Tradescantia Zebrina – care rules and breeding features

A decorative tradescantia zebrin, or striped native to Mexico and Guatemala, is very popular among flower growers. a green plant with variegated foliage adorns any residential and office premises, and does not require special care. Consider what a flower looks like, what conditions it needs for full growth and development.

Zebrin tradescantion

Description of the plant

Lat the name of the flower is tradescantia zebrina. The family is commelinaceous.

The herbaceous evergreen perennial grows rapidly – the length of the stems can reach 1.8-2 m, the height is no more than 15 cm.

Leaflets are sessile, oval with with pointed tips, length 7-10 cm. The color is diverse – the inside is purple, the outside is green with thick silvery and thin violet stripes.

The plant blooms with small three-petalled inflorescences of pink, snow-white or purple hue.

Flowering period occurs in spring and summer.

Varieties

The room tradescantia has several decorative varieties that are appreciated in home gardening.

1. Hanging, or drooping (often called “Wandering Jew”). The most popular type, has healing properties. Leaflets large, ciliated, reddish-green in color with silver longitudinal stripes. The bottom is a purple-red leaf.
2. Red Hill. Beautiful plant with emerald leaves, bronze tint and gray stripes. The bottom side is purple. This hybrid is grown in hanging pots, baskets. It belongs to the ground cover varieties, therefore it is suitable for growing in a flower garden.
3. Setcreasea purpurea (Purple, or purple heart). A lush plant with numerous stems densely covered with dense leaves. The surface of the leaf plate is reddish-olive, contains a slight pubescence, the lower side is naked, purple.
4. Flocculosis (flocculosa). It differs in white leaflets with a small pile.

Purchase and adaptation

You can buy a striped tradescantia in one of the flower shops. To get a strong and healthy plant, you need to carefully examine its aerial part:

• leaves and stems of a saturated color;
• there are no signs of infection with diseases and pests – yellow, black or red specks, growths;
• an earthen lump without acidification and mold.

The condition of the root system is also important – through the drainage holes it will be possible to determine whether the flower has health problems.In patients with tradescantia, the roots are rotten, moldy, of a heterogeneous tone with elements of black or white spots.

After purchase, the plant needs time to adapt – it is quarantined for 20 days. During this time, he will get used to the room conditions.

Landing rules

We plant the plant in spring

It is better to plant in the spring and before the beginning of the blooming of new leaves. For planting, use a purchased substrate or prepared independently according to the above recipe.

The pot is taken from ceramic or plastic, at least 10 cm high, always with drainage holes at the bottom. Fall asleep a couple of handfuls of expanded clay, then fill up with half fertile soil. Lower the roots, straighten, cover with earth to the top, slightly bend around the stem, watered.

After planting, the flower is placed in a warm room with diffused daylight.

Transplantation is necessary in the following cases:

• purchased flower after three weeks of quarantine, because it will not develop well in store land;
• to home tradescans every three years so that they do not lack space and nutrients;
• in case of damage to the root system by rot, pests.

Before carrying out otsedury plant abundantly watered, which facilitates the extraction of roots with a minimum of trauma.Take a pot 2-3 cm in diameter larger than the previous one, fill it with drainage, fertile soil mixture. Transfer the lump with roots into the container, fill the earth to the top, moisturize.

Prerequisites

The variegated tradescantia prefers to grow in a sunny place where there is scattered daylight with protection from direct rays.

The window sill from the western, southwestern or eastern side will be the best place.

When grown in the northern part of the house, the leaves turn pale and the flower itself slowly develops.

The soil is light and loose. You can use the purchased substrate for decorative foliage plants or prepare the soil mixture yourself by mixing coarse sand with peat and perlite in the ratio 1: 2: 1.

Microclimate

Duration daylight hours – at least 10 hours. Lighting is diffuse. In winter, artificial illumination will be required.

You can determine the lack of light by faded foliage, which becomes plain. Shoots also begin to stretch upward.

The flower can be kept at room temperature – 21-25 ° C.

He likes fresh air, but does not tolerate drafts. Therefore, in autumn and winter, at the time of ventilation, it is transferred to another room.

Humidity should be moderate – about 65-70%.

• In the warm season, this condition is ensured by frequent spraying of the crown – every 3-4 days.
• In winter, sprinkling is rare – once a month to wash off dust from leaflets .

If it is too hot, you can place an open container of water near the flowerpot, and also place the plant on a pallet with wet pebbles or expanded clay.

Care features

You need to monitor regular watering

Proper home care will help you add maximize the decorativeness of this plant.

Watering

You need to moisten the flower regularly, it depends on its further growth.

The frequency of watering is adjusted according to the season :

• in spring and summer – every 3-4 days;
• in winter – every 7 days.

It’s important, so that the surface layer of the soil dries out, because frequent waterlogging can cause the development of root rot.

After each irrigation, lightly loosen the soil to ensure full access of oxygen and moisture to the roots.

About ezka

creeping plant does not need formirovke crown, so spend only sanitary cut each spring.

All stalks and leaves that are withered or yellowed be removed, that is.k are a source of infection and a good environment for pests.

Use a sharp and sterile tool to prune them to prevent infection.

Reproduction methods

You can propagate the zebrin room tradescantion using several methods, which one is your choice.

Cuttings

Cut the cuttings during spring pruning – take strong and healthy shoots from an adult plant. The optimal length is 10-12 cm.

For quick rooting, lower it into a vessel with water with the addition of Epin. Keep in such an environment until the roots appear on the cuttings. This usually takes 2-2.5 weeks.

Rooted seedlings are planted in the same substrate as adult specimens. For planting take plastic containers or seedling boxes. Planted to a depth of 3-4 cm at an angle, watered. They create a greenhouse effect by covering the seedlings with a transparent film or glass.

Every day they are aired, and, if necessary, irrigated from a spray bottle. As soon as new leaves appear on them, the shelter can be removed. The grown flowers are planted separately in flowerpots.

Division of the bush

Usually, this method is used when you need to transplant and rejuvenate an old plant. It is abundantly moistened after an hour, when the earth gets wet, the lump with roots is removed and lowered into a basin of water.

After the remains of the soil are washed away, the root system is removed, dried, all dubious roots are removed, then the plant is divided into parts so that each has one shoot and 2-3 root shoots. The places of cuts are covered with charcoal.

They are planted in separate pots, watered.

Seeds

This method of propagation is rarely successful, moreover But this process is labor-intensive and requires a lot of patience.

This plant has very small seeds, so they are sown in a seedling box or container with compacted soil. They are laid out on the surface of the soil, then sprinkled with a thin layer of a mixture of peat and sand (1: 1). They cover it with transparent glass, air it for half an hour every day, irrigate it after 2 days from the spray bottle.

About a month later, shoots should appear, then the glass will be removed, and the seedlings will be placed in a warm place with diffused daylight. They grow until they release one pair of leaves. Then they plant one by one in pots.

Other problems with the flower’s health can also lead to loss of decorative effect and further death:

• yellowing and mass falling of leaves is a sign of lack of moisture, light or nutrients;
• the leaves curl, then dry – the air is too dry in the room;
• the stems and leaves wither from drying out the substrate;
• the foliage turns pale and becomes monotonous – the plant suffers from a lack of light;
• bared the stems do not develop new leaves – this usually happens in old specimens that need to be rejuvenated by dividing and planting in pots with fresh and fertile soil;
• the leaves shrink, turn brown – a sign of low humidity or poor lighting.

Healing properties

In addition to high decorative qualities, this houseplant has unique healing properties:

• preparations based on stems, leaves, help the mouth injure problems with the gastrointestinal tract;
• carminative, hemostatic, antimicrobial and wound healing effect;
• used in the complex treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis;
• fresh and dry leaves are used for the preparation of a medicine that lowers blood sugar.