Ledeburia - home care, photo species and varieties

Ledebouria is a grassy bulbous perennial of the Lilein family. The plant is quite hardy, but in a temperate climate it is cultivated mainly as a houseplant. The homeland of ledeburia and its natural habitat are tropical areas of South Africa.

All plant varieties have long linear leaves that gather in multiple lush rosettes; their color varies (from a plain green to a silver-gray in a green speck and emerald green in a purple-burgundy stripe).

Inflorescences of ledeburia are racemose on long sturdy peduncles, they combine several dozen small bell flowers with a greenish, purple or bright pink hue of petals.

Also be sure to see how to grow chlorophytum.

Ledeburia: home care

Ledeburia: home care. In detail

Bloom Ledeburia

Ledeburia plant at home usually blooms in mid-spring. At this time, long dense peduncles topped with racemose inflorescences, which consist of many small bell flowers of a greenish, purple or purple-pink hue (depending on the variety), appear from the center of leaf sockets.

Temperature mode

The optimum temperature of the plant during active growth is + 18- + 22 ° C, during the rest period - about + 14 ° C.

Lower temperatures (especially in combination with excessive watering) can provoke decay of the plant bulbs and its further death.

Spraying

Domestic ledeburia prefers moderate ambient humidity, but it can also grow in the dry air of urban apartments, while it responds well to spraying foliage with clean room temperature water. The procedure should be performed once a week.

Lighting

For bright coloring of the leaves and regular active bloom of the ledeburia, it is necessary to constantly be in bright diffused light (with shading from direct sunlight). To place the plant, it is better to choose a southern, eastern or western window.

Watering the Ledeburia

Caring for ledeburia at home requires a particularly careful attitude to the irrigation regimen. In summer, the plant is watered sparingly (every 5-7 days), arranging short periods of soil drying between waterings. In winter, watering is reduced to 1 time in 2-3 weeks.

Excessive watering is dangerous at any time of the year in that it can provoke rotting of the bulbs.

Ledeburia pot

When choosing a pot for ledeburia, preference should be given to large enough wide tanks with a drainage hole to remove excess moisture from the roots of the plant.

Priming

Ledeburia can be grown in a special flower soil for bulb plants or in a soil mixture prepared at home and consisting of garden soil, peat (humus or leaf soil) and river sand (perlite), taken in equal proportions. It is important for the plant that the soil is loose, as well as air and moisture permeability.

Fertilizer and fertilizer

Ledeburia at home does not need frequent feeding. It needs to be fertilized only during the active growing season once a month with a half dose of any liquid complex product for flowers.

Transfer

Transplantation of ledeburia is carried out as necessary: ​​when the root system of the plant becomes closely in the pot or if the quality of the old substrate has deteriorated significantly. Typically, the procedure is carried out every 3 years, for adult specimens - even less often.

When planting the bulbs in a new pot, they cannot be buried completely in the ground, in which case they can rot and the plant will die.

Growing Ledeburia from seeds

Seeds are sown in early spring in a peat-sand mixture superficially, without deepening and not sprinkling them. The container with crops is covered with glass or film. If the seeds were fresh, seedlings will appear in about 15-20 days (the seed quickly loses its germination capacity, so it makes no sense to sow old seeds).

Seedlings grow quite slowly, so you can pick them in individual pots only after 1-2 months.

Propagation of Ledeburia by daughter bulbs

During growth, the mother plant of ledeburia forms many daughter bulbs. They can be separated during transplantation and planted in individual pots. Planting material is only half buried in the ground. If young leaves appear after 2-3 weeks, then the bulbs have successfully taken root.

Diseases and Pests

The development of diseases or the deterioration of the appearance of ledeburia is usually caused by gross errors in caring for the plant. The following problems are most relevant for a flower:

• Ledeburia leaves have lost color and spotting - the plant does not have enough light. When the flower pot is transferred to a more lit place, the decorativeness of the ledeburia is restored.
• Ledeburia does not bloom also in low light. In order for the plant to form flower buds, it must be kept in bright but diffused sunlight.
• Brown spots on the leaves of the ledeburia - these are burns from direct sunlight, the flower should be shaded in especially hot summer days.
• Rotting bulbs often a consequence of excess watering and exposure to cool air. In this case, the damaged parts are cut, dried, treated with a fungicidal preparation and the plant is transplanted into fresh soil.

Infestation of ledeburia with pests happens infrequently, but sometimes scale insects, mealybugs or spider mites "settle" on it. It is easiest to get rid of them with the help of insecticidal agents.

Types of homemade ledeburia with photos and names

Ledebouria public (Ledebouria socialis)

A compact plant with long, fleshy leaves gathered in thick rosettes. Silvery-green fox plates are covered with many dark green spots of various shapes. Inflorescences on dense long peduncles combine up to several tens of small star-shaped flowers with greenish petals.

Ledebury low flowered (Ledebouria pauciflora)

A low-growing variety with elongated wide leaves of a light green hue, on the surface of which many "dark green spots" are scattered. The inflorescences are racemose on long strong peduncles, the flowers themselves are small with bright purple petals surrounded by green sepals.

Ledeburia Cooper

A miniature semi-deciduous variety with erect emerald-green leaves, the surface of which is lined with thin stripes of purple over the entire length. Inflorescences are dense, consisting of many small bright pink flowers with long lemon-yellow stamens.