Fittonia: care
Fittonia - ground cover perennial, who cameto us from the tropics of Peru. It is a small bush up to 10 cm tall and up to 30 cm wide. His unusual leaves are interesting, covered with an openwork pattern from a white or pink mesh. This flower is quite unpretentious, it's easy to take care of it. The most popular is Verthaffelta's fittonium with relatively shallow foliage. Often it is used in compositions with other plants.
Fittonia red
This decorative plant is very beautiful,attracts attention due to its brightness and interesting coloring of the leaves. There are many types of fittonia, and not all of them are easy to clean, but believe me, the result is worth it. It is believed that it is quite capricious, therefore, it is very important to comply with all the rules and recommendations for caring for it.
White Anna
This kind of flower is quite beautiful and unpretentious,got its name because of the coloring. On small, delicate leaves they have pronounced veins of white color. She loves light, grows well, becomes like a decorative carpet, but if it is in a poorly lit room, it will most likely stretch up like a tree.
Home care
Fittonia, like all motley-colored plants,prefers bright diffused light. But from the direct sun it should be protected. The western and eastern windows or the shaded southern windows are best suited. In winter, additional lighting is required.
The optimum temperature for growing in summer is 22-25 ° C, in winter it should not be lower than 18 ° C. Fitonia can not tolerate sudden changes in temperatures and drafts.
Since she comes from a tropical forest,humidity requires appropriate. Spraying should be carried out 2 times a day, and the pot should be placed well in a pallet with moistened moss or expanded clay. Perfectly feels this houseplant in the aquarium. In watering, you should adhere to the golden mean - do not fill, but do not overdry. Stagnant water can lead to a critical decay of the roots, and drying to the fall of the leaves.
As a substrate for it, a mixture ofidentical parts of sod and leaf land, sand, peat. At the bottom of the pot is a good drainage of expanded clay or pebbles. This plant is fast-growing, so it needs an annual transplant. To the bush was lush, you need to pinch shoots.
Reproduction
This indoor flower easily reproducesin several ways. The simplest is the division of the bush. This can be done during a transplant in the spring, neatly dividing the roots. You can also use cuttings - the tops with a few leaves. They take root in a moistened substrate or in water. After that, they land. Another simple method - layers, by the type of garden bushes of currants and gooseberries. But for this, only old copies are used. You can propagate fittonium and seeds. To do this, they are sown shallowly into the pot with the substrate, covered with a film and put in a dark place. The seeds germinate fairly quickly.
Bloom
This deciduous ornamental plant requiresspecial fertilizers and care. Its flowering occurs in the wild. Homemade species bloom very rarely. Its flowers are yellow, located in the inflorescence, similar to the spikelets. If in your case you did not observe such a phenomenon, pay attention to fertilizers and soil composition. Perhaps there is not enough potassium or phosphate in the soil, then it is worth to feed it and pay more attention.
Diseases and pests
The plant is afraid of dry air and bright sun,drafts, this leaves the leaves to twist and dry out. It is also dangerous for him to cold. Most often, it affects such pests as - aphids, spider mites, whitefly, thrips, mealybug.
