FENESTRARIA OR FRITIA

They gave me an unusual succulent plant and said, what is fenestraria.

After adaptation, I put the newcomer on a sunny windowsill, but then I realized, that the plant does not like direct rays. But the diffused light came to my liking. In winter, I supplemented the pet. Little by little watered. I'm really looking forward to flowering, which, as i heard, the same unusual, like the plant itself. And recently I found out, that it might not be fenestraria at all, and fritia, with which they are very similar.

Galina EFIMOVA

SPECIALIST COMMENT

The similarity to the plants was given by the conditions of the habitat (both are from Africa, only fritium grows in more humid places). Before flowering, they can be distinguished by the surface of the leaves.: in fenestraria they are absolutely smooth, her "twins" are covered with a rough "mesh".

FENESTRARIA – PHOTO

From September to early February, the plant is not watered.. Drying gradually, it is pulled into the ground. At the tips, sticking out of the ground, no chlorophyll, why are they transparent. Penetrating through the "glass", light is scattered through the inner tissues, providing chlorophyll formation and metabolism.

From watering in winter, constrictions appear on the leaves, and from the overflow the leaf bursts, living tissues protrude in the place of separation. The plant does not tolerate rearrangements and turns during sleep.. With the first drops of water, at the beginning of February, stored energy "bursts out" from the ground in the form of large flowers, followed by leaves.

Fenestraria and fritia – Photo

FRITIA – PHOTO

Poorly tolerates dry air. During the rest period, it is necessary to supplement. Shade from the direct sun. During the rest period, as soon as the plant starts to shrivel, watered minimally - a teaspoon. Fritia does not tolerate overdrying well. This plant will not tolerate the neighborhood of other succulents in its bowl.. It is completely stemless, flowers - purple colors. Every few years, when fritia grows strongly, before the start of the growing season (in the middle of January) transplanted into a larger pot.

© Author: Lilia MALTSEVA, agrochemist, r. Novy Oskol