Florists will only recognize all the delights of such a flower as a cross-roomra. Of the advantages, they note excellent decorative qualities and long plentiful flowering, as well as the longevity of the plant. However, in order to be able to enjoy such beauty, you need to know how to properly care for a crossandra and what conditions for it will need to be provided. Otherwise, it simply withers and does not demonstrate all the splendor during flowering.
Main types
Currently, not many species of crossander are grown, as it has not yet gained sufficient popularity. However, some of them have already managed to take pride of place on the windowsills and have become real pets.
What does a flower look like
Crossandra Orange
This variety reaches a height of 30 cm. The leaves of it are dark green in color, inflorescences, the height of which is about 15 cm, are orange. A distinctive feature of this crossander is that it pleases with flowering longer than other varieties.
Crossandra Orange has the longest flowering
Crossandra Yellow
This flower has small lanceolate leaves. The bush reaches a height of 0.5 m. The longest leaves are at the base, to the apex they are significantly shortened. Their color is colorful, there are silver streaks. Inflorescences of a bright yellow color.
Yellow crossandra grows to a height of 50 cm
Other
There are other no less interesting and worthy types and varieties of indoor crossander, which should definitely be paid attention to flower growers. These include:
- Crossandra varieties of Fortune;
- Blue ice;
- Variegate;
- Red;
- Undulate;
- Green ice.
The color of the flowers in these species can be not only red, pink or white, but even blue and greenish.
Blue ice is still not a widespread variety for indoor cultivation.
Before Crossander settles on the windowsill, the proper care of which has many nuances, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of growing a flower in advance. For each species and variety, they may vary.
Home Care
Crossandra is quite demanding of care and does not forgive mistakes, therefore they approach this procedure with great responsibility.
Attention! It is advisable to learn about the basic rules before the pot with this exotic plant appears in the room.
Location
Crossander should be grown only in a well-lit place, preferably on the southern windowsill. In the summer, young plants should be protected from burns by blinds or thin curtains. The flower loves close good neighborliness with the same tropical guests of the window sills. As an example, these could be:
- ferns;
- fittonia;
- arrowroots;
- begonias;
- Calathea and others
Only well-lit areas are suitable for cross-breeding.
Lighting
Crossandra, whose care at home is not easy, loves a lot of light. This rule is no exception even in winter. A pot with a plant should be placed on the southern windowsill, protecting from direct sunlight by light shading. If there is little light, the flower simply will not bloom profusely. Sometimes florists even resort to artificial illumination in the autumn-winter period, using phytolamps for this.
Temperature
Crossandra feels comfortable at standard room temperature (+ 18-28 ° C). It is preferable that in summer this indicator does not exceed + 30 ° C, in winter it does not fall below + 15 ° C. Some varieties are more resistant to cold.
Crossandra is a flower that does not like sudden changes in temperature and drafts, which must be taken into account when ventilating the room.
Crossander needs to be protected from drafts and cold
Attention! If the house is cool, and in winter the temperature in it does not rise above + 20 ° C, then the plant can be placed near the heating battery or directly above it, taking care of maintaining air humidity within the required norm.
Watering
Kassandra is an indoor flower, it is very sensitive not only to waterlogging of the soil, but also to drought. That is why you can not allow the complete drying of the earthen coma. It is also unacceptable to start watering the plant before the topsoil dries. If you leave the crossander without watering on a dry, hot day, then its leaves will fade by evening. It will be necessary to pour settled water into the basin and place a flower pot there for an hour or even a little more. The leaves of the plant should straighten.
Attention! If you leave the dehydrated crossander for a day without watering, she will die at all.
Due to lack of moisture, a favorite flower may die
For irrigation plants use exclusively standing water at room temperature. Moreover, in the summer period it needs a stronger irrigation than in autumn and winter. In winter, watering is carried out 1 time in 2 weeks.
Air humidity
Cassandra in natural conditions grows in a hot and humid climate, therefore, the room needs to create similar conditions.
Attention! In the warm season, the humidity level should be maintained at about 70%, in the cold - 55%.
To maintain such indicators, use a sprayer or a special humidifier. If this is not possible, then open containers with water should be placed near the flower.
Plant transplant
After the purchase, crossander should be transplanted immediately. A flowering plant is allowed to bloom to the end and only then begin work. The soil is preliminarily watered abundantly, then the flower is taken out of the pot and they are carefully cleaned of store substrate. Leave only one that is firmly fixed on the roots.
Adult crossandra does not tolerate transplant
A transplant pot is chosen a little more spacious than the one in which the crossander grew earlier. There must be drainage holes in the bottom. First, a little expanded clay or small pebbles are poured, which will serve as drainage, then - nutrient soil. The bush is carefully installed in the center of the container and at the edges it is also covered with nutritious soil mixture. After this, the flower is watered and, if necessary, they add more earth.
Attention! In the store, flowers are carefully treated with potent growth and flowering stimulants to give them the necessary decorative qualities, because the plant’s strength can already be running out, and in no case should you hesitate to transplant.
Adult crossssands are very painful to transplant, therefore, without special need, they can not be disturbed. Reasons for such actions may include:
- rotting of the root system;
- the roots filled the entire space in the pot and peep out through the holes in the bottom.
Breeding methods
Crossander, whose independent reproduction does not present great difficulties for an experienced florist, survives fairly well. There are several proven ways to get new flowers at home.
Cuttings
For this method, cuttings are used that remain after trimming the crossander. Their length should be about 9 cm. The lower leaves are carefully torn off, a twig is planted at an acute angle in a mixture of sand and peat. The sapling will need to organize greenhouse conditions for some time. To do this, put a plastic bag on top of it. Before planting, the cuttings are recommended to be treated with root stimulants.
The flower propagates perfectly by cuttings.
The container is placed in a well-lit place with a temperature of + 25 ° C. After 3 weeks, roots should form. During this time, the greenhouse is periodically ventilated and the substrate is moistened as necessary.
The method of rooting cuttings in water is not excluded. However, in order to prevent the tips from decaying, you must first dissolve the activated carbon tablet in it. In order for root formation to occur faster, “Kornevin” is also added there. After 3-4 weeks, the root system begins to form. After that, you can transplant the crossander into a pot.
Recently, another method of rooting cuttings has gained popularity - in peat tablets. To begin with, the tablet is well moistened and squeezed out, then in the center its recess is made, into which the stalk treated with “Kornevin” is placed. Greenhouse conditions create a sapling. After a month, the root system should form.
Seeds
Growing crossander from seeds at home has one drawback. No one will guarantee that the resulting plant will inherit all the signs of the mother. If there was a desire to propagate the flower in this way, then you should definitely know that often indoor varieties are hybrids, so it is unlikely that they will be able to maintain their characteristics.
Attention! Sometimes a flower grown from seeds is not only healthier, but also more beautiful than the parent.
Before sowing, the seeds are soaked for a couple of hours in a solution of any growth stimulant (for example, Zircon). Freshly sown seed can not be soaked, because it already has excellent germination. Coconut fiber and a little sphagnum moss are added to the sand and peat mixture. This will ensure good breathability and speed up the germination process.
The seed propagation method does not guarantee the preservation of varietal qualities
Crossander seeds are sown to a depth of 0.5 cm. After that, the container is placed in a bright and warm place with a temperature of about + 22 ° C and a humidity of 70%. Seedlings begin to germinate after a couple of weeks. The greenhouse is aired from time to time and, if necessary, watering plantings. A month later, young plants are transplanted into pots, a little later pinch the tops of them. Breeding in this way takes longer than grafting.
Possible problems in growing
When growing crossander in indoor conditions, flower growers periodically encounter some problems that require a competent and timely solution.
Blush Leaves
The leaves of the flower often begin to turn red due to excess sunlight. To protect the plant, you need to create a slight shade for it at noon (you can just set the pot aside or hang a light curtain). Also, a red sheet may indicate a lack of nutrients in the substrate.
The leaves are dry
Sometimes the leaves of roomy crossander begin to turn yellow and dry for no apparent reason. Such symptoms are often accompanied by the appearance of cobwebs and yellowish spots on the leaves. The spider mite is capable of causing such consequences. The plant urgently needs to be treated with a systemic insecticide (Fitoverm or Aktellik is suitable). For prevention, the leaves are regularly sprayed and wiped with a damp cloth. The spider mite actively propagates in a dry and poorly ventilated area.
Withered leaves often signal pests
The flower does not bloom
There may be several reasons why a home crossander does not bloom. These include:
- Planting in a large pot, as a result of which the root system fills the free space for a long time.
- In winter, the plant did not have a dormant period; therefore, in the summer, it does not have forces for flowering.
- In the soil there is a deficiency of nutrients or an excess of nitrogen, as a result of which the green mass is actively growing.
- Crossandra was not trimmed in time, so it did not form a new shoot that could please the flowering.
- In the room where the plant is located, the conditions of detention do not correspond to the recommended ones (insufficient light, low humidity, cool, irrigation mode, etc.).
It is possible to rejoice in violent flowering only after an analysis of all the actions and conditions of the contents of the crossander is made, and the main errors are eliminated.
