Albuca or "African curls" is a herbaceous plant found in South Africa. From Latin it is translated “shoot white” because of the peduncle on which white flowers appear. There are about 160 species.
Description
Spiral Albuca - perennial succulent from the asparagus family (formerly referred to as lily, hyacinth). The main difference is the original shape of the leaves of green-gray color, they look like a spiral, curls, corkscrew. Length no more than 35 cm when straightening.
In extreme heat, they (about 20 pieces per plant) curl up even more serpentine, secrete sticky juice. Thanks to this form of leaves, the flower does not overheat and retains moisture. Round light bulb with a diameter of 5 cm. The root system consists of white fibers that grow in winter.
The peduncle grows up to 60 cm, the flowers are collected in spike-shaped inflorescences, appear from the bulbs. Bell-shaped petals exude vanilla aroma at night. Their color is yellow, white, cream, light green, with a green stripe in the middle. Blossom in the spring.
Albuca has a vegetation period of winter, and dormancy of summer, when it discards leaves.
There are hybrids of helix albucci - Nelson, Canadian, Bract. The Dutch variety "Hot Curl" is distinguished by a large bulb and a smaller size of leaves and peduncle, the most pronounced curl of the leaves. It is rare in flower shops.
Care ha Albuque spiral at home
Albuku in the presence of a warm climate is grown in open ground. For this, the plants are planted shallow in a lighted area with light, loose soil five centimeters apart. In the fall, bulbs are dug up, transferred to a cool room.
Home care is not difficult to ensure, you should plant the flower in a suitable substrate, observe the regime of lighting, watering, temperature. Avoid stagnation of water. Spiral albuca will create a unique room interior.
Lighting
Albuque loves the light, it is placed on the western, eastern, southern windows. She needs 12 hours of light day.
In cloudy weather, the plant is illuminated with phytolamps.
Temperature mode
The flower prefers a temperature of + 25 ... +28 ° C in the summer, and + 10 ... +15 ° C in the winter. At the end of November and the beginning of December, the album is placed in a place where during the day + 10 ... +15 ° С, and at night + 6 ... +10 ° С.
Watering
With active growth and flowering, albuca needs abundant watering after the topsoil has dried. Before the dormant period, it is reduced, and then stopped.
The soil
Soil for albuca is taken light, with the content of coarse sand, you can purchase a ready-made substrate for succulents. It is not difficult to prepare the soil yourself - you will need land, humus and sand in a ratio of 1: 1: 2. The mixture is disinfected (pierced in the oven). At the bottom of the container, drainage is laid.
Top dressing
Fertilize the flower with special mixtures for succulents, containing minerals, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, following the instructions, but halving the dose. In the fall, make the first top dressing, then once every 10-15 days. After flowering, the plant is fertilized once more, then the flower is given rest.
Features of flowering spiral alba and dormancy
For flowering albuque, differences in night and day temperatures are required. It blooms in spring, in April-May. The period lasts almost 10 weeks.
When the plant fades, boxes appear in which the seeds are located. After its leaves are wilted, they stop watering, fertilizing, a dormant period begins.
In the fall, at the end of the season, the bulb is transplanted. The substrate is used new, watering is resumed, the pot is put on a lighted place.
Albuca propagation methods
Albuca is propagated by "children." This is done in the fall, they are separated from the mother bulb, planted separately, without deepening. The pot is taken shallow, with a diameter of 5-7 cm. Take care the same way as an adult onion.
Reproduction by seeds is not too common, but there is the opportunity to observe the growth of the flower. Fresh seed is taken, sown, buried a little. Cover with a film or transparent glass. They put on a lighted place. Soil temperature should be + 25 ° ... +28 ° C. Waterlogging the soil is not necessary. Shoots will appear in two weeks. The bulb will form in a year. Albuca will bloom in three years.
Diseases and Pests
With improper care, albuca is exposed to diseases and pests.
- Rotting bulbs. The plant is thrown away, in order to avoid problems, they moisten the earth regularly, but not too often, they do not allow the presence of stagnant water, the cause of the damage is overmoistening of the soil.
- Brown leaves are a sign of rust; they dry out and fall off. They get rid of the affected plants and treat with fungicides (blue vitriol, Oksikhom).
- Leaves do not curl due to stagnation of water.
- Leaves fall - the flower stands in the shade, temperature changes, the draft or the soil dries up, too much watering is possible.
- Spider mite - leaves twist and fall, upon detection, they are treated with Fitoverm, Aktellik.
- The root tick infects the bulbs, insecticide and acaricidal agents will help: Apollo, Kemidis, Rogor S.
For prophylaxis, they treat colloidal sulfur soil, disinfect it before planting (calcine in the oven), the drainage layer should be kept in a solution of manganese, then dried.
