Cissus - home care and reproduction

The flower, which was nicknamed grape, or birch, is very unpretentious in care. At the same time, all year round pleases its owners lush growth and dark green foliage. Cissus is an indoor plant that many flower gardeners liked, it can often be found among the inhabitants of offices, state and educational institutions. And not in vain, because the unique property of the plant is to disinfect the air, cleansing of pathogenic bacteria and viruses.

The cissus plant belongs to the Grape family. This is an evergreen creep that does not have a pronounced period of rest. The plant as such does not have a homeland, as it grows on several continents, prefers tropical and subtropical zones. It counts more than 300 species that are completely dissimilar to each other by the appearance of vines.

Lush green cissus

Translated from Greek means "ivy", although the birch has not much in common with it. Yes, the plant is climbing, weaving, but its lashes do not curl like ivy, but cling with the help of antennae, like grapes. Lianas can reach a length of more than a meter, over time, the stems coarsen and crust. Each species has a difference in the shape of the leaves, their color. The main part, the most common in indoor floriculture, has dark green shiny leaves, sometimes the trunks have a brown or red edge.

The scourges rush up, clinging to the supports with antennae. If there is no support, the plant feels great in the role of an ampelous and is planted in this case in a hanging pot.

In leaving it is absolutely unpretentious, easily tolerates shade and partial shade, drought, withstands winter temperature drops of up to 12 ° С. It does not require frequent transplantation and expensive top dressing. Cissus grows very quickly and in different directions in the form of a full-fledged shrub. If you want to observe in your home a beautiful evergreen bush with lush greenery, you still need to provide him with certain conditions.

• There are no requirements for light, it tolerates shadow very well, and grows under artificial lighting. The most comfortable side for grapes is west and east. The less light, the smaller the leaves will be on the shoots.
• Maintaining humidity in the room will only benefit the plant. In summer, in extreme heat, spraying and showering are recommended. In winter, it is better not to spray, but if the humidity is very low, and the plants are located near the radiators, you need to put pots with peat next to them and constantly fill them with water, the vapor will humidify the air around the cissus.
• When watering, you need to ensure that the earthen lump does not dry out, it should dry no deeper than 2 cm. Watering is necessary abundant, but not earlier than the top layer of the soil dries. The plant will not tolerate stagnation of moisture in a pot. In winter, during irrigation, water should be poured from the sump.

Direct sunlight, the flower will not be happy

• With a lack of fertilizers, diseases develop. The first sign of the disease is the appearance of brown spots on the surface of the leaves.
• Since the plant does not have a dormant period, it should be fed all year round with mineral and organic fertilizers. Optimally once every 10 days. If the flower changes color to a lighter with a silver tint, this is also a signal of a lack of trace elements.
• The flower is also unpretentious to temperature. It feels great in winter at 16 ° C, in summer at 26 ° C. Even fluctuations of four degrees will not affect the plant; it will survive the summer heat at 30 ° C and the winter 10 ° C. With a sharp temperature drop (drafts or gusts of wind), the plant discards leaves.
• To form a bush, early spring is suitable, long lashes need to be cut in half or a third. Shoots can be pinched to give a spherical shape. After this pruning, the plant will grow actively, shoots from the root may appear.
• Vine ivy rarely blooms, some species even bear fruit.
• In the summer, the plant can be kept on balconies and verandas, it is important to obscure it from direct sunlight.

• Sowing seeds. If you managed to get cissus seeds, they should be planted under the greenhouse, maintaining humidity by spraying. Soil for sowing is suitable for sand and peat, the temperature should be in the range of 20-25 ° C, the lighting is uniform. Seeds germinate very reluctantly, sometimes only after six months.
• Root cissus can be using cuttings. In the spring-summer period, young shoots with buds are cut off and put into water. It is advisable to treat the slices with growth stimulants. Roots appear quickly and take root well in the soil. Young roots are very fragile, they are easy to damage.

Nondescript flowering: small pink or light green flower tassels

• How to root cissus easily so as not to damage the roots? Straight into the soil. A mixture of equal parts of sand and peat should be moistened with water, make a recess with a wooden stick and plant a cut stalk (it must have several buds and leaves on it). The pot needs to be covered with a glass jar, creating favorable conditions for quick rooting and growth. When the leaf appears and unfolds new leaves, you can remove the jar and take care of it as usual.
• When transplanting a room birch, you can divide the bush of a plant by planting it in several pots. The root processes should be divided, separating them with the roots. If the roots are tightly intertwined, they can be cut with a sharp knife or scissors. Plants take root quickly and in two weeks already begin to actively grow.

Propagation of cissus by cuttings

After planting a young plant in a pot, it is necessary to provide it with warmth, more shade than light, and watering with root. After 14 days, you can make the first feeding with complex fertilizers. It is advisable to immediately set up supports for which the plant will cling to its antennae.

A young plant needs a transplant every spring as a transfer to a larger pot. The roots are very tender in the plant, so it is better not to remove the soil, which the roots have already braided. The pot is required small in size, since the root system is poorly developed. An adult plant requires transplantation as the soil is depleted - once every 2-3 years. For optimal soil composition, it is necessary to take in equal parts:

• garden land is a heavy fertile land of wood, black;
• peat;
• humus;
• sand.

The pot must be with holes and a drainage layer.

The most common types of indoor decorative cissuses and their specifics:

• cissus is Antarctic. Unpretentious in the matter of lighting and temperature. Suitable for growing completely in artificial light: in the bathroom, hallway and other rooms without windows. Leaves of this species differ in characteristic teeth along the edges of ovoid leaflets of a bottle color;
• rhomboid, or rhomboid grapes. Very similar to grapes or maple. The leaves are dark green, young with a burgundy tint. In summer, the rhomboid form of cissus can bear edible red berries. Home care cissus rhomboid does not require special conditions;

Antarctic cissus actively wriggles in long lashes

• multi-colored cissus is the most finicky species of these vines, but also the most beautiful of them. The leaves of multi-colored grapes are painted in silver and pink-burgundy spots, the back side is dark pink. This species requires plenty of light and constant humidity;
• cissus striatum has the smallest leaflets of all types. Light green three-lobed or five-lobed striped leaves grow on red vines, which grow up to 10 m in length. In leaving is unpretentious and perfectly tolerates the shadow.

Multicolored cissus

Indoor flower cissus is able to purify the air and create a favorable atmosphere in the room. It is part of the dietary supplements of athletes and is used in the treatment of joints and bone tissue. It is used in cosmetology as a cleanser for skin problems. What is not a unique plant for growing a house ?! In addition, there are no problems with him at all, where to plant, and there will grow.

Watch the video: Propagating Ivy - Stem Cuttings (April 2024).