The elegance and elegance of indoor fittonia plants affects even the most sophisticated gardeners. To grow a gorgeous flower at home, it will take a lot of effort. An exotic plant Fittonia, home care which has its own characteristics, can decorate any home interior. In the article you can get acquainted with the features of the content of decorative culture.
Description
Fittonia belongs to the Acanthus family. The birthplace of the herbaceous perennial is Peru. The height of a houseplant can reach 10-60 cm. Depending on the variety, the stems of a perennial can be:
- upright;
- creeping on the surface of the soil.
Exotic plant
Fittonia is successfully grown as an ampelous or groundcover plant. The length of the stems reaches 8-10 cm. The pubescent stems can be painted in both green and brown shades. Egg-shaped foliage with a pointed tip densely strengthens the entire length of the shoots. The length of the leaves can reach 10 cm. The green mass is distinguished by a relief-corrugated surface, velvety, tender and very pleasant to the touch. On sheet plates, the thinnest web, painted in:
- white
- pink;
- reds;
- lilac;
- silvery tones.
Leaves, depending on the variety, can be purple, gray-silver and gray.
For your information! Fittonia flowers got their name in honor of two girls of the Fitton sisters, whose names were Sarah-Mary and Elizabeth. The ladies who lived in Victorian England created the first classic textbook of botany. For this merit, decoratively painted perennials were called in their honor, which in those years were used to create solid green carpets in the territory of winter gardens and greenhouses.
Types and varieties of Fittonia
Below are the most popular phytonia species.
- Fittonia Mix is a representative of a perennial herb, characterized by branched and densely pubescent stems, whose height reaches 8-10 cm. Perennial has a superficial root system. Its shoots densely cover the surface of the soil. Roots are able to form even in nodal parts. Oval-elliptical foliage forms on the petioles. The length of the sheet plates reaches 70-90 mm. Matte green foliage has bright veins of various shades. Care at home for Fittonia Mix is not particularly difficult;
- Fittonia Josan is a perennial herbaceous crop. On bright leaves of an emerald shade, the presence of thick veins of a bright pink palette is noted;
- Red Fitton - a representative of the Acanthus family, which is distinguished by dark emerald foliage with the presence of red veins;
- Fitton Skeleton is an amazing variety, which is distinguished by a peculiar color and structure of foliage. Shoots at Fittonia Skeleton creeping. Fine velvety matte foliage is decorated with reddish veins resembling a dense network. Leaf plates in olive shades. The intensity of the color scheme makes it possible to achieve a luminous effect;
Different types of exotic plants
- Fittonia White Anna is a perennial with patterns on the white foliage. There is a dark border on the edge of the leaf plates. Whitewood variety is unpretentious;
- Vershaffelt Fittonia is a culture characterized by creeping densely covered with fluff shoots. The variety can be easily propagated by layering. On the green foliage are red streaks;
- White Fittonia is a variety of Fittonia that is similar to the White Anna variety. There is no border around the edges of the sheet plates. The veins of a snow-white shade are rather dense.
Care Features
Proper care of a herbaceous perennial will allow you to grow a healthy plant that will delight you with a chic appearance.
Illumination
Often experienceless flower growers wonder how to care for fittonia. To grow a perennial at home, you need to take care of a sufficient amount of lighting in the room where the pots are. However, in this case, direct sunlight should not be allowed to enter the green mass. Experienced growers recommend growing Fittonia on window sills from the east or west. Blinds must be hung on windows to provide diffused light to colors.
Note! Lack of lighting leads to a loss of decorative leaf culture. In the winter months, it is desirable to provide additional illumination with fluorescent lamps.
Temperature mode
In the warm season, the temperature in the room in which flower pots are kept should be in the range of 23-25 ° C. In the winter months, the temperature regime can be slightly reduced, but not fall below 19 ° C. Cool air provokes the development of various diseases, which can lead to the death of bushes. To avoid falling leaves, it is recommended to avoid drafts in the room and a sharp change in air temperature. Even in the summer, you should not take out pots with a perennial outside the apartment.
Watering
A representative of the Acanthus family needs systematic soil moisture. When the soil dries, the plant begins to intensively discard the foliage. However, you should not fill in the flowers, as the wetland will cause the root system to rot. Humidification is performed only during periods of drying of the topsoil. For irrigation, you should use settled water at room temperature.
Spraying
In addition to irrigation, Fittonia needs systematic spraying. If you ignore this recommendation, the moisture level will decrease, which will cause pests on the plant.
It is advisable to carry out spraying every day before sunrise and after sunset. Experienced flower growers recommend placing vessels filled with water near pots with plants, which will increase air humidity.
Amazing flowers
Fertilizer
Throughout the year, it is necessary to make top dressing. The amount of fertilizer should not exceed the dosage recommended by the manufacturer. Excessive amounts of micronutrients in the soil can cause irreparable damage to the bushes. An ideal option for feeding Fittonia will be complex mineral fertilizers.
In the winter, top dressing is applied 1 time in 5-6 weeks. In the summer months, the frequency of top dressing reaches 1 time in 14 days.
Important! It is worth systematically cleaning the soil with your hands from weeds.
Pruning
In order to improve branching of plants, it is recommended to pinch the upper parts of the stems regularly. As it grows, the lower part of the decorative culture begins to become bare.
Fittonia is a flower that gradually loses decorative qualities. To rejuvenate the bushes, it is necessary at the end of the last week of March to cut it. It is necessary to carry out activities in two stages in order not to harm the green space and not to slow down the rate of development of young shoots.
Winter Care Features
Caring for fittonia is not easy. The flower is difficult to survive the winter, because at this time of the year the rooms turn on the heating, which greatly overdries the air. But the coolness can negatively affect the health of the plant and even lead to its death. The room temperature should not fall below 17 ° C according to the rules of care, and the pots should be placed away from the batteries. Near containers with flowers, you can install vessels filled with water.
Important! Proper care of the plant will not let Fittonia stop flowering or start to dry.
How to propagate
The plant can be propagated during the transplant, allowing rejuvenating the bushes.
Suitable cuttings with 3-5 leaves are cut from the top of the bush. To accelerate the rooting process, it is worth choosing shoots whose length reaches 60-70 mm. Cuttings are planted in the sand with the cut tip down. Above, the processes are covered with glass jars. Four weeks later, roots should appear on the cuttings. It is important to moisten the sand in a timely manner and remove the cans for ventilation.
In order to root, you can use a container of water, which should only slightly cover the surface of the bottom of the container. The cuttings located in the container are covered with a film material on top, which must be removed every three days for ventilation. The cuttings are systematically moistened by spraying. To speed up the rooting process, the temperature in the room where the water containers are located should be kept within 28-29 ° C. As soon as roots are formed on the processes, you can plant the cuttings in a container filled with fertile soil. Breeding Fittonia is not a complicated process.
Fittonia in the aquarium
How to transplant
With age, Fittonia loses its decorativeness, so experienced flower growers recommend replanting the plant in order to rejuvenate the bush. The first step is to choose a wide and low pot, on the bottom surface of which a layer of expanded clay is placed. On top of this, a soil layer is filled on the basis of:
- peat;
- sand;
- turf land;
- coniferous soil.
The plant is carefully planted in a new container. Over the root system, a soil mixture is poured.
Fittonia belongs to the category of tropical plants that need careful care. However, all the efforts spent by the grower are compensated by the attractive appearance of the exotic flower, which will delight every day and give a lot of pleasant emotions from the abundant flowering.
