Stromant

This culture belongs to the Marantov family. In its natural habitat, stromanthus can be found in various varieties. According to various sources, at the moment there are from five to fifteen varieties. According to its external features, the stromant can be confused with its closest relatives, with the ktenant and calathea. It is believed that the stromant is a member of the Calatei genus, and is not a separate type of stromanth. Stromanthus was first discovered in tropical rainforests in the southern United States.

Stromanthus flower: briefly about growing a plant

Stromanta: photo

As a rule, no one really expects flowering from stromant. Stromanthus is grown as an ornamental deciduous houseplant.

Best of all, this culture feels in a slightly shaded place. A fairly large amount of light will do. He must be absent-minded.

When the stromant flower is in the growing season, the air temperature needs to be about twenty-four degrees. In winter, the stromant has a dormant period, at which time the plant should be moved to a cooler place. It is best if the temperature in such a room is about +18. It shouldn't be lower.

In spring, as well as in summer, this crop must be watered with a sufficiently large amount of water. You need to water systematically. In winter, however, watering is greatly reduced.

As for the humidity level of the environment, it should be high, the air should be about ninety percent humid. For this purpose, it is recommended to spray the plant with a spray bottle every day. This must be done several times a day. From time to time, you need to douse the plant with a warm shower.

To increase the humidity, it will not be superfluous to put the container with the plant in a bowl, which will be filled with moistened pebbles. It is also recommended to place a layer of moss near the pot, which should be sprayed regularly.

Additional nutrients start in May and finish in August. The plant is fed once every couple of weeks. For this purpose, it is best to use a ready-made top dressing, which will include the whole complex of mineral elements necessary for decorative deciduous crops. Before use, you need to carefully study the instructions. The indicated dosage should be halved in the case of stromant.

Rest time for this plant is not clearly manifested. At the same time, in winter, you still need to give the stromante a rest and gain strength.

Stromanta: videoThe stromant flower is transplanted into a new container, as a rule, in the second half of May. To do this, you need to move the plant as carefully as possible, preserving the earthen ball and root system. A young stromant is usually transplanted annually, and when the plant is more mature, the stromant is transplanted once every two to three years.

If you do not want to move the plant from place to place once again, then you can simply remove the top of the soil, about five centimeters deep, and put new, fresh soil in its place.

It is most convenient to propagate stromanthus using apical cuttings, as well as by dividing the mother plant.

If you do not follow the basic requirements for the care and cultivation of this culture, then various stromantal diseases may occur on plantings. Also, various insects can harm the stromante. Stromanta can be affected by the scale insect, whitefly, aphids, or mealybugs.

Stromanthus flower: a description of a houseplant

Stromanta: photo

This plant is a herbaceous perennial, in its natural habitat it can grow up to one meter. Stromanta has a decorative appearance, especially for its rather large and beautiful leaves. They can be about fifty centimeters long and about ten centimeters wide.

The color of the foliage can vary, there are very beautiful color combinations. These can include whites, creams, pinks, and greens. The stromant sheet is positioned in such a way that it is able to turn the right side to the light. Arrowroot plants have some interesting traits. In the evening, the leaves fold and rise upward, and in the morning hours the leaves begin to open and, conversely, fall.

If you are going to cultivate this plant at home, please be patient. Stromant is difficult to care for. For this reason, such a plant is not often acquired by flower lovers.

For this reason, it is important to understand what conditions must be observed for the normal growth of stromant. In its natural habitat, this plant is located in the coastal zone. Stromant grows naturally, usually in the southern United States.

This plant grows in fairly warm conditions, with a high level of environmental humidity. The stromant shows itself best of all on light, loose soil, which easily permeates oxygen.

Stromanta does not grow in areas exposed to aggressive direct sunlight. A sufficiently active lighting is best suited for the stromante. In this case, the light should be diffused. At home, where this plant grows in natural conditions, there is a greater amount of daylight hours per day than in middle latitude.

Therefore, when growing, it is so important to know about the conditions in which the stromant feels as comfortable as possible. Compact varieties are best grown in a terrarium environment. Larger varieties can also be grown on the window, if all the conditions necessary for development are provided.

When the stromant is in a flowering state, inflorescences are formed, which in their shape resemble panicles. In transverse size, they grow by sixty to eighty millimeters. The flowers are not very expressive, they are painted white. Bracts include sepals, which can be colored red or orange with a reddish tint. Peduncles are quite elongated in length.

It is worth noting that the flowering of stromant at home almost never occurs. In order to get flowers, it is necessary to bring the growing conditions indoors as close as possible to those to which the stromant is accustomed in its natural habitat.

Stromanta: home care

Stromanta: photo

When you decide to buy this plant for your home, then get ready that caring for this plant is not the easiest one.

During the warmer months temperature should range from twenty-two to twenty-five degrees. In winter, the temperature should drop to a maximum of eighteen degrees, but not lower. For the stromant, sudden temperature changes, as well as through wind, can be fatal. Therefore, when you ventilate the room, make sure that there is no draft. Their windows should not be blown out by cold air; a flower should not be placed in the immediate vicinity of the window glass. In addition, you need to ensure that the soil for stromant in the container is always warm.

For normal growth and development of the stromant, it is necessary to maintain a certain mode in the room. lighting. The light should be bright but diffused. In this case, the plant must necessarily be protected from direct sunlight.This plant tolerates shade well, but nevertheless, if the stromant is experiencing a lack of light, then the foliage can lose its decorative variegated color and become one color.

Moisturizing primer for stromant should be administered on a regular basis. To do this, you need to use well-settled water. Water passed through a filter is also suitable, as long as it is not hard. The water should not be cold, liquid at room temperature or slightly warmer is best. In the spring and summer, the plant should be watered regularly and abundantly. When winter comes, the plant needs to be watered much less frequently.

In the room where this flower is grown, the humidity of the environment should be at a high level, about ninety percent.

To maintain such a high humidity, experienced growers recommend spraying the plant with a spray bottle several times a day.

You can also fill a shallow dish with moistened pebbles. Expanded clay is also suitable. From time to time, the plant needs to be doused with a warm shower.

Top dressing for stromant, they are applied during the entire growing season. This time usually starts in May and ends in August. For this purpose, it is most convenient to use a fertilizing solution, which contains the entire complex of mineral elements that are required for decorative deciduous crops.

The plant is fed once every couple of weeks. Read the dosage label carefully before applying any fertilizer.

To feed the stromanthus, you need to prepare the concentration half as much as indicated on the label. If there are too many minerals in the soil for the stromant, this can adversely affect the growth and development of the stromant. For this reason, it is best not to overfeed the stromanthus.

How to transplant a stromant?

Transplant the stromant is recommended in the second half of May. Young plants are transplanted once a year, and those that are older are transplanted once every two to three years. The root system of such plants is quite delicate, so care must be taken when transplanting stromant. The best option is transshipment. If there is any doubt that the roots will remain after transplanting significant damage, then it is better to replace the upper part of the earth in the planting tank with a new one.

Best of all, this plant will feel in not too heavy soil, which easily allows moisture and oxygen to pass through. Such soil should contain a fairly large amount of humus. The acidity should not be high, its level should be about six units. Soil mixture for stromant, it can consist of humus (one part), sand (one part), leafy earth (three parts) and peat (one part).

If you don't want to prepare the soil for the stromant on your own, you can buy it at a garden store. Experienced gardeners recommend adding a little moss to any mixture, as well as a little bit of charcoal. Before the direct transplantation of stromant, a good drainage layer must be laid at the bottom of the planting container; it should occupy about one fourth of the volume of the pot.

How to properly propagate stromant

Stromanta: photo

A fairly simple way of reproduction of stromant is division of the mother plant into parts. This procedure is very convenient to carry out when the stromant is transplanted. If the plant is large enough, it can be divided into two or three parts. This must be done carefully so as not to damage the root system.

Each separated part should have at least two to three strong spines. In addition, there must be at least a few leaves. Such delenki need to be planted in separate pots of stromant. It is better to use low and fairly wide containers for this. Before planting, it is imperative to lay a drainage layer on the bottom.

When planting a home stromant flower, the same soil is used as when transplanting a plant.When parts of the mother plant have been planted, they need to be moved to a warm room, and additional insulation must be created. To do this, you can use a transparent plastic bag that covers the plants. You can remove the shelter when the bush takes root, and young leaves are formed.

In addition to dividing the mother plant into parts, stromant can be used for reproduction apical cuttings... They need to be harvested in the last days of May or early June. In its length, each stalk should contain seven to ten centimeters. In addition, two or three leaves should be present on each cutting. The cut point for the stromant from the mother plant should be slightly below the point where the leaf is attached to the stem.

In order for the apical cuttings for the stromant to form a root system, they must be placed in a container with water. In addition, you need to create a mini greenhouse. To do this, cover your cuttings with clear plastic wrap. The rooting process takes approximately five to six weeks. After that, the rooted cuttings must be planted in separate planting containers. Before this, pots of stromant must be filled with soil, which will be prepared on a peat basis.

What problems can you face

Stromanta: photo of a houseplant

During the growth of stromant, the following problems may arise:

The indoor stromant flower begins to dry out. Why do the leaves of the stromant dry?

Many indoor plant lovers complain that the foliage of this crop dries up. There can be several reasons for this problem.

• Firstly, the plant may simply lack the level of ambient humidity that is in your room.
• Secondly, the leaves can dry out due to the appearance of a spider mite on the plant. This, again, speaks of low air humidity, since this pest appears precisely in such conditions.

To solve this problem, as well as to avoid its appearance, you need to spray the plant with a spray bottle as often as possible. You also need to ensure that the pebbles in the bowl are always wet.

To get rid of the spider mite, it is recommended to wipe the leaves of the plant with a soft cloth, which must be moistened with soapy water before that. The solution should be on the plant for about three to four hours. Then it is washed off. Next, the plant is covered with plastic wrap, so the harmful insect is most likely guaranteed to die.

If this procedure still did not help solve the problem with the spider mite, then it makes sense to use a chemical preparation. To do this, you can buy Actellik in a garden store, on the basis of which, according to the instructions, you need to prepare a solution. This is a fairly effective remedy that plants are sprayed with.

There are cases when, at first, the leaves of an indoor stromant flower lose their bright and rich colors, and then they dry out. This usually happens when there is too much bright light. If you are faced with such symptoms, then you need to move the bush to a slightly shaded place or organize protection from direct sunlight on the plant.

The leaves of the stromant are curled

If you grow a home stromant flower in unsuitable conditions for it, then this is almost guaranteed to affect the appearance of the foliage. With improper watering of the stromant, the leaves usually begin to dry out. In addition to this symptom, such a problem is also signaled by the folding of leaf plates and the formation of small spots.

If there is not enough water for the plants, and also if moisture systematically stagnates in the root system, then the foliage will begin to take a twisted shape, and later the plant will simply throw it off. You should always ensure that the stromant soil in the container is always slightly damp.The earthen lump should not dry out, and the stagnation of liquid in the rhizome is also detrimental to the plant.

Withering of stromant leaf plates

When the leaves wilt, as a rule, putrefactive processes occur on the stems of the indoor plant stromant. This symptom signals that the ambient humidity level in the room is high and the temperature is too low. To solve this problem, the level of air humidity must be left the same, and the temperature must be increased to twenty five to thirty degrees.

Harmful insects

This plant, with improper care, can be affected by spider mites, scale insects, mealybugs, whiteflies, and thrips.

To overcome such pests as spider mites, thrips, whiteflies, you need to treat with Aktellik. To do this, stir one capsule with the drug in one liter of water. This solution is used to spray stromant foliage.

After the procedure, the plant is covered with a transparent film or bag. The shelter is removed in a day. If after a single treatment the problem has not been resolved, then after seven to fifteen days the plant must be processed again.

To overcome aphids, which annoys the home flower of the stromant, you can use Fitoverm or Inta-Vir.

To get rid of mealybug, you can prepare the solution yourself. To do this, you need to take a little water (it should be hot) and add one teaspoon of soap to it, which is previously rubbed on a grater. Any soap will do. Ultimately, you should end up with about one liter of solution. After the desired volume is obtained, add a couple more tablespoons of vodka. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed, and then the bush is sprayed.

Before carrying out this treatment, cover the surface of the earth with polyethylene. After a day, you need to rinse the plant, removing the remaining solution. At the same time, the ground must also be covered so that the agent does not fall on the soil for the stromant.

To get rid of harmful insects, you need to spend three to four sprays with this agent. The interval between treatments is observed and is approximately seven days. If there is no soap for this, you can use a dish detergent.

Stromanta: species and varieties

Most often, flower lovers buy an indoor flower blood red stromant and pleasant stromant. We will tell you more about these plants in this chapter.

Stromanta is pleasant

This is an ornamental deciduous plant, which in its height reaches about thirty centimeters. The leaves are attached on long petioles, have the shape of a wide oval, in their width, as a rule, they grow by four to five centimeters, and in length they reach about ten to twenty centimeters.

On the outside of the leaf of a houseplant stromant, a pattern resembling the shape of a herringbone is observed. The leaf is colored green, stripes of a dark greenish tone extend from the central part. The inner part of the leaf plate is painted in a gray tone with a greenish tint, there is a slight hint of a pink tint. Stromant blooms extremely rarely, and if it does occur, then this period falls on the period of spring - summer.

Stromanta blood-red

This species was first discovered in Brazil. Such stromanta prefers to grow in tropical forests with high levels of air humidity. The leaves are oval in shape, they are pointed upwards. This species is larger in size than the pleasant stromant.

In its length, the sheet can vary from fifteen to forty centimeters, and in width from seven to thirteen centimeters. The outer part of the leaf has a glossy green-tinted surface. There is also a pattern with a dark green color. The inside of the leaf has a deep cherry color.

In the last days of May and early June, the flowering of the stromant can occur. Inflorescences resemble spikelets in shape.The flowers are not very expressive in appearance. Among the best varieties, the following are most popular:

• Stromanta Multicolor. The outer part of the leaf plate is painted in a dark greenish color, white or light greenish patterns are also present. The inner part of the multicolor stromant leaves has a red color with a burgundy tint.

• Stromanta Horticolor. The outer part of the Chorticolor stromant leaf is colored olive with a yellowish and light green tint, the inner side has a dark reddish color.

• Stromanta Tricolor. This variety is most often bought by lovers of decorative - deciduous plants. The outer side of the foliage of the Tricolor stromant has a dark green color, there are also stains of various colors: white, pinkish, salad. The inner part of the leaf is colored dark burgundy.

• Stromanta Marun. The outside of the foliage is green, with a vein in the middle. The inner part of the Maroon stromant is dark red.

• Stromanta Stripe is old. The outer part is painted in a deep green color, there is a vein in the middle, as well as a pale stripe. On the underside of the stromant sheet, Stripe Star has a burgundy color.