Crossandra: care and photo
The native land of the plant is the tropics and subtropics. Her flowers are bright, unusual. Their photos can often be found in articles devoted to travels in India, as it is a favorite flower of Indian women - they decorate themselves with cross-dress and jasmine during holidays and visits to the temple.
Crossandra: Species
This houseplant belongs to the familyAcanthus. In nature, there are about fifty species, but only orange crossflower - funnel-shaped C. Infundibuliformis is cultivated. Not whimsical, care at home is available even to the child.
In regions with a warm climate, indoor flowerscan be grown as an annual, on beds, in cold areas - like a houseplant. Seeds grow well, they are often sold in seed stores. Thus, you can easily add to your collection this plant of any popular variety. First of all, the American Tropic series, collected from very compact, abundantly flowering plants with yellow, red and orange colors, belongs to such.
For blue cross-sellers sell out Ekbolium - a plant of the same family, but of a completely different kind.
Noteworthy is the variety of Fortuna with large and bright salmon flowers - as the most frost resistant variety. Its root system tolerates cooling to +10 C.
Crossroad Tropic red
This beautiful houseplant will servedecoration of any room. Got its name due to flowers, red-orange, which bloom for a long time. This beautiful plant can reach a height of 25 cm. In the care it is not whimsical. But preference is given to a well-lit room, does not like drafts and direct sunlight. Top dressing is best done once a fortnight, and in winter it will be enough once.
Crossroad Tropic yellow
A perennial houseplant of the familyAcanthus. Often serves as an ornament not only of rooms, but also of offices. It looks like a small decorative bush. The stems are straight, slightly branching. His flowers are yellow, bright enough, they gather in the inflorescence. The leaves are up to 12 cm long and smooth. After they have faded, it is advisable to trim the inflorescence.
It is best to take root in a well-litplace, but without direct sunlight. He does not like drafts and temperature extremes, he prefers rooms with high air humidity. Watering is necessary neobylny, water at room temperature, without getting moisture on the leaves and flowers. To feed it is necessary enough often in the spring, in the summer twice a month, and in winter it is enough once.
Care and reproduction at home
Care and care for the cross-dress allow it to bloom for a very long time, from spring to late autumn.
The necessary conditions:
moderate temperature (12-25 C);
bright lights, welcome windows of southern orientation, the eastern and western are also suitable;
abundant watering (in winter it is cut);
frequent spraying of leaves in summer;
fertilizing once every two weeks with any complex fertilizer for flowering plants.
The cross-tree multiplies by seeds and cuttings. Seeds need to be sown in the spring, in a mixture of peat and sand. Then water, cover the pot with glass and put it in a bright place with a temperature of at least 20 C. Shoots can be expected in a week, the seedlings dive into separate pots when the first real leaf appears. Primer is more preferable than purchased, loose and nutritious, weakly acidic or neutral.
Reproduction of the cross-cuttings by cuttings is not at allmore difficult than seed. In spring, when the plant still needs a pinch, you need to cut off the tips of the shoots and just put them in the water, they will quickly release the roots. If the stalk is to be rooted at another time of the year, it will be necessary to soak it in any phytohormone (Auxin and others) according to the instructions to the preparation.
