Cactus "Decembrist" - home care

Cactus "Decembrist" - home care

Not all cacti grow in the desert and are afraid of water. There are species that do not like the sun and can grow only in wet conditions. A bright representative of such plants is the locomber or zigokaktus. It grows in the South American tropics and is an epiphyte. In the people he is often called the Decembrist. The "revolutionary" name of the slumberberger was due to the fact that its lush and bright flowering falls on December. At this time we are in the midst of winter, and in the homeland of tropical cacti, summer reigns.

Kinds

In nature, the flowers of the locomber are painted in different shades of lilac. In the flower industry, varieties with white, lemon, orange, lilac, pink and bicolour inflorescences are derived. On sale are mainly offered hybrid sloopbergers, obtained from natural species.

• Schlumberger Gertner - a large plant, the length of the segment is up to 7 cm. The flowers are multi-tiered, the large petals are pointed at the ends, the pistils are long, hanging down. Coloring depends on the variety.
• Schlumberger Russellian - the length of drooping branches to 0.8 m. The segments are dark, resembling small leaves with pronounced veins and strongly corrugated edges. The flowers are large, tubular, arranged in tiers, the pistils hang down.
• Deebrist Bukleya - the height of the plant to 50 cm. The segments are dense, shiny, dark, with sharp teeth at the edges. The length of the flower is up to 8 cm, the petals are pointed at the edges. Flowers, depending on the variety, can be purple, yellow or white. Flowering begins in November and lasts until March.
• Schlumberger truncated - the most widespread in the culture kind. The stems are light green. Flowers are formed at the ends of shoots. Depending on the variety, the color of the flowers can be red, violet, pink, white.

Features of cactus Decembrist:

• blooms in winter, when most plants rest;
• suffers from a lack of lighting, can even grow on the northern windows;
• summer needs plenty of fresh air, perfectly feels on the shaded corner of the balcony or loggia;
• loves a warm shower;
• long-livers - at home, growing 15-20 years;
• at the time of budding the flower can not be rearranged or turned over so that the buds do not fall off without opening;
• suitable for cultivation in the usual and ampel way.

Rules of cultivation

Care for the cactus Decembrist is the opposite of containing desert cacti. Schlumberber is required in regular watering. Water should be chlorine-free and have room temperature. Like any tropical plant, the zigokaktus loves moist air, so it is sprayed daily from a spray gun, and once a week they take out the bathroom and arrange a warm shower.

The flower does not like direct sunlight and it feels better on the windows, where the sun rarely looks. The air temperature is not exacting.

In March, the Decembrist begins to grow new shoots, which this year will be the next flowers. At this time, the plant will be thankful for top dressing with any complex fertilizer for flowers. Spreading fertilizing, you need to take 2 times more water than indicated in the instructions. In summer, fertilizing is carried out more often - 2 times a month, and in September they stop.

June is the time of plant formation. Shoots are not cut off, but twisted by hand, thinning and giving the bush a beautiful shape. A properly formed plant has an attractive appearance and flourishes blooming.

Diseases

Occasionally the leaves of the Decembrist fall. The cause of leaf fall can be a spider mite (anchor). The presence of a tick is indicated by a thin, almost imperceptible layer of white cobwebs covering the underside of the leaves. From the pest can get rid of, if 2 times a day to spray the plant from the spray with a solution of laundry soap or the drug "Actellik".

If there is no mite on the plant, depletion of the soil may be the cause of the depressed state of the plant. It is enough to introduce fertilizer into the soil for epiphytic cacti and the plant will come to life.

The cause of falling leaves can be stress, transferred by the plant due to a sharp temperature drop, draft or transplant. To restore the flower is placed in a cool place, the soil is kept moderately moist. In such conditions new branches will grow from the center of the bush and the plant will turn green and lush.

Sometimes between the shoots there are whitish, like cotton wool. This is the trace of the life of a mealybug. From the pest can get rid of the drug "Aktara".

Decembrist can annoy fungal diseases: fusariosis, phytophthora. The sick flower turns pale, gray, wilt, even in moist soil, discards the leaves. From mushroom diseases, spraying with "Maxim" or "Topaz" products will help.

Transfused plant, contained in the cold, begins to fade, loses stability, staggers in the pot. Symptoms speak of the withering away of the roots. Roots can die not only from hypothermia, but also from heat, if the pot with the plant has overheated in the sun. Damage to the roots can be a strong fertilizer.

The plant with dead roots is transplanted into a fresh substrate. The roots of the transplant are cut to healthy parts. If there are few living roots left, the top of the bush is thinned, trying to bring the above-ground part in line with the underground one.

Transfer

The flower is transplanted after flowering. This period is at the end of February. Adult plants can be transplanted only once every 3-5 years, young people are moved to a new container each year. The plant has superficial roots, so shallow, but a wide pot is heavy and stable.

The plant belongs to epiphytes, its roots need a lot of air. At the bottom of the tank lay a layer of expanded clay. Drainage should fill the pot by a third. The flower is planted in a ready-made substrate of industrial production, on which there is a note "for forest cacti".

You can make the soil yourself by mixing:

• 1 part of the sod land,
• 1 part of sand,
• 2 pieces of leaf earth.

The substrate is diluted with crushed charcoal and brick crumbs. The prepared soil is worth checking for acidity. The plant can grow only in a weakly acid substrate - 5.5-6.5.

It is not difficult to transplant the Decembrist. The flower is taken out of the old pot, watering the soil. With a free hand, the old soil is removed from the roots and the plant is placed in a new container.

You can not water the flower immediately after transplantation - you need to give the roots time to heal the micromanions. The transplanted plant is put in a cool place where there is no direct sun. The first time after the transplant, it is watered only after 3-4 days.

Table: Secrets of successful cultivation of the Decembrist

Temperature	17-20 С, in the period of rest 15-17 С
Lighting	Bright diffused light, preferable to east windows
Watering	Increase with the beginning of the formation of buds, at the rest of the time, watering is common for indoor plants as the soil dries up, watered with rainwater
Air humidity	Likes frequent spraying
Transfer	Annually after flowering
Reproduction	It is rooted in cuttings in summer, the cut cut before planting for several days is dried

Fabulously beautiful Decembrist fills the room with the aroma of exotics. In winter, when other plants suffer from dry air and lack of light, the whirligiger comes to life and transforms the space around, reminding that the New Year is coming soon.