Ehmeya - a flower that belongs to the Bromeliad family. This genus includes 180 species of crops. In vivo, they most often grow in America. Now this culture has begun to grow at home, because it has a beautiful flowering and unpretentious care.
What does it look like to which family
Echmea is an epiphyte that belongs to the bromeliad family and is the closest relative of pineapple. The culture is considered a perennial plant with long leathery leaves.
Ehmeya - a beautiful ornamental plant
When growing a house, the flower does not exceed 30-90 cm in height. Its leaves reach 20-50 cm. They have small teeth on the edges. The leaves form a circular funnel, in the center of which there is a rosette. From above they are covered with randomly arranged stripes and spots.
Important! Echmea is considered an epiphyte, therefore, the purpose of its roots is to be fixed on the trunk of another plant. A flower receives nutrition through foliage.
Briefly about the history of the appearance
The plant appeared in South America - in particular, in Mexico. In this region, it grows, fixed on trees. The flower eats water and humus, which accumulates in the outlet.
Despite the region of growth, the culture has a Greek name. Its meaning is the "tip of the spades." It is interesting that the namesake of the exotic plant became the hero of the popular film - the Prince of Ehmey Gem Countries.
Features of home care
To grow a beautiful ehmeya, home care should be comprehensive.
Temperature
The plant comes from warm edges, so it is considered thermophilic. In summer, he needs a temperature of + 20-26 degrees, in winter - from + 17-18 degrees.
Lighting
Indoor flower can be placed in different places of the room. It normally develops on a well-lit window sill and tolerates partial shade well. It is undesirable to put ehmey on the north window. In this case, there is a risk of a lack of lighting. It should be compensated by phytolamps. The deficit of light is accompanied by a change in the color of the leaves. It becomes more pale and inexpressive.
Watering
Culture needs proper soil moisture. From mid-spring to early autumn, the flower should be watered with at least three times a week with settled water. The liquid must be poured into a flower outlet. In winter, the amount of watering is reduced.
Spraying
The plant belongs to epiphytes. This means that its roots are more used for fastening. The leaves are responsible for the nutrition of the exotic flower, so spraying is the main watering for the echmea plant. In autumn and winter, this procedure is less common, but it is not recommended to completely exclude it.
Humidity
To maintain normal moisture around the flower, it needs to be sprayed every day. In summer, it is recommended to put the pot on a pallet with wet pebbles. Of no small importance is the systematic ventilation of the room where the culture grows.
Important! Culture is bad for drafts. This feature should definitely be considered when airing.
Priming
When choosing a soil for ehmei, you need to give preference to light and airy soil, which does not hold water. It is best to mix in equal proportions of turf and leafy soil. Also, half of the sand and humus should be added to the composition. To make the soil more airy, it is necessary to introduce bark, sphagnum, charcoal.
Top dressing
From April to September, striped ehmeya needs additional nutrition. Fertilizers are recommended to be applied every 10-14 days. For this, mineral products intended for the Bromeliad are suitable. Liquid fertilizer should be divided into 2 parts. One of them is poured into the ground, the second into a power outlet.
Poisonous flower or not
Many people consider the plant poisonous because its juice can leave burns on the skin. This must be taken into account when caring for striped echmea at home. Transplantation and propagation of the culture is performed with gloves.
When and how it blooms
The plant has attractive flowering. To make a bush bloom, you need to properly care for it.
How does echmea bloom? On a massive peduncle that resembles an arrow, inflorescences appear in the form of an ear or panicle. The bract looks more spectacular than the flowers themselves. It can have a rich red or pink color.
Flowering period
Flowering is observed in the 5th year of the plant's life. When rooting daughter outlets, flowers appear after 2-3 years. In vivo, they can be present up to six months. At home they wilt pretty quickly. The bract, on which the fruits are formed, lasts the longest.
Note! The culture outlet blooms only 1 time. After flowering, it dies.
The plant is characterized by lush flowering
Pruning
Caring for echmea does not require systematic pruning. The leaves of the culture are responsible for its nutrition. If healthy foliage is removed, the crop may die.
How to breed
Since the outlet dies after the inflorescences wither, the breeders are forced to systematically propagate the crop. This is a fairly simple process, as the kids take root without any problems.
Propagation by cuttings
Cutting the stem for cultivation will not succeed. She has a small stalk that will not grow. Moreover, the plant will die immediately. Therefore, the reproduction of ehmei is carried out by processes. After the flowering of the mother plant is complete, the outlet gives the children and dies. The withering process is slow. During this period, children grow stronger and grow.
It is necessary to separate the daughter outlet from the common roots at the moment when it reaches 2/3 of the height of the mother's culture. To propagate the flower, you need to do the following:
- Pull the plant out of the pot and remove the soil.
- Make a cut minimally damaging the roots of the baby.
- Sprinkle the affected area with charcoal or chalk.
- Fill a pot with a diameter of 10 cm with a nutrient substrate.
- Plant the baby and cover it with a jar or bag. It is important to ventilate the plant every day.
- It is necessary to constantly maintain soil moisture and protect the ehme from direct sunlight.
- After 20 days, it is worth checking the root growth.
- If they began their development, the pot should be put in a new place and the culture should be fully cared for.
When the bush grows, it will need to be transplanted. If several children have been planted, they need to be planted.
Propagation by layering
Ehmey is not propagated in this way. The stem of the culture does not bend and does not form aerial roots. It is best to breed the plant with offspring.
Ehmey propagated by offspring
Transfer
Culture is not recommended to transplant often. With the help of the roots, she receives a minimum of nutrition. It is recommended to move the culture to a new place once every 3 years.
Important! The transplant procedure is performed when the substrate is depleted. For planting ehmei it is worth using a wide and shallow pot.
Possible growing problems
When breeding a crop, there is a risk of various problems. Most often they are due to a violation of the rules for caring for the plant.
Why the flower does not bloom
The reasons for the lack of flowering:
- insufficient lighting;
- low humidity during the period of active development of the culture;
- temperature is less than +18 degrees or more than +35;
- the effect of direct sunlight;
- strong soil moisture - stagnation of water provokes the process of decay of the root system.
To activate the flowering process, you can resort to such measures:
- Place chopped apples or bananas in moist soil. As the fruits spoil, change them to fresh ones.
- To provide the culture with greenhouse conditions. To do this, you can cover it with a glass jar or bag. It is important that the temperature in the greenhouse is at least +25 degrees.
- Systematically ventilate the plant and control soil moisture.
On average, resuscitation measures allow you to get a flower stalk for 10 days.
Why do ehmei yellow, dry and fall leaves
Most often, the leaves of the culture turn yellow due to the development of fungal infections. With the appearance of root rot, yellowing and death of the leaves are observed. During this period, the root system of the plant darkens and rots.
In violation of the rules of care, the plant suffers from fungal infections
Timely diagnosis helps prevent plant death. To do this, pull it out of the ground, examine the root system and trim the affected fragments.
Then the plant should be transplanted into new land and moved to a warm and well-lit place. With significant damage, you can trim the top of young branches. This will help save plant power.
Important! It is possible to moisten the soil only at a noticeable beginning of the development of culture. The cause of the development of fungal infections is considered excessive watering.
Pests
Echmea can be affected by various pests. These include ticks, scale insects, and worms. To cope with parasites, they are treated with a soap solution. If it does not help, you must resort to the use of insecticides.
Other problems
Violation of the rules for caring for the plant provokes the loss of decorative foliage and the development of diseases:
- The appearance of dryness on the surface of the leaves. This indicates insufficient humidity.
- Puckering leaves. This indicates a moisture deficit. If after watering they did not recover, then there are problems with the root system.
- Yellowing leaves and the loss of a motley pattern. Such signs indicate a lack of lighting.
- The defeat of the leaves and stem rot. In this case, the roots of the plant cannot be saved. Such problems are associated with excess moisture and low temperature.
Violation of the recommendations of flower growers provokes a change in the color of the leaves
Plant species
Types of ehmei:
- Echmea striped or fasciata. It is a beautiful ornamental plant, reaching 60 cm in height. Belt-shaped leaves, which are covered with blurry stripes, are characteristic of it. With proper care, the echmea of Example, or aechmea of the Fasciata variety, can bloom throughout the summer.
- Sparkling Ehmeya or Blue Rain. It is characterized by compact size and light green foliage. Blue Rhine Ehmeya has panicled inflorescences with many small blue flowers and a coral bract.
- Two-color ehmeya. This is the most resistant to external influences variety with an unusual color of foliage. Above they are green, and below - red-violet. The flowers have a red-pink hue.
- Ehmey Weilbach. This plant is characterized by an original transition in shades of foliage. At the base they are red-green, the rest has a normal green tint. Bushes reach a height of 50 cm. They are characterized by bright racemose inflorescences. Bracts have a red tint, and flowers are blue.
- The echmea is tailed or bearded. This small culture has a compact rose of saturated green color. The flower is characterized by red-orange bracts. The flowers have a golden hue.
Many varieties of plants are known.
Ehmeya is a beautiful ornamental plant often grown by flower growers. In order for the culture to please plentiful flowering as long as possible, it needs to provide quality care.
