Hatiora – rules for home care

The decorative Hatiora salt-bearing, or Decembrist, grows in tropical forests, native to Brazil, there are about 10 varieties of this race shenia, only a few of them are adapted to home conditions of detention. Let us consider how the shrub looks and how to care for it.

Description of the plant

The botanical name is Hatiora, refers to Cactus family.Description of a perennial shrub:

• a branched plant in the form of a bush, consists of a large number of jointed shoots of green color;
• depending on the variety, the stems are cylindrical, flat or club-shaped;
• at the tops, inflorescences of a reddish, yellow or white tone develop, the diameter of the flowers is 6-7 cm;
• in the wild it is found on tree trunks, in crevices of rocks;
• the bush is not high – 30-40 cm, circumference – about 30-35 cm;
• the central conductor and adjacent skeletal branches in adult specimens lignified ditch with a light brown bark.

Some scientists attribute the flower to the genus ripsalis, but still they have differences:

• in ripsalis, inflorescences can form according to the entire length of the shoots are snow-white or pale yellow;
• different direction of stem growth – in the hator, they grow up, and in the ripsalis – drooping.

These are the most important differences, in all other respects they are similar in appearance and require the same conditions for development.

Varieties

A houseplant has several subspecies, which Rye differ in color, size. By familiarizing yourself with the name and detailed description, you will easily learn how to distinguish them

Solerosova

The botanical name is hatiora salicornioides. It has several names – solyanka-shaped, salicorniform, saline-shaped.Due to the dense branching, the plant acquires a tree-like crown shape in adulthood. Height – 40-50 cm.

It differs from other varieties in thin, cylindrical shoots consisting of pin-shaped segments. The English call this variety the dream of a drunkard.

In the middle of spring, the salt-water hatiora produces a large number of inflorescences of bright pink, red or yellow. Bell-shaped flowers reach a diameter of 6-7 cm.

Pink

The Latin name is hatiora rosea. Unlike the previous variety, this variety has flat reddish-green stems of two types – club-shaped or elliptical. The shoots are fleshy, emerald in color with a smooth surface.

Inflorescences reach 3-4 cm in diameter. The color is pink, in the center there are thin lilac hues of the villi, surrounded by a small flower of pale pink needle petals.

Germina

Latin name is hatiora herminiae. It has arched or erect shoots, about 30-35 cm high. The shape of the segments is cylindrical, the color is dark green. The length of each segment is 2-5 cm.

Hathior blooms with raspberry inflorescences 5-6 cm in circumference.

Gertner

The stems are segmented, green with a smooth surface. The length of each segment is 6-7 cm, contain small notches along the edge.

Inflorescences of the Gartner cultivar in saturated red color in the form of funnels reach a diameter of 5-6 cm.

Grazer

This hybrid form was obtained on the basis of two varieties – pink and gertner. The stems are fleshy, formed from flat segments, 6-7 cm long.

Blossoms in red or burgundy inflorescences, consisting of many elongated petals, circumference 5-6 cm.

Five-winged

The color of the flowers varies depending on the variety

A plant with pentagonal shoots of a light green hue, densely covered with snow-white inflorescences along the entire length. The flowers are small, with a diameter of 3-4 cm, consist of 6-7 petals, turned out. Thin villi are located in the center.

Epiphylloides bradei

One of the rarest and most decorative varieties bred by foreign breeders. The plant is distinguished by dense branching – the stems are drooping, they consist of triangular segments 3-4 cm long. The color of the shoots depending on the variety is red, scarlet, purple, green at the base of the stalk.

Hatiora epiphylloides produces beautiful yellow-colored inflorescences . Buds are formed at the tips of the shoots.

Purchase and adaptation

You can purchase one of the above varieties of habiori from any florist shop. The price depending on the species varies from 250 to 850 rubles.

Buy grown specimens that have a well-developed root system and aerial parts. When choosing a flower for your home, carefully examine the crown – the stems and inflorescences should be fresh, juicy without blackening, reddish or yellow spots.

With light shaking, you can determine its freshness – in healthy shoots do not break off and do not crumble. The substrate is slightly moistened, does not contain acidification and mold on the surface. Through the drainage holes you can see the roots – they are a uniform brown color without decay.

After purchase, it takes some time to adapt to home conditions. It is quarantined for three weeks, then transferred to a common room, placed among the vegetation.

If the hator is infected with some kind of infection, it is treated with fungicides, and if it is infected with parasites, it is sprayed with insecticides. Only a week after treatment, they move to the windowsill with other flowers.

Landing

Usually this procedure is carried out in the spring. Use a soil mixture for cacti or succulents or a substrate prepared independently.

For a hator, it is better to take a wide and not too deep capacity, because it has a surface and branched root system.

Use a pot of plastic , ceramics with drainage holes at the bottom. Fall asleep one handful of pebbles or expanded clay to ensure a good outflow of moisture.Half the volume of the flowerpot is filled with a substrate, the roots are lowered, straightened, sprinkled with soil to the top, compacted and watered.

Choose a place and soil

To plant this color, you need a light and loose organic rich substrate. You can use the mixture for planting cacti or succulent plants. You can also prepare the soil mixture yourself – mix peat with sand and turf in the ratio 1: 0.5: 1.

The best place to keep it will be the south-western or western side of the house, where there is good diffused lighting. When growing on the southern window, shading will be required in the afternoon to avoid burns on the stems.

Do not keep the flower in the northern part, otherwise it will turn pale, grow slowly and may not bloom.

Prerequisites

Humidity

Prefers high humidity – 75-80%. In the summer they irrigate every day with warm water from a spray bottle, on hot days this procedure is carried out twice a day. Additionally, an open container with water is installed and a flower pot is placed on a tray with wet pebbles or expanded clay.

In the cold season, you can arrange daily ventilation of the room, because the plant does not like stagnant air.Before opening the window, it’s better for the hator to move to another room, because she can wither and discard the stems from frequent drafts.

Temperature

Throughout during the growing season, the plant is provided with a temperature in the range of 19-25 ° C. In summer, it can be kept on the terrace, balcony, where there is a shade in the afternoon and there are no drafts. You can also place a flower in the garden under shrubs or trees that create a shadow in the sun.

Bookmark inflorescences occurs in the winter season. For this process to be successful, you need to lower the temperature to 12-14 ° C. Abundant flowering begins in late April or early May.

Lighting

This plant is a short daylight – 3-4 hours of diffuse lighting per day is enough. This condition must be provided in the spring-summer period. In autumn and winter, when the buds begin to form, the flower can be placed in a place where the sun shines throughout the day. If this is not possible, you can use artificial lighting by installing a lamp at a distance of 50 cm from the crown.

Care Features

Taking care of this succulent at home is not difficult, therefore, it can be grown by anyone, even a beginner grower.

Feeding

A regular and balanced diet provides the flower with decorativeness throughout the year.

Fertilizers are applied during the period of active growth and in the flowering phase. Use mineral supplements with a low nitrogen content and without calcium.

The optimal proportions are phosphorus 18 g, nitrogen 9 g, potassium 24 g. Dry components are dissolved in water according to the instructions.

Add as follows: once every 14 days, then watering is carried out to improve the quality of assimilation of nutrients. In the dormant phase, when indoor succulent drops the last buds, they stop feeding it.

Watering

This plant likes regular but moderate watering, so it is moistened only as it dries soil to a depth of 4-5 cm. Use settled or filtered water at room temperature.

In winter, the frequency is reduced to once every three weeks. After each watering, when the earth absorbs moisture, the liquid accumulated in the pan is drained. Hatior is better not to pour than to pour. The root system suffers and quickly rots from frequent overmoistening.

The next day, surface loosening is carried out so that the soil remains light and passes moisture well in the future.

Transplant

The flower can be transplanted at rest

Purchased in flowers shop cannot be kept in purchased land for a long time. It contains no nutrients and over time, plants may wither away.It is not recommended to transplant a blooming hator, as it may not survive stress and die.

After flowering is over, take a container 2-3 cm in diameter larger than the previous one, fill it with drainage, then the fertile soil used when planting a third

The flower is abundantly watered to facilitate the extraction procedure and to prevent injury to the roots, moved by the method of transshipment, and then they add the soil to the top, compacted and watered.

At home, the procedure spend every three th Yes. An unplanned transplant is required for an instance that has a rotten root system or has been infected with harmful insects, diseases.

Pruning

Basic care for a decorative cactus at home includes annual haircut. This plant can be given a beautiful look and density with regular pruning in the spring. The formation of the bush is to pinch off the excess segments on the stems.

Some gardeners create a bonsai-shaped crown. This method is suitable for flowers with erect shoots. In early spring, adjacent branches are removed in the lower part of the central trunk, gradually rising to the apex. The upper stems are pinched to stimulate the formation of new processes.

In order to avoid infection, they are irrigated with fungicide after each pinching.

Also, a sanitary haircut is required in the spring: all dubious – yellowed, dried out or decayed organs are cut off. At the end of flowering, dried-up inflorescences are cut off.

Flowering period

Many flower growers who grow this plant encounter a problem when it does not bloom or forms a small amount of inflorescences.

There are two reasons for this – improper care during the rest period or too close capacity. In the cold season, you need to keep it cool (temperature 10-16 ° C), exclude all dressings and water every three weeks.

When these rules are observed, Decembrist will delight you with lush and bright flowering.

Methods of propagation

by Cuttings

Reproduction by cuttings almost always gives a positive result. After flowering, the apical shoot, consisting of 2-3 segments, is unscrewed, then planted without rooting in water, watered in the nutrient substrate used for planting adult flowers.

To quickly build up the root system and green mass, put the seedling in a warm and a well-lit place, regularly moisturized.

Propagation by cuttings makes it possible to obtain new bushes with all varietal characteristics of the mother flower.

Vaccination

Usually for inoculation apply prickly pereskiya. The procedure is carried out in the summer. In places of branching, the rootstock is cut, split.As a scion, a stalk of habiori from 2-3 members is used. A wedge-shaped cut is made in the lower part, then inserted into the cleavage with this place and fixed with a patch.

Remove the bandage after the scion begins to grow. Usually, engraftment and growth begins in 2-3 weeks at a temperature of 20-25 ° C.

This method of reproduction makes it possible to obtain abundantly flowering bushes.

By dividing the bush

Indoor flower successfully propagated by the method of division of the rhizome. It is used if you need to transplant and rejuvenate an old instance or transplant a plant with rotten roots. Abundantly watered, removed from the tank, lowered into a basin with water to wash off the remaining soil.

The flower is easy to propagate

All damaged areas are cut to a healthy tissue, the root system is divided using a sterile and sharp instrument. Each delenka should have several roots and one stem. Places of cuts are treated with charcoal, dried, then seated separately in pots. You can root delenki in the substrate used for planting adult flowers.

Hatorio can be propagated using seeds, however, this is a troublesome business and requires a lot of patience. In addition, seedlings need to provide the most comfortable conditions for germination, it is very difficult to do this at home. Therefore, flower growers rarely resort to this method.

Diseases and pests

Throughout the year, this plant can be damaged by various infections and parasites, if timely measures are not taken, it can die.

Signs and superstitions

This plant with an unusual appearance received many names among the people – a drunkard’s dream, male tears, dancing bones.

Some flower growers do not risk growing it, because they believe that it can drive any man out of the house or harm existing relationships – provocations misunderstandings, quarrels, scandals and divorce.

Other superstitions claim that the hatiora helps identify the foe who visiting your house. Some time after his departure, it blooms. This is a sure sign that communication with such a person should be minimized.

The benefits of the flower are expressed in the ability to act peacefully on all members of the family, to restore the former atmosphere and comfort. If you accept a flowering plant as a gift, then peace and harmony will prevail in your house.