Many flower growers are familiar with the unusually beautiful bromeliad flower. The genus unites more than 60 species of plants. Many of them are very popular in home gardening. The homeland of bromelia are the tropics and subtropics of Latin America. A variety of species are united under one common name - bromeliad mix.
The meaning of the name of the bromeliad flower and description of the plant
Exotic lovers prefer to grow bromeliad houseplants at home for their simplicity to environmental conditions.
For your information! The word "bromeliad" comes from the name of the Swedish doctor and botanist Olaf Bromelius.
In most cases, the flower stem has a shortened shape. Pale green dense fleshy leaves of a leathery structure form a funnel. At the apex, spectacular inflorescences of bright red or saturated yellow are formed. They are spike, racemose or paniculate. Large blooms give the plant a very beautiful bizarre shape.
The owners of these spectacular bright red colors can only be envied
After flowering on the bushes, fruit boxes or juicy berries remain. Conjugation into a fertility is characteristic of some types of bromeliad plants. The flower has about 35 varieties.
Bromeliad flower - home care
There is no better place to grow bromeliad than a windowsill in a house, because the plant needs a lot of sunlight. Preferably if it is scattered. Direct sunlight has a destructive effect, causing burns on the foliage. As a result, the plant begins to wither and hurt. The flower does not tolerate stagnant air, so you need to provide it with regular ventilation, but protecting it from drafts.
An ideal place to grow flowers - windows facing east
Important! You can not put a flower near a fan or air conditioner, the best place for it will be oriental windows. In winter, daylight hours decrease. The care of bromeliad at this time of the year includes the provision of artificial lighting. But the light sources are sent not to the flower, but towards the ceiling.
Optimum temperature
In summer, a comfortable temperature for bromeliad is + 20 ... +25 degrees. In winter, it is enough to provide a thermal regime in the range of + 15 ... +18 degrees. Bromeliad indoor plants are thermophilic. 12 degrees above zero - for them a critical temperature.
Watering and moisturizing
An important condition for the maintenance of the flower is to ensure regular watering. You need to moisten the soil quite often. In the hot months, watering is provided almost daily. It is recommended to pour water into the funnel, which is formed by foliage. If this is difficult to perform, the liquid is poured into the potted earth. Liquid must not be allowed to stagnate on the surface of the soil mixture. But there should always be water in the pan. In winter, you can water with a minimum frequency, not more than once a week.
Proper watering allows you to get healthy plants
The bromeliad plant feels comfortable with an air humidity of 70%. Leaves need to be systematically looked after and moistened. You can use a spray gun.
Sometimes an aquarium or any container of water is placed near the bush. It is very good to have a household electric humidifier. Often, pebbles are poured into the pallet and a little liquid is poured, and a flower pot is placed on top.
Note! With constant fluid stagnation in the basal system, the leaves lose turgor and begin to turn yellow. This is especially pronounced in cool rooms. And the lack of moisture leads to the fact that the ends of the sheet plates acquire a brown color.
For irrigation, you need to use settled water. In this way they get rid of chlorine. Due to the fact that the process of photosynthesis occurs in plants, it is necessary to monitor their purity and wipe the surface of the foliage with a damp cloth once every 7 days.
Bromeliads are completely different in form of flowers and leaves.
Soil mix selection
Bromeliad loves acidic soil. For the preparation of the substrate is not recommended to use garden soil. The best option would be a ready-made store mix for growing orchids, where sand and peat are added. With independent preparation of the soil, you can include humus there, add expanded clay, charcoal or sphagnum. Such a composition is well drained.
Top dressing
To feed the flower, liquid fertilizers are used. There are foliar and root top dressing. In the first case, the concentrated liquid intended for flowering plants is diluted with water, and the resulting composition is poured into a sprayer and the crown is sprayed with it. In the second case, you can simply water the earth with a concentrated composition. For plants at the peak of flowering, the frequency of feeding is 2 times a month. In winter, this procedure is reduced to 1 time in 1-2 months.
Important! It is undesirable to expose bushes once again to various shakes. Therefore, after acquiring a flower at a point of sale, it is not necessary to transplant it. If the capacity matches the size of the plant, you can leave it in it.
When the pot is very small, you must perform the following step-by-step procedure:
- Make a pot and fresh soil.
- To fill the earth in capacity.
- Make a hole in the ground and pour water into it.
- Move the plant to the resulting recess.
- Pour the soil on top, tamp it so that the flower settles steadily.
Flowering period
Bromeliad blooms in the summer months, but there is an opportunity to approximate this period using a little trick. If you put a vase filled with apples next to the flower, or put the pot in a bag of apples for 10 days, the process will accelerate. The bottom line is this: the ethylene gas produced by fruits stimulates the earlier formation of buds.
What to do next if bromeliad has faded? After waiting for complete drying, the remains of the plant are carefully cut. The peculiarity of the genus is that flowering occurs only once. Then, children appear in the mother's outlet (new bushes are grown from them), and she herself becomes lifeless.
Under the name bromeliad mix, the following plant varieties are often sold in the store:
- Bilbergia
- bromeliad de Zapata;
- indoor pineapple;
- Nidularium;
- Ehmeya.
Each of them has its own personality. For example, bromeliad de Zapata has the shape of a shoe. Another species is similar to pineapple.
There is an interesting species in the Bromeliad family, similar to pineapple
Descriptions of some species
One of the easiest plants to grow in this family is Bilbergia. She adapts to life even in dimly lit places. Pinkish flowers, twisting in a spiral, appear in the cold season (from November to January) to the delight of their hosts.
The name of a large group of flowering plants originally from Brazil comes from the Latin word "Nidus" - a nest. Rigid leaves form a dense rosette. A shortened stalk grows from the center and ends with an inflorescence of an ear with densely arranged large red flowers. The flower is very photophilous. The rules for caring for him are no different from the basic ones.
Some species of echmea have an interesting variegated color.
South American echmea has an unusual shape of bracts in the form of a peak. The leaves form a rosette, and there are thorns on the edge of the leaves. The plant blooms only once.
Breeding
After flowering ends, shoots appear at the base of the plant, which are carefully cut with a sharp knife. They are called kiki. Then they need to be covered with charcoal and slightly dried. Finished seedlings can be planted in the ground, preferably from February to April. Light soil is moistened and put in it kicks.
A perennial bromeliad is characterized by a powerful root system. When leaving a flower at home, it takes root in a short time (no more than 2 months after transplanting). During this period, you need to regularly moisten the earth and maintain the temperature in the room at about 20 degrees. New plants will bloom in a half to two years.
Additional Information. Seeds for reproduction are used much less frequently. This method is longer.
Disease
The main enemies of bromeliad are scale insects, spider mites or mealy worms. When infected, the plant can be saved by collecting parasites manually. Then the leaves are washed with soapy water. You can add a little alcohol or use a ready-made insecticide.
In violation of the irrigation regime in combination with infection with fungal diseases, the plant rots.
If minimal care is provided, and the place where the bromeliad stands is correctly selected, the flower will delight for a long time with its original appearance.
