A popular decorative and beautiful plant is Euphorbia Mile. Due to its attractive appearance, it is Milya who appears in greenhouses and flower gardeners more often than others. You can hear another name for the culture - brilliant. Thorny branches of milkweed gave their popular nickname - the crown of thorns.
What does Euphorbia Mil look like to which family
Euphorbia species Milius is a succulent. In his homeland, under natural conditions, it reaches large sizes with abundant branching. The stem has a gray tint, a little silver. Light green leaflets about 3.5 cm long are formed at the top of each shoot. Each leaf plate has several stipules that turn into sharp spines. The sheets fall over time, but the thorns remain on the plant. For this reason, leaves are formed only at the top of the shoots.
Euphorbia Mile in bloom in different shades
Bract leaves are painted in bright colors - yellow, orange, red. These plates have a width of 12 mm and a rounded shape. Inflorescences form several groups of flowers, which are surrounded by bright bracts. The inflorescences are bizarre, they are woven together with thorns on long legs.
Common varieties
There are main varieties that have a diverse color of inflorescences. Among them:
- Sakura kiss - flowers of a white shade with pink splashes;
- King yellow - plain yellow inflorescences;
- Moonlight - yellow flowers with a mid-orange hue;
- Natali - pink inflorescences, periodically there are dark stripes;
- Sonora - characterized by bright pink bracts.
Healing properties
The juice of the plant is poisonous. The composition of this liquid includes rubber, cuamarines, resins, malic acid and euphorbion.
Important! In small doses, this composition favorably affects the human body.
Large needles of milkweed
Juice is used to treat abrasions and wounds, as it has a healing and disinfecting effect. Before use, you need to carefully evaluate the likely benefits and harms of using this plant.
Briefly about the history of the appearance
The governor of the island of Reunion brought Mil to France in 1821. The plant came to Europe from Madagascar and Africa. By nature, it is a mountain flower.
Features of home care
Euphorbia can be grown as a separate plant, as well as in containers with other succulents. Some rules of care will help to grow a beautiful and healthy flower. Caring for a succulent is easy enough.
Temperature
Euphorbia Mile is a thermophilic plant. In summer, the optimum temperature is +25 ℃. In winter, you need to ensure that the thermometer needle does not fall below +15 ℃. Cold affects the bush negatively, do not allow hypothermia.
Lighting
Euphorbia requires intense lighting, which he will need year-round. In winter, you need to use an artificial lamp. Placing a pot with a plant is better on the southern windows. In the summer, in the presence of open ground, a container of milk is dug up in the garden.
Watering
Dosing watering must be done carefully. Humidification is carried out only in the summer; in winter, watering is removed altogether. Despite the high resistance to droughts, for the normal development of milkweed, moistened soil is required.
Important! It is better to use soft water for irrigation. When the earth dries up, the plant immediately takes off the leaves, but this will not lead to death.
Spraying
Spray the flower often, in between watering. Additionally, you can wash the plant, but you need to do this very carefully.
Milkweed propagation by cuttings
Humidity
Euphorbia has no special conditions for humidity. The shrub tolerates drought normally, but also feels excellent with high humidity.
Priming
No soil requirements. Mile perfectly takes root in any soil. It is convenient and simple to use ready-made compounds for succulents.
Top dressing
Milk milk fertilizers are needed. Usually, ready-made compositions for succulents are used, they are quite enough. Add fertilizer better with watering. So beneficial substances penetrate the soil much faster. Top dressing is applied in the summer. After such manipulations, the shrub will begin to branch rapidly and the gardener will receive a beautiful and lush plant.
When and how it blooms
Milkweed Euphorbia blooms all year round, and this distinguishes it from other species. A long flowering time allows you to admire the plant year-round, but it is important not to forget about the care. Why does not euphorbia bloom? Often the reason is the lack of light in the room.
Types of flowers
Often confused beautiful bright red bracts with the flowers themselves. The second ones are not so attractive in appearance, they are much smaller and painted yellow.
Flower shapes
Miles flowers are inconspicuous, small in size. Decorativeity is achieved only due to bracts. The flowers are collected in inflorescences, which is located on a long peduncle.
Flowering period
Mile blooms all year round at best, but as a rule - does not give flowers at all. In this case, it is worth revising the agrotechnical content of the succulent.
Pruning
The formation of the crown and timely pruning of the plant is one of the main factors in caring for the plant. The bush will have the right size and bloom constantly. On the small shrub, much more flowers are formed, because all the forces go to the formation of buds, rather than to the growth of shoots. For this reason, do not let the plant grow.
On a note! Trimming a Mile is best in spring.
There are rules for trimming:
- formation is carried out only after flowering;
- for starters, only the tops are cut off;
- then remove dry leaves and shoots;
- new shoots should be removed for good flowering.
Dangerous Beauty Milkweed Milk
How Euphorbia Mil reproduces
It’s easy to propagate euphorbia to Mil. There are 3 options for plant propagation:
- by seeds;
- cuttings;
- dividing the bush.
Seed germination
This dilution method is rarely used. Propagating a plant with its help is not so easy. Varietal qualities of the resulting plants will not be preserved. For starters, planting material is going. After that, the seeds are planted in moist soil, and the plantings are covered with polyethylene or glass. When the first leaves appear, the shelter is removed, and the plants are planted in wider pots.
Rooting cuttings
From a healthy shoot, a 12 cm long section is cut off, on which there are 2 healthy leaves. The cut point should be greased with crushed coal and a growth stimulator. For several days, the cuttings are well dried and only after that they are placed in a container with prepared soil. Landings are well watered and covered with polyethylene. Containers are kept in a bright, warm place until they are rooted.
Additional Information! Cutting is best done in the spring, so that the plants have time to get stronger in the cold.
Bush division
For propagation by dividing the bush, you need to get a flower from the pot, clean the root system from the soil. If there are rotten roots, they must be removed. The roots are cut into several parts. Do this gently with sharp scissors or a knife. The resulting delenki are dried and planted in moist soil.
Transfer
Transplantation of young plants is carried out about 1 time per year, but you need to look at the condition of the flower. Adult plants practically do not require transplantation. It is carried out as necessary 1 time in 3-5 years.
Possible problems in growing and disease
Despite its high resistance to many diseases, Milkweed euphorbia can show problems in its appearance. Lack of light, moisture or top dressing will certainly affect the decorative bush.
Drop buds and leaves
This suggests that the indoor plant receives few trace elements and it needs to be fed. Also, falling leaves and buds may indicate the presence of pests.
Leaves turn pale
This suggests that the plant is definitely not enough light. It is worth revising the place of cultivation of milkweed. If possible, the pot is transferred to the south side of the house.
The tips dry on the leaves
In this case, the milkweed did not have enough watering. Even with good endurance of drought, for a good development and a beautiful appearance, you need to water the plant regularly.
Lower leaves fall off
Falling of the lower leaves is not always a problem. It is necessary to look at the state of the remaining shoots, if there are no changes, then the plant will update itself.
Pests
The most popular pests of large-flowered milkweed are thrips, aphids and scale insects. If the plant was attacked by insects, its leaves will turn pale, yellow or even fall off. In some cases, characteristic white traces can be seen on the foliage.
Note! From the affected parts, any pests are removed mechanically or sprayed with special drugs. If the lesion is large-scale, treatment will be required again.
A bright and unusual plant is the most famous of its kind. The flower does not need special care, but it has a high decorative effect. It is worth remembering that the white juice of the plant is poisonous, which is why the owner must wash his hands after transplanting and pruning. Euphorbia mile and care for it at home has its own characteristics in view of the specifics of the plant.
