Watering aroids

HOW IT IS CORRECT TO WATER AROID?

Representatives of the Aroid family (anthurium, aglaonema, allocation, spathiphyllum, monsters, etc.) in the pets of many flower growers - with proper care, they please for years with a healthy appearance. But how to be, if the plant withers before our eyes, but we don't know the reason, and how to help him. Today at the "round table" the conversation will be about watering green pets, after all, the most common reason for their death is waterlogging. Plant collectors - a team of administrators-consultants of the Aroids Library group on VKontakte will tell about it.

WHEN TO WATER

First of all, I would like to dispel the myth that, that aroids must be thoroughly dried between waterings. The root system in plants of this family is represented by tubers or rhizomes with a mass of small adventitious roots on thicker lateral. When the soil is overdried between waterings, the adventitious roots dry out, lateral are not able to transport all moisture from the ground, so she stagnates, the substrate sour and the root system is affected by rot. The most persistent in this situation are thick and juicy adventitious roots in anthurium. Spathiphyllum has worse, in which they are in the form of fine hairs. It is very bad for alocasia - the tuberous rhizome quickly decays. Lianas are helped by aerial roots, but they help out for the time being - if you continue in the same spirit, it will end badly.

What about the leaves? If the plant "hangs its ears", means, the network of leaf veins stuck together in places. When watering and moisture intake, if the veins stick together tightly, vascular rupture occurs. Hence these unpleasant black or brown spots in different places of the leaf blade - partial tissue necrosis.

Advice. Dry does not mean dry. Touch the soil with your hand before watering, it shouldn't be completely dry, earthen lump - lag behind the walls of the pot, and the plant "hang with a rag". Get away with it a couple of times, what next…

Elena GALUZINA, r. Krasnoyarsk

THE BAY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Promotes waterlogging, loss of adventitious roots from overdrying, as well as as a result of careless transplants, thorough cleaning of roots from old or transport soil.

How does the bay manifest?

The most harmless sign is drops appear on the tips of the leaves.. So the plant dumps excess moisture and reports, that there is enough water. Alocasia “cry” most vividly and in a timely manner. Systematic waterlogging appears on the leaves in the form of dark spots with yellow edging, located near the veins (not to be confused with spots on the edge of the sheet, although this is also a mistake of agricultural technology, not dry air, as they think in most cases). A striking example is anthurium.

This happens to the plant because, that it stops drinking water, the root system rots, and the earthy lump does not dry out. But external signs appear much later than that moment., when water accumulated at the bottom of the pot and the soil began to sour.

Rot develops in the absence of air access to the root system. At this time, there are no visible changes on the aboveground part.. On fermentation,decay, the cessation of sap flow takes from two to four months, sometimes more. The larger the plant, the longer it retains a favorable appearance. Sometimes it even suddenly blooms or "rushes" into a stormy, but unnatural growth. This can often be observed with purchased, Dutch copies uploaded in the store. When are the symptoms, described above, seen firsthand, then, usually, it is no longer possible to save the whole plant - the main stem is irreversibly damaged.

AROID ON FITIL IRRIGATION

The most common and reliable way of watering aroids is from above, directly into the ground.

But with a large collection, lack of time or rack placement of flowers, wick irrigation comes to the rescue. For me, this method has become a lifesaver, when the number of plants has exceeded 400.

The only solution for the slightest suspicion of waterlogging is to examine the root system, removal of decayed parts, change of soil and the right choice of container for the plant.

IMPORTANT POINTS

1. Use a nylon cord as a wick, nylon or other well-wetting material. I used synthetic clothesline. The amount of moisture received by the plant depends on the diameter of the wick.. If the cord is thick, and the pot is small, water will be in excess, which will lead to waterlogging. If the wick is thin, and the flowerpot is big, I used two ropes or I was looking for a thicker one.
2. The main requirement for the substrate is high air permeability and the ability to retain moisture. Make it up, usually, from perlite, vermiculite (sphagnum moss) and peat soil (1:1:1). true, should remember, that such a composition is not rich in nutrients. I refused vermiculite in the mixture, when I started using Klassman peat. Paired with perlite is the best option. Universal soil instead of peat soil is not suitable for wick irrigation.
3. The substrate must not be tamped.

It should be as airy as possible.. Compressed is detrimental to the root system and will lead to the same consequences., like a bay with a conventional humidification method. So that the plant does not stagger in a loose substrate, you need to fix it for the first time, until it takes root.

4. The substrate for planting should initially be slightly damp. Dry will absorb water for a long time through the wick, or maybe not start doing it at all. If the absorption process is difficult and the soil remains dry after a couple of days, can be added to the lower water tank, so that its level is just above the bottom of the plant pot. The bottom layer of soil will get wet, and everything will start working from the wick.
5. At first I used perlite as drainage, then she refused and immediately began to pour the substrate into the pot, on which I laid the cord in a ring, threaded through. Then she planted a plant and placed it in a pot of water that was slightly larger in diameter so, so that the bottom does not touch her.
6. Transparent orchid planters work well as a bottom container, where the water level is visible. true, it periodically begins to "bloom", and a general flush is needed. Cat trays with lattice turned out to be simpler and more convenient. One fits up to six pots. It is enough to dip the wick through the grate into the water - and the process started.
7. To feed the plants, at first I diluted fertilizers according to the instructions and then diluted with water 1:10. Then she stopped feeding and did not notice the difference.

Now I do not use wick irrigation, but all my plants are still in trays. When watering overhead, excess water is drained under the grate, rather than overflowing from the pallet - this is cleanliness. Don't you think: and not much watered? An important factor is the water under the grate, evaporating, humidifies the air. Which means, no need to put pots on wet expanded clay, as many advise. Easy to clean trays. They can also be used for bottom irrigation - the water should be just above the grate level.

© Author: Natalia ABRAMOVA, r. Kazan Author's photo

PLANTS OF THE AROID FAMILY CARE TIPS

PLANTS OF THE AROIDIC FAMILY – DESCRIPTION FROM THE COLLECTOR

Did you know, what plants, just like ours, people, have their families?

Here, eg, lilac and ash from the same "clan" Maslinny, lily and tulip – from the lily family. Lilac does not seem to be at all like her mighty brother, but it suits him well. External similarity is not important, the main thing, similar genes, as they used to say: "blood".

Here in numerous Aroids, the relationship between family members is visible to the naked eye: they all have miniature flowers, collected in dense cobs, which are almost always surrounded by bedspreads and. Usually, only the shape is different, the size and color of these bedspreads: marsh calla has a white coverlet, at the Amur Arizema – white-green, at the tropical anthurium Andre – red.

The family is huge – almost 2000 species, growing mainly in tropical, subtropical, to a lesser extent in the temperate regions of the Earth. In central Russia, Alas, meet only 2 representative of this family: already named marsh calla (calla) and air, plants are not at all sparkling with beauty. However, in my opinion, this definition does not apply to Aroids, they are best suited for words: "elegant", "graceful", eventually, "decorative", but no way, not "beautiful". the main thing, that the "flowers" of Aroid – not banal, although no less perfect, than gladioli or roses. But love does not tolerate banality.

Here, eg, simplocarpus, growing in the Far East and North America. Its specific name is "stinky" (ladies usually translate "fragrant"). Small plant with heart-shaped leaves – nothing special. But look, how it blooms! In April, dark crimson thick blankets the size of a fist appear right from the ground., with yellow miniature cobs inside. not flowers, and some fantastic mushrooms! By the way, these "mushrooms" – warm, capable of melting the surrounding drifts.

This strange flower feels great in gardens near Moscow, grows remarkably in partial shade on loose, not too dry soils. Absolutely not capricious.

Another Far Eastern representative of the family is unusually capricious.: give him half a meter of peat, preferably on 1 – 2 cm flooded with water. Doesn't like transfers, does not tolerate open sunlight. The name of the fussy lysichiton Kamchatka. It also blooms in spring – in April. its inflorescences (yellow-green cobs) have oblong white bedspreads. In the Moscow region, it is used to decorate the banks of reservoirs. By the way, lysichiton has highly decorative rosettes of oblong leathery leaves, sometimes up to a meter long. Overseas his brother, lysychiton american, bedspreads has lemon yellow.

It is impossible to bypass the Aruma, i.e. aroniki. There are a total of them in the world 25 30 species, in our country 7. Probably, the most popular in Russian gardens is the Crimean spotted aronnik, having a greenish-white veil, and Central Asian aronnik Korolkov with a whitish veil. Of the foreign representatives of this genus, one should name: with a brown-raspberry cover – Aronic Dioscorides, with green and white veil – aronnik italian and yellow-veiled – aronnik cretan, Unfortunately, not fully tested in our climate. I catch myself on, how to describe the color of the notorious aroid bedspreads and, in particular, aronnikov difficult – bedspreads sometimes have a complex pattern of stripes and spots of different colors and shades. it, by the way, mostly concerns Arizem, another large genus of the family, genus predominantly common in the Himalayas, East Asia and the Far East.

Agrotechnics and Arism, and aronnikov can be characterized by a couple of phrases: penumbra, rich, loose, not too dry soil. However, Arizems, in our opinion, less drought tolerant creatures, but more shade tolerant. They have characteristic palmate leaves on the tops of false stems sometimes reaching a meter height..

Now about those Aroids, which, Alas, do not want to endure the climate near Moscow, but are often offered to us by foreign floricultural companies. for example, these are Mediterranean ariza-rum and dracunculus. Arizarum has white striped bedspreads with lilac spots., covered the dracunculus – plain-velvety – crimson.

If the first one does not want to live in central Russia at all, then the second, perekantovavshis in the winter in the basements, next summer even able to bloom. The appearance of the blooming "dragon flower" is amazing – wavy bedspreads reach it along the edges 30 cm length at half a meter height of the plant itself.

I testify authoritatively, that during the flowering of the dracunculus, all the surrounding flies will hang out on your site, attracted by pleasant (in their opinion) aroma

Yes, I almost forgot, our good friends the Dutch sometimes offer us for open ground and Egyptian zantedesia, South African weed, long grown in our rooms under the name "calla".

Sure, sorry, that we are not tropics and not even subtropics. And many replacement species are unable to grow in our gardens., including a variety of "calls". Although, you know, there are prospects: in Russia, many Arizems have not been tested at all, arums and other types of aroids, theoretically capable of enduring our climatic conditions.

Although it's a shame, what we, most Russian amateur flower growers, still prefer it, which is brighter and bolder. But this, in my opinion, not love, but only young love.

She will pass. Life would be enough

© Author: M. Diev, collector

IRRIGATION AROID – VIDEO