It’s usual that cordilina flower decorates administrative buildings, offices, and on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus it is an ornamental plant that makes elegant boulevards, alleys of parks and squares. The riot and unusual shades of interesting leaves stop looking, make you wonder if you could bring such beauty in your apartment. Moreover, cordilina care at home for which does not cause much trouble, will answer the attention to it with a bright outfit of its leaves.
Main types
Cordilina (Cordyline) - a genus of plants belonging to the family Asparagaceae (Asparagaceae). The name of the genus comes from the Greek word cordylle - a cone, a knot due to swollen, fleshy roots in the form of cones.
Cordilina - decoration of parks
In the wild, grows in the tropics and subtropics in Australia, Asia, South America. It occurs in the form of trees, shrubs and shrubs that form a shoot.
The plant is distinguished by the spectacular appearance of leaves, which are often located on the top of the trunk. In some species, new ones that can be used for reproduction are separated from the main trunk.
Rigid, succulent leaves, with and without petioles, a lanceolate, xiphoid form. Leaf venation is arc and linear. Leaf color includes dark green, pink, scarlet, yellow and purple shades. Because of this feature, another name has appeared - "royal tree".
Cordilina flowering in nature
With proper care, even an indoor cordilin plant can please flowering. Inflorescences are in the form of a panicle. The flowers are small, white, light purple, red.
Over time, the lower leaves die off, exposing the trunk, which gave the plant a second name - "false palm". Indeed, a straight line with a bare trunk is similar to a cordilin palm; it is also called narrow-leaved or thin. Inflorescences are pink, fruits are black. It can be found in greenhouses as a decorative tree.
Dracaena is also considered a false palm tree. Sometimes the dracaena is confused with cordilina. To distinguish them from each other, it is necessary to compare the roots of two plants:
- In dracaena, they are straight, on the cut - yellow or orange.
- The roots of the cordilina are sinuous, with nodes and swellings, on a section of white color.
The most important difference is the number of seeds. The cordilina fruit contains 4-20 pieces, in dracaena - one.
It is noteworthy that the medium-sized kiwi cordilin with elongated narrow dense juicy leaves bordered by a rim of pink or yellow tones. A purple inflorescence appears from the center. This species is widely used in the creation of landscape compositions due to its special frost resistance.
For cordilina, a mix feature is adjacent leaves with a combination of many shades and colors.
The most undemanding of those grown at home is considered undiluted cordilina, in the south of Russia it is planted in open ground.
Cordilina Fruticosis
Cordyline Fruticosa (Cordyline fruticosa) - one of the common types of cordilina, which is grown as a room flower. A plant with one trunk, but sometimes it is divided into several separate trunks.
Wide green lanceolate leaves of green color with a pointed upper part are attached to long petioles. Some varieties have a border, the color of which can be from light pink to maroon.
Glossy Fruticosis Cordillin Leaves
Cordilina South
South cordilina - a native of New Zealand, reaches 15 m in the homeland. Indigenous people eat young leaves as food as a vegetable, calling the plant a "cabbage tree."
The trunk has a thickening at the bottom. The xiphoid leaves of green color are located on the top, their length reaches 90 cm, width - up to 7 cm. Varieties with longitudinal stripes of yellow and red colors are found.
In summer, large hanging inflorescences appear in adult plants in the form of a panicle up to 1 m long from small flowers of white and cream shades, emitting a sweetish aroma. In place of flowers, small white fruits ripen.
At home, grows up to 3 m, flowering usually does not occur.
Apical cordilina
Cordilina apical - the most popular among flower growers. This beautiful tree has wide leaves, often green, located throughout the trunk and top, in nature grows to 4 m.
The length of the leaves is up to 80 cm, the width reaches 10 cm. In some varieties, the foliage is yellow or red. Inflorescences consist of small flowers of white and purple hues.
The bright leaves of the apical cordilina delight the look
Cordilina Rumba
The birthplace of the plant is Northern Australia, Hawaii, Southeast Asia. In nature, grows up to 3 m. At home - up to 1.5 m. It is distinguished by the unusual color of the leaves: from bright green to scarlet, bright red and purple.
Home Care
The main advantage of the flower is the ease of planting and care, there are no special difficulties in growing. Like all representatives of the tropics, he loves light, warm and humid air. It does not tolerate drafts, sudden changes in temperature.
Humidity
The flower should provide high humidity, it will respond well to regular spraying.
Temperature
In the warm season, for all types of comfortable temperature will be 20-25ᵒC. In winter, immigrants from the tropics prefer 18-20 ° C, subtropical species will be content with a temperature lowered to 5-10 ° C. A flower with variegated leaves requires a normal room temperature during dormancy.
Additional Information. Even in summer, you should not take out the flower on the balcony or terrace - nightly temperature changes are fatal for him.
Watering
Watering is carried out in the usual way, pouring from above or into the pan. The second method is preferable. Use only settled water at room temperature.
When the top layer dries, the soil is moistened, 1-2 waterings per week in the summer are enough, in the cold period - 1 time per week and a half. With a decrease in temperature in winter, the number of irrigations and the volume of water are minimized.
How often to spray cordilina depends on the origin of the plant:
- People from the tropics are sprayed every day, from May to August, instead it can be installed in a pan with moist expanded clay. The rest of the time - as needed. It is useful to wipe the leaves with a damp sponge.
- For subtropical species, the procedure is rarely performed.
Priming
The substrate for planting is purchased in a store, universal soil with a slightly acid reaction is suitable, or prepared independently, mixing in equal parts:
- Sheet earth;
- Peat;
- Humus;
- Sand.
Additional Information. It is useful to add a crumb of brick or pieces of charcoal, which will help to eliminate acidification of the soil and create friability.
Fertilizers
Use complex fertilizers for indoor decorative deciduous plants, using slightly less than the dose specified in the instructions. From the beginning of spring to September, top dressing is carried out once every two weeks.
Breeding methods
For propagation of the flower, rhizome division, cuttings and sowing of seeds are used.
Seeds
The seed method at home is usually not used. It takes a lot of time, and grown specimens do not inherit varietal characters, unlike dracaena, from the seeds of which, at home, new plants are often obtained.
Sow seeds into the soil from turfy ground and sand, after moistening, evenly distributing on the surface. You can use cassettes by placing 1 seed in each cell. Cover with a film, periodically watered and ventilated. Shoots will appear sparsely: the first - within a month, the last - after 3.
Seedlings dive from a common container when they rise by 5-7 cm. They are planted in separate containers, preserving an earthen lump.
Cuttings
For propagation, cuttings are used from the top or middle of the trunk up to 10 cm long with the presence of 1-4 nodes. They are placed in a moist substrate or water, kept at a temperature of 25-30 ° C. You can make a mini-greenhouse by covering the container with glass or film.
The roots appear in a month. Rooted cuttings are transplanted into pots with a substrate for adult plants: this is a mixture of humus, peat, sand with the addition of perlite.
Shank with roots
Rhizome division
To divide the rhizome, the plant is taken out of the pot, the roots are freed from the ground, this is done during transplantation. The roots are washed, cut into parts with a disinfected tool, the sections are treated with a solution of phytosporin. Rooting is carried out in loose light soil, covering with a film. Regularly ventilate and water.
A month later, when the roots are formed, they are transplanted into separate pots.
Plant diseases
High-quality care and the creation of favorable conditions exclude the appearance of pests and diseases. If there were any irregularities, the flower may become ill. This is evidenced by its appearance: brown spots appear on the leaves, they turn yellow, begin to fall off, cordilina stops growing.
Brown spots
The appearance of brown spots along the edge of the leaf suggests that the flower is blown by streams of cold air. It should be rearranged to another place where there are no drafts.
The leaves are dry
When the lower leaves dry and fall off, exposing the trunk, this is a natural process without concern.
If the tips of the leaves dry along the entire height of the trunk, then the air is too dry, and moisturization is required.
Decay
Quite often, root rot appears, which indicates waterlogging of the soil and a low temperature of maintenance. The flower withers, stops growing, the leaves dry out.
Falling leaves
Falling of the lower leaves is caused by a natural process. To renew the flower, the top is cut, rooted and planted.
To create a multi-tiered composition, several plants of different heights are planted next to a high one.
Resuscitation Methods
Drying of the soil will cope with root rot, or transplanting into fresh soil and a new pot will help.
Important! In the case of rotting a large part of the roots, the flower cannot be saved. It is necessary to cut off the top, root it in order to get a new plant.
If brown spots are scattered over the entire surface of the leaf plate, then the plant lacks moisture.
Sheet plates lose their brightness, turn pale, this is caused by a lack of light, moving closer to the light will return the paint. Small leaflets appearing, deformed - the plant signals a lack of nutrition.
Note! Cordilin requires top dressing all year round, in the summer it is done more often than in winter.
A burn from direct sunlight leaves light spots on the leaves. It is necessary to shade cordilina with curtains or place where there is no direct sunlight. Darkening and curl of the leaves are caused by a sharp temperature difference, the plant should be placed in a room where a constant temperature is maintained.
Elimination of all causes will return cordilina a healthy festive look.
A resident of the tropics won the title of an ideal houseplant, settling in the homes of Russians. She will be condescending to the mistakes made in time, but corrected in leaving, will respond to attention and care with the lush brightness of the foliage.
