Flower "kalateia medallion": care at home, features of growing and reproduction

The homeland of a beautiful houseplant with the unusual name "kalateia medallion" is the tropics of South America. This long-term rhizome flower belongs to the family of the Marantovs. Acquire it is only for experienced lovers of indoor plants. The fact is that the flower is very capricious and requires the most careful care. At the slightest violation of the technology of cultivation, it dies.

Short description

What is a "kalateia medallion"? This plant is valued by amateur growers mainly for beautiful variegated leaves. Coloring is very bright and spectacular. The shape of the wide flower plates is oval. At the same time, in the center of each of them, another lighter "leaf" is painted, with beautiful wavy white edges and a huge number of yellow and pink veins. It looks so original.

Growing leaves of this plant in the form of tubes, gradually unfolding. In the morning the plates are horizontally arranged, and by the evening they begin to take a vertical position. Their lower side has a dark pink color.

Leaves - this is the only advantage of such a plant as the "kalateia medallion". Flowering is not too spectacular and abundant. The value of the corolla of this flower is only one: the seeds formed in them are often used for reproduction. But there are interesting varieties of a flower.

Sometimes on sale there are very effective hybrids of the plant "kalateia medallion". For example, a great popularity among lovers of indoor flowers is used varieties with leaves, painted in all shades of purple both from above and from below.

How to choose a place?

The flower "kalateia medallion" refers to the shade-resistant plants. After all, in the wild, it grows in the lower tier of moist tropical forests. Contain this flower experts recommend in the penumbra. If you put the pot in the sun, then the plant, perhaps, will withstand such conditions that are not too suitable for it. However, in this case, the leaflets will not be too bright. It is best to place the flower on the north window behind the curtain. The exception to this rule are only purple hybrids. It is better to install them on the east or west window.

Humidity of air for this flower is very high - 90%. Even in the bathroom in an apartment or house such conditions can not be created. Therefore, the flower should be sprayed very often. Neglect this procedure is impossible. Otherwise, the plant will die.

What should be the soil?

A pot for house flowers "kalateia medallion" is filled with a substrate of such composition:

• Peat - 1 part;
• Land mixed with humus in equal proportions - 1 hour;
• Sand - ½ h;
• Frayed charcoal - ¼ of a piece.

You can also purchase ready-mixed soil for plants of the family of the Maranthovs in the flower shop. In order for the "kalatei medallion" to feel good in the pot, you should always put pebbles on the bottom of the tank and put the broken shards.

Features of care: how to moisturize?

Watering the plant should be quite often, but not allowing the stagnation of water. Many beginning flower growers make a big mistake, without end moistening the soil in the pot. The result of such excessive zeal is usually the death of the flower. The plants begin to blacken the edge of the leaves, after which they die.

To water this motley bush should be only when the soil under it is sufficiently dry and will become slightly damp. Use only warm water at room temperature. Cold this plant categorically does not tolerate. Overdrying the soil is also something that can not be tolerated by growing such a flower as a "kalateia medallion". Leaves dry with him most often for this reason.

Spraying a plant

As already mentioned, this procedure for the cultivation of "kalatei" is mandatory. Spray the plant should be correct. Humidify only the air around the leaves. On the plates themselves water should not fall. Otherwise, they may be burned or dark spots. Spraying should be done several times a day. If time is not enough, then you can do a little differently - put a pot with a flower in a larger container, and fill the empty space with damp moss. The drying of this natural moisturizer can not be tolerated afterwards. Spray the flower is necessary, of course, and in this case. However, this procedure can be done less often.

How to properly fertilize?

To feed a plant in the spring-summer period follows approximately once in two weeks. The best compounds for this purpose are complex compositions for ornamental deciduous room cultures. Too much fertilizer "kalateya medallion" does not like. Therefore, in the process of fertilizing, only half of the manufacturer's recommended dose should be used. In order not to destroy the plant, this advice should be followed strictly. You need to start feeding in the middle of spring. Finish applying fertilizers in late summer.

How to transplant?

The root system of the indoor flower is the "kalateia medallion", care of which is actually very complex, superficial. Therefore, the plant needs periodic transplants. Young flowers are transferred to new containers once a year. For adult plants, the period between transplants is two years. Carry out this procedure as carefully as possible and exclusively in the spring.

When transplanting to a new container, drainage is first poured, and then the previously prepared soil, the composition of which is described above, is laid with a layer of 2 cm. The roots of the plant are gently dipped in a pot and sprinkled with the remaining soil. Too much soil is not worth it. Otherwise, the roots of the flower will rot. You can not also deepen the point of growth of "kalatei". She must stay on the surface. The pot should not be filled to the top. After the transplant, the plant must be watered and put for a few days in a cool shaded place.

Methods of reproduction

Dilute this flower in the home is quite difficult. But it's worth a try. Use the method of dividing the bush should not be. His "kalatei medallion", home care for which is very complicated, does not bear well. It is better to try to propagate the plant with cuttings. To do this, from the parent flower should cut a small overhead branch with a growth point and 3-4 leaves. It should be slightly damped into a moist soil and covered with a transparent plastic bag or a plastic bottle before rooting.

Sometimes the plant "kalateia medallion" is multiplied and replaced. This planting material should be mixed with one part of sand and two leafy earth, and then, fall asleep in a bowl. Top of the container should be covered with a plastic wrap. The germination should occur at a temperature of +21 - +25 degrees. After the seeds give roots, they should be sprinkled with two centimeters of soil.

What pests most often affect the plant?

In case of insufficient spraying, the "kalathea medallion" can be affected by a spider mite. This pest settles on the reverse side of the sheets and envelops them with a lot of thin white threads. The clerk is very small and almost invisible to the human eye. When a pest occurs, the plant should be sprayed with some kind of insecticide.

Sometimes "kalateia medallion" is also affected by thrips. They form numerous colonies on the underside of the plant. As a result, even the disc color changes. For treatment in this case, you can use a soap solution or an insecticide. After spraying, the bush should be lightly fed.

Often on the green parts of the flower "kalateja medallion" are placed and scutes. This is the name of small black bugs that feed on plant juice. Like thrips, shchitovok can be destroyed with a soap solution. They should spill abundantly all the green parts of the flower.

Diseases of the plant

Often it happens that even with good care the flowers begin to turn yellow. This problem usually arises from the fact that the owners of the plant overzealous with fertilizers. Also, the casting of the flower can turn yellow and because it is cold. The temperature of the air in the room where the pot with the plant is installed should not fall below 16 ° C. The optimal indicator is 25 ⁰С.

There is another problem faced by the growers who grow such a plant as the "kalateia medallion". Twist the leaves of this flower with improper care very often. Thus, the plant usually reacts to a lack of watering. If the flower began to twist leaves, the periodicity of moistening of the earth beneath it should be increased.

Sometimes the cause of this unpleasant phenomenon is the wrong choice of the location of such a flower, as "kalateia medallion". The leaves dry, twist and die off this plant often in the event that it is placed next to some household appliances. It can be, for example, a computer, a TV set, a microwave oven, etc. Put the flower away from devices that emit electromagnetic waves, and take good care of it. In this case, "kalatea" will please you with lush foliage with a pronounced pattern.