average, there are 12 species of plants. Yellow pachistachis is grown as an indoor flower . Very rarely, red pachistachis can be found. Home care is not difficult. The main thing for him is light, heat and humidity. And during active growth and flowering, you need to provide the plant with additional fertilizing.
Pachistachis has elongated dark green leaves. It attracts attention with its yellow inflorescences resembling golden ears of corn or candles. They are often mistaken for flowers, but these are only pre-flowers. Pachistachis blooms with inconspicuous white flowers, which grow perpendicular to the pre-flower, moreover, they quickly fall off. But the yellow ears hold for a very long time and give the plant an elegant solemn appearance.
Where to place?
A flower needs good lighting and warmth. An ideal place would be windows facing west or east. For pachistachis bright, but at the same time diffused lighting is necessary. You can arrange the flower on the south window, but then in summer the plant must be shaded.
The most comfortable temperature in spring and summer is 20 0 C heat for a pachistachis flower. Home care at temperatures above 24 0 C requires increasing humidity. In summer, pachistachis can be taken out to the balcony and put in the shade. In autumn and winter, it is necessary to maintain indoor temperature in the range of 16-19 0 C. Pachistachis is sensitive to drafts. Also, a flower is undesirable to put near the battery.
Pachistachis requires maintaining a sufficiently high humidity. For spraying, it is better to use soft water, filtered or settled. In winter, you need to spray the flower every day. During flowering, care must be taken when spraying and not to get on the inflorescences.
Requirements for watering and fertilizing pachistachis
In summer, the plant requires abundant watering. The soil should always be moist. Watering the flower is recommended every three days. Do not allow excess moisture, especially stagnation of water. In winter, watering must be reduced. It is required to moisten the soil about once every 2 weeks or a little more often when its top layer dries. Do not allow the soil to dry out.
During the summer flowering, it is necessary to feed the pachistachis. Home care allows you to use both mineral and organic fertilizers. The flower reacts especially well to complex fertilizer for flowers. Top dressing is applied at the time of watering 1 or 2 times a month. As organic fertilizers, chicken manure or cow dung can be used. Both mineral and organic fertilizing have a good effect on the plant, so when choosing, you must be guided by personal preferences and capabilities.
Crown formation
As you know, there are plants that require additional attention to branches and foliage. One of them is the indoor flower pachistachis. Care of the crown of the plant must begin early enough. As soon as the flower grows to 10-15 cm, you need to carry out the first pruning. It is also necessary to pinch the side shoots. To do this, just remove the 3rd pair of leaves. Pachistachis should be pinched up to 4 times a year. As a result, by the beginning of winter, a small plant about 8 cm tall with a large number of tops will form. After wintering, the flower needs to be cut again or pinch the shoots. No need to be upset that in the first year the plant will not bloom. It is better to devote this time to the formation of the crown, and the next year to enjoy flowering. Each branch that fades will be independently divided into two, which will also bloom. Next spring, you need to pinch the shoots again in order to enjoy again how the pachistachis houseplant blooms. Care for the crown of the flower is necessary. The plant begins to branch only after it grows to a height of 80 cm to 1.5 m. As a result, you get a long bare trunk and one flower at the top, which does not look very attractive.
Reproduction and transplantation
Pachistachis propagated by cuttings. They appear during flowering. To propagate pachistachis, you need to cut a stalk 10-12 cm long and put it in water for rooting. After 2 or 3 weeks, when the roots appear, the plant can be planted in a small glass. As the pachistachis grows, it is transplanted into a pot 12-13 cm in diameter, and then into a large flower pot. It should be 2.5 liters in volume and low. The roots of the flower like space. It is also necessary to take care of drainage. It can be a layer of expanded clay or clay shards 1.5 cm high. Frequent transplantation causes the pachistachis to bloom actively.
You can immediately plant the cuttings in the ground. In this case, the soil is mixed with sand. If you cover the handle with polyethylene or a glass cap, then it will grow faster. With this method of reproduction, it is necessary 2 times a week to open the soil for 2-3 hours for ventilation.
The air temperature in the room during the rooting of the flower should be at least 20 0 C and no more than 26 0 C. It is also necessary to constantly maintain high humidity.
Pests, flower diseases
Pachistachis pests may include:
- mealybugs ;
- spider mite;
- aphid;
- scales:
- whiteflies.
You can cope with them using special tools that are sold in stores.
In addition to pests, a flower can affect diseases:
- Powdery Mildew The disease looks like a white coating on the leaves and stem. To get rid of it, you first need to remove the affected areas of the flower and spray with special preparations. As a preventive measure, phosphorus-potassium fertilizer must be applied to the soil.
- Twisted leaves appear due to insufficient watering and moisture. If the earthen lump is dry, it must be soaked. To do this, pour settled water at room temperature into the container and place the plant in it for 10 hours. Then you should increase the watering and the frequency of spraying.
- Yellowing tips appear due to lack of moisture.
- Withering leaves. If there is enough moisture and watering, then you need to feed the pachistachis. Home care requires the application of organic or mineral fertilizing to the soil. In this case, nitrogen fertilizers are most likely needed.
- Leaf fall in summer is a lack of watering and moisture, in winter it is low temperature. Drafts may also be the cause.
- Elongated small leaves appear when the flower does not have enough light.
- Rotting of the roots occurs due to low temperature and its fluctuations. If the roots are severely affected, then you need to root the top.
- Slow growth indicates a clear lack of nutrition. In this case, the plant needs mineral and organic fertilizing.
Where else can you find pachistachis?
This plant is grown not only at home. In the middle lane, you can see how indoor pachistachis flowers are used in landscape design. Caring for them in these conditions is not much different. In early February, cuttings are cut, then they are planted in small containers for seedlings. The flower also needs good lighting, top dressing and pinching of the shoots. So that the plant does not die on the street, it must be hardened. At a temperature of 15 ° C, seedlings need to be taken out once a day to fresh air. Begin the procedure from 20 minutes and gradually bring to 3 hours. Cuttings are planted in the ground in the spring, when there will be no frost.
It must be remembered that pachistachis flower care is not complicated, but at the same time it can not be left unattended. If the plant does not create favorable conditions for life, then it will quickly die. And in order to please the pachistachis with lush flowering, you need to pinch it, prune it and transplant it in a timely manner.